Before the election, almost all the major surveys showed that KMT would win big in both Taipei and Kaohsiung's mayoral races. The pan-blue camp (a.k.a. KMT and all pro-unification allies) even wished openly that this could be the last blow that could bring down President Chen, a DPP member.
I personally predicted that DPP - the pro-independence party - would look pretty bad on Taipei's mayoral race while maintained its seat in Kaohsiung. Why? It was a especially difficult year for DPP (民進黨) when President Chen shui-bian's wife and son-in-law were both found in the last few months to have involved in several potential corruption scandals and insider trading. Its supporters may withdraw, but would never turn their vote to KMT, who favors unification with China.
And when the Red October, in which people dressed in red took to street to protest and ask Chen to step down, reached its climax on the National Day (Oct. 10th), DPP looked doomed. KMT and its pro-blue allies were all exhilarated. The common wisdom was that Chen's support was less than 18%, how much better could DPP fare?
It was with surprise that Hsie Chang-ting (謝長廷, DPP's mayor candidate in Taipei) turned out to garner over 40%'s vote, at least 5% more than last mayoral election four years ago.
KMT also lost the Koahsiung election, contrary to their optimistic prediction. The result is a major embarrassment to Ma Ying-jeou, KMT new chairman and incumbent Taipei mayor.
Maybe it's time for the pan-blue camp to get the real message: you'll never be the alternative to DPP, unless you could take Taiwan as a nation, and not a province to China.
DPP's supporters watched the live broadcast of the vote-counting process at Hsie's Taipei headquarters.
A reporter reported live.
It's not uncommon to see young couples or family with kids among the DPP supporters.
The chart compares the vote distribution between DPP and KMT in 2002 and 2006 Taipei mayoral elections. DPP grows in all districts while KMT shrinks. It's not a good sign for KMT, considering that Ma has been the mayor for 8 years and should be powerful enough to surpress DPP's advance. (chart credit: Apple Daily)
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