By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday sent its best wishes to its legislative candidates in districts that are traditionally Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) strongholds, describing them as embarking upon a crusade like the “Normandy landings.”
At a campaign event, DPP vice presidential candidate Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said yesterday was “D-day” of the “Hope Alliance of Normandy Landings,” which is composed of five candidates.
“Hopefully, January 14, 2011, will be the ‘V-Day’ for you,” Su told the candidates.
Kao Chien-chi (高建智), Chiang Yung-chang (江永昌), Hsu Yu-ming (許又銘), former baseball star George Chao (趙士強) and Juan Chao-hsiung (阮昭雄) will run in the districts of Sindian (新店), Jhonghe (中和), Yonghe (永和), Da-an (大安) and Wenshan (文山). Past results show the DPP’s chances of winning in these districts in Taipei and New Taipei City (新北市) are slim.
In response to the analogy drawn by the DPP between the elections and the Normandy landings, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) said he did not think the analogy would be a blessing.
“In history, D-Day was a day when thousands died,” Ting said. “D-day could also be interpreted as Death-day.”
American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) spokesperson Christopher Kavanagh, meanwhile, declined to comment on the grounds that he did not know in what context Su mentioned the Normandy landings.
DPP legislative candidates have been seeking catchphrases as a strategy to attract voters attention by forming small alliances.
Previously, five other DPP legislative candidates, who are heavy smartphone users, announced the formation of an alliance called “Congress iPhone 5” late last month and said they would make good lawmakers because of their familiarity with high-tech gadgets and new ideas.
Another eight candidates from districts across the nation named their alliance “Our Generation” and pledged to be the voice of the underprivileged.
Meanwhile, the DPP yesterday announced that Greater Taichung councilor Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純) would be its replacement candidate in Greater Taichung’s seventh district after Ho defeated four other hopefuls in a public opinion poll that pitted the hopefuls against KMT candidate Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文), DPP Deputy Secretary-General Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) said.
All five contestants defeated Cheng in the poll, but Ho finished with the largest lead of 40.8 percent to 23 percent, Hung said.
She replaces Chien Chao-tung (簡肇棟), who withdrew from the election earlier this month after his involvement in a hit-and-run car accident that killed one person.
Additional Reporting By Shih Hsiu-chuan