There are signs that the Taipei mayoral election is getting closer. Wu Siyao, director-general of Shen Boyang's campaign, confirmed in Tokyo today that the latest internal poll of the Democratic Progressive Party Central Committee in September showed that Shen Boyang fell behind by more than 20 percentage points at the beginning of his candidacy, and has caught up to less than 10 percentage points now, and has advanced by more than 10 percentage points from August to September alone. Shen Boyang said frankly that he was not excited but "very nervous" when he saw the polls, because after entering the single-digit gap, "the other side will also start to fight back."
Senior media person Qiu Mingyu first disclosed on a political commentary program yesterday that internal polls of DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Shen Boyang showed that the gap between him and the current mayor Chiang Wanan, who is seeking re-election, has narrowed to single digits. According to her description, when Shen Boyang's team held an internal polling meeting with senior leaders of the Democratic Progressive Party, they were very excited to see the latest data, and some people even jumped up and cheered.
Wu Siyao went to Tokyo with Shen Boyang today to attend the "Mayor Shen Boyang Japan Support Association All-Japan Conference" and revealed the good news at the meeting. In his speech, Shen Boyang also mentioned that he was "almost 30% or 20% behind, which was quite miserable" at the beginning. At that time, many people even thought, "What can Shen Boyang do?" Although the catching up speed is very fast now, after seeing the latest figures, "I actually feel very nervous."
Shen Boyang said that once the game reaches single digits, it means that the opponent will also feel the pressure and start to counterattack, and the campaign will truly enter an intense offensive and defensive stage. He also joked that the other party would also be nervous and his speech would become more and more serious, but this was where he was nervous, "because once Jiang Wanan is serious, Taipei may not be able to handle it."
In an interview after the meeting, Wu Siyao further said that before going abroad, she received the latest poll conducted in September by the Democratic Progressive Party Central Committee's "most trusted" campaign team. The results showed that since Shen Boyang's candidacy for more than three months, he had fallen behind by double digits or more than 20 percentage points, to catch up to a gap of less than 10 percentage points, "entering a single-digit final battle gap."
Wu Siyao admitted frankly that the speed of catching up exceeded the team's expectations. We did not expect that such a significant improvement would occur in early September. She said that especially from August to September, Shen Boyang's support increased significantly by more than 10 percentage points, showing that he continued to implement policies, listen to citizens' voices, and adopt a positive election strategy, gradually winning the favor of Taipei citizens.
Wu Siyao also revealed two other changes in internal polling. She said that the Democratic Progressive Party currently ranks first in party support in Taipei City, slightly ahead of the Blue and White parties. On the other hand, Chiang Wanan's support and trust have declined in the past two months, with a drop of nearly 9 percentage points.
She said that in comparison, Shen Boyang's popularity has gradually increased, and his favorability, support and recognition have also increased significantly. Under the "back and forth", Jiang Wanan's downward trend and the "ocean current" represented by Shen Boyang's upwards have further narrowed the gap between the two parties.
Wu Siyao also said that although the team is excited, it will not relax because Shen Boyang is still lagging behind. Jiang Wanan is seeking re-election and has the advantage of being the current mayor. Shen Boyang is the challenger. "If we want to win, we need to redouble our efforts."
During Shen Boyang's visit to Japan this time, he established his second overseas support club after the United States in Tokyo today. Wu Siyao said that in July this year, Shen Boyang went to the western and eastern United States to establish overseas support organizations. As the election campaign entered the final 70 days, time was limited and he finally chose Japan, which is closest to Taiwan and has a deep foundation of friendship and exchanges between Taiwan and Japan.
She said that this time, the Tokyo Support Club was not simply established, but an "All Japan Support Club" was established. From Kyushu, Shikoku, Kansai, Kanto to Hokkaido, presidents or representatives of support clubs from more than 30 regions and cities attended. She described that the "ocean current" driven by Shen Boyang was still strengthening, and netizens even described it as a "tsunami." However, she laughed and said that tsunamis would cause disasters. "We are a very warm ocean current, a harmless and positive ocean current."
Wu Siyao shouted twice at the end: "We can win, we will win." She said that with more than 70 days left before voting, the campaign team will work hard to even the current single-digit gap.
