Can Lai relax?
Some media firms and opposition politicians have disdainfully remarked that Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate, can conduct his election campaign “lying flat.”
In other words, they think that with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) failing to agree on a joint ticket, the election has become something of a cakewalk for Lai.
The contemptuous statement suggests that Lai’s odds of winning depended on whether the alliance came together, disregarding Lai’s endeavors since campaigning began. It is as if, had the KMT and TPP come to an agreement, Lai would have had to work desperately on his campaign, but now that the talks have collapsed, Lai can win without breaking a sweat.
Lai has traveled throughout Taiwan and proposed policies to make the nation better, before naming former Taiwan representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) as his running mate.
He developed relationships with locals wherever he went, listened to them, offered help to undergraduates to reduce their tuition fees and spoke at many colleges, winning applause from students and the hearts of the younger generation.
After Hsiao became his running mate, Lai even made “developing Taiwan” a priority for the campaign, to bring a better future to the nation.
The DPP, the KMT and the TPP are running their respective campaigns, and Lai can expect attacks from the KMT’s presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), and TPP Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲). Lai must pull out all the stops to win over voters and avoid allowing the opposition parties to jeopardize Taiwan’s future.
How could anyone say that Lai winning the election would be a cakewalk?
Yeh Mei-hsia
Taipei
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