In the 2026 Taipei mayoral election, the "ocean whirlwind" triggered by Democratic Progressive Party candidate Shen Boyang is regarded as a very representative political phenomenon and cultural change in Taiwan's electoral history. From the early days, he was labeled as the extreme "Founder of Black Bear College", but he turned into a dark horse in the election with polls approaching the current mayor. More importantly, the election campaign showed a new style of bidding farewell to tragic appeals, abandoning factional opposition, and returning to policy governance, injecting new vitality into the long-dull election campaign culture.
In the 2026 Taipei mayoral election, the "ocean whirlwind" triggered by Democratic Progressive Party candidate Shen Boyang is regarded as a very representative political phenomenon and cultural change in Taiwan's electoral history. (File photo) First, tear off the extreme label and achieve a counterattack from "outsider" to "policy dark horse". Shen Boyang has a background in law and criminology. His popularity in the early stage of recruitment was only about 30% and he was labeled with a high hatred value. He lagged behind in the polls. However, in the face of adversity, he did not fall into the camp's abusive frame. Instead, he started to change his strategy: he cut off his iconic hairstyle and shifted his focus to municipal governance, long-term care, and the construction of "micro-forests" to deepen community dialogue. By autumn, the gap had narrowed to the margin of error. With solid municipal control, it completed an amazing counterattack from "black bear" to "dark horse".
Secondly, bravely break through the "circle breaking" communication to attract rational middle voters. The core is to break through the stratosphere: first, "going out" to compete directly, appearing on pro-blue or cross-border media programs, facing sharp issues such as the death penalty, drug prevention, and the Twin Cities Forum with a rational attitude, and gaining recognition from blue-minded celebrities and media people; second, the "sucking in" spillover effect, well-known cultural figures appear to compete for the CEO, and their familiarity with animation culture attracts a large number of young generations. Paired with the "Mayor, Listen to Me" street soap box, the nostalgic newspaper "Shun Bao" and the digital "Policy Island" game, it opens up cross-generational communication channels.
Furthermore, bid farewell to tension and sadness and promote a paradigm shift in campaign culture. Traditional election campaigns rely on the mobilization of pathos and hatred - resorting to historical scars, kneeling down and tying up factions to polarize opposition and create a sense of crisis. The "Ocean Current Campaign" abandons sadness and turns it into a warm and joyful new citizen movement. The candidates have no factional backgrounds, adhere to the "Four Nos" principle, insist on not attacking opponents, and focus on municipal affairs, turning the election campaign from a tense and divisive one to a healthy democratic experience of spontaneous participation.
The essence of the election campaign should be to demonstrate the vision of urban governance and civilized values. In the past, electoral campaigns often fell into the myth that "there will be no elections without tragedy." However, with the rise of middle-of-the-road voters, the mobilization of tragedy has finally been counterattacked by society. Shen Boyang's journey from "black bear" to "dark horse" proves that Taiwan's democracy does not need to rely on hatred, but can rely on policy innovation, rational dialogue and positive governance to win the respect and expectations of voters in the capital, marking a key milestone for democracy to move towards a mature civilization.
Shen Boyang "went out" to compete directly and appeared on pro-blue or cross-border media programs. The picture shows Wang Qianqiu after completing an exclusive interview with the two Taipei mayoral candidates Shen Boyang (pictured left) and Chiang Wanan (pictured right), and frankly admitted that the intensity of this election campaign "has exceeded imagination." (Group photo, taken from Facebook) (The author is a freelancer)
