Taipei Mayor Chiang Wanan attended the opening press conference of "A Summer of Towels - Yunlin Towel Carnival". (Photo by reporter Wang Yisong)
With the countdown to the nine-in-one general election at the end of the year, people from all walks of life are paying attention to the Taipei mayoral election. Shen Boyang, the Taipei mayoral candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party, had a low profile at the beginning of his candidacy. After running diligently for more than three months, he gradually gained popularity and even formed an "ocean current". At every event, there are always a large number of supporters rushing to shake hands and sign autographs. Faced with the green camp's eager pursuit, Kuomintang city councilor Qin Huizhu believes that Taipei Mayor Chiang Wanan intends to "cool down" the election. Although the morale of the Green Army has improved, there is still a big gap. However, recent municipal controversies such as child abuse, avoidance of privileged interests, and "sky-high-priced parasols" have indeed caused "minor injuries" to Chiang Wanan, and may have lost 2 to 3% of his support.
Qin Huizhu said that Jiang Wanan has his own rhythm. Incumbents mostly hope that the election situation will remain cold, while challengers need to increase the popularity and topics. Jiang Wanan chose not to register in person and deliberately downplayed the registration action. The purpose is to reduce the political color of the "next candidate" and maintain the "mayoral height". Through daily inspections of municipal construction, attendance at various ceremonies and policy announcements, the incumbent's advantageous stage is used to create exposure and create a distinction with the challenger Shen Boyang.
Qin Huizhu also said that the Green Army has gradually gathered and its morale has improved. This has indeed led to a slight increase in Shen Boyang's support rate and voice. However, she bluntly said that "Shen Boyang's popularity is too low." Shen's voter structure mainly supports habits. The young people who use the Internet are still relatively low-profile among the middle-aged and elderly people aged 5 and 60 who do not often have access to the Internet. Although they are gradually accumulating voice, she believes that there is still a gap of more than 10% in overall support compared with Jiang Wanan.
In response to the recent green camp's violent attacks on Chiang Kai-shek's government officials, avoidance of privileged benefits, and "sky-high-priced parasols" and other municipal controversies, Qin Huizhu admitted that this wave of continuous attacks has indeed caused "minor injuries" to Chiang Wanan's camp. It is estimated that it has lost about 2 to 3% of its support, and some middle voters may turn to wait-and-see. However, the basic base of the blue camp is still solid, which can be seen from the enthusiastic atmosphere at Jiang Wanan's participation in veterans-related activities. Since the bases of dark blue and dark green are respectively entrenched, the key lies in the middle voters. Whether the loss of 2 or 3% will cause fatal damage still depends on the crisis handling capabilities of the subsequent offensive and defensive and city government teams. There is still room for recovery and swings.
"A Summer of Towels - Yunlin Towel Carnival" opening press conference. (Photo by reporter Wang Yisong)
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wanan attended the opening press conference of "A Summer of Towels - Yunlin Towel Carnival". (Photo by reporter Wang Yisong)
