It's Tsai!!! The announcement is hitting the media...Taiwan's main opposition party says chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen has secured its presidential nomination after winning an island-wide telephone poll.Hahahaha. The media will never get the DPP's relations with China correct. AP even slipped in the historically erroneous "split in 1949" formula, which has nothing to do with anything else in that paragraph or indeed with the announcement at all.
The Democratic Progressive Party is expected to announce Tsai's nomination formally on May 4. The poll results were disclosed at a party press conference in Taipei on Wednesday.
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A cool-headed intellectual, Tsai has departed from the DPP's anti-China tradition and promoted exchanges with the mainland. The two sides split amid civil war in 1949.
Tsai will make a strong candidate and mount a powerful challenge. Very happy to see this.
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26 comments:
YES!!!!!
Go Tsai. Now let’s rally and pull together with united support to win this upcoming Presidential Election
The most intriguing aspect of this primary to me is that both Tsai and Su are significantly ahead of Ma.
http://dpptaiwan.blogspot.com/2011/04/dpp-chair-tsai-ing-wen-is-primary.html
The race between Tsai and Su was very tight (42.50% vs. 41.15%), while Ma was lagging some distance behind (35.04% vs. 33.79%, respectively).
I can't recall any DPP candidate leading prior to the real campaign on a national election. This lead is somewhat comfortable and scary...I almost feel that I have to be skeptical about it.
Congrats to Tsai, regardless.
I am EXCITED. Tsai isn't just going to win. She's going to change the course of Taiwan in a globalizing economic and political world. This is HUGE.
The last time AP noted a "cool-headed intellectual" won their party's presidential nomination it didn't turn out well for the people who elected him.
I'm interested in what the gambling odds are on the presidential race now though.
FYI English videos: Tsai on cross-strait relations & trade with China.
http://www.intaiwan.de/2011/04/27/taiwan-presidential-candidate-tsai-ing-wen-on-cross-strait-relations-english-videos/
Can't wait to see what the prediction markets say as well.
@hans, I think it is due to the way the question is constructed. It causes people to overstate DPP support.
"She's going to change the course of Taiwan in a globalizing economic and political world."
EconP - that's exactly the kind of over expectation that led to such disappointment with Chen. Can we please keep our feet on the ground and get realistic here? Tsai is human, not a god. As President she will have an impact on Taiwan but change the course? That's only if she isn't facing a pan-blue dominated legislature and the US State department doesn't abandon dealing with her at the first petulant fit China throws. There are simply too many variables. if she can do something constructive about the environment, wean TW business off their China addiction and keep a clean sheet financially and otherwise I will be happy enough. The time of idols is gone. No more cargo cults please! I am excited like you that she won the Primary but its now 9 long hard gruelling months of electioneering. Let's unite and rally behind her and give her the support she needs but put her on a pedestal with a halo? NO.
Some caution may be in order here: Tsai's past campaigning efforts were certainly not regarded very highly by Frozen Garlic, who reported on her activities in the Xinbei race. And recall how Tsai was trounced by Ma in the ECFA debates. We'll see what happens this time around...
Guy
And that idiotic AP article you've linked can't even be bothered to get basic facts straight: Tsai is no longer the DPP "chairwoman." Journalism at its finest!
Guy
Man, foreign media like AP just doesn't get it. WTF are they smoking, serious? But on the positive side their current misconception about Tsai can work in Taiwan's favor.
Also, we don't really know what the Blue supporters responded in the poll. Never the less, it is exciting news. I've never been so optimistic about Taiwan's future.
"And that idiotic AP article you've linked can't even be bothered to get basic facts straight: Tsai is no longer the DPP "chairwoman." Journalism at its finest!"
are you serious?
so who's the new dpp boss?
archieAnd that idiotic AP article you've linked can't even be bothered to get basic facts straight: Tsai is no longer the DPP "chairwoman." Journalism at its finest!
I see the KMTard brigade has arrived. Tsai is still technically chair but has taken a leave of absence during the primary. The DPP now has an acting chair. AP is not wrong.
I am with Ben on this one. Look at China's GDP/Military Expenditure in 2000 vs. 2012 and consider what Chen achieved without a parliamentary majority in 8 years as president... well, hope dies last.
Hi Michael,
The DPP website lists Ker Chien Ming as the party chair:
http://dpptaiwan.blogspot.com/p/team.html
I was not trolling here. I was simply venting frustrating at the ongoing mix of stupidity and laziness that we find in far too many international media reports.
And also: what Ben said.
Guy
For Tsai to be a good prez, there'll need to be a better balance of representation in the Legislative Yuan. Past elections have not indicated this trend...
Didn't mean you were a KMTard, sorry! but the crazed poster above my post. I think it is Archie.
Good job, Ben. I agree.
If we don't get a meaningful bloc in the LY then a Tsai victory will be blunted.
Michael
do you think the kmt will play dirty politics and make her questionable sexuality into an election issue and thus cause her to lose the election? most taiwanese are pretty conservative about that stuff.
I hope they attack her on her sexuality. It will win sympathy votes and it can easily be rebutted. And let's not forget the Ma is gay rumors, do you really think the KMT wants to go there?
No, i think this is going to be a struggle of voter mobilization and campaigning.
Vigorously nodding my head in agreement! Tsai is the best!!
"EconP - that's exactly the kind of over expectation that led to such disappointment with Chen. Can we please keep our feet on the ground and get realistic here? Tsai is human, not a god."
My excitement with Tsai is because she's not exciting. She's not a rabble rouser. She's reasoned, rational, balanced, and she's still creatively interesting in terms of *policy*. See her no nukes plan for 2025. I don't expect revolutionary changes. I expect that she firmly places Taiwan on a positive path towards rational discourse on the main issues challenging Taiwan today. Ma did not even discuss globalization as the main force that Taiwan was reckoning with. The whole discourse was centered around China and some cargo cult around trade when dealing with the winners and losers of globalization is what really needs to be talked about.
Tsai isn't some credential laden cloth hiding an incompetent administrator underneath. She's run the DPP really well, and I think her practical experience as a trade negotiator, Vice Premier and at a biotech company will prove invaluable.
Plus, if Tsai wins (I'm cautiously optimistic), Hsiao Bikhim will be the Foreign Minister. Tell me that doesn't excite you.
I like her and I'm blue. But I feel it will be very very hard to win. And if she doesn, her power will be limited. I can hardly see DPP ever having the same power as KMT in all areas of the system. It's sad, because I think it's not a good democracy, if one side has so much power. I don't agree on a lot of things with the green party, but I'm persuadable. The only one I really hate are the commies! I feel closer to my green Taiwanese compatriots, but if you ask me, I'd love to see ROC in Mainland one day. But well, we all can dream, can't we?
MKL said: I think it's not a good democracy, if one side has so much power.
I so agree with you MKL. That's why the power of the vote is so important for a liberal democracy--this is no time for cynicism, but for the people to be active in shaping a responsible government. Checks and balances are needed to maintain good governance on all levels, and unfortunately Taiwan has yet to achieve that.
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