Does anyone share my perception that Frank Hsieh has been hopelessly out of his depth as Premier, and has severely damaged his prospects of earning the pan-green candidacy in the 2008 presidential election?
He has already convinced me that he would be just as weak and ineffective a president as Chen. So who does that leave as the best candidate for the green camp to put up against Ma? Is Su now the only viable contender?
Yes. He is the fall guy for the Kaoshiung workers scandal. This will hang over anything he does.
Ma will win.
That’s a bit pre-mature, isn’t it?
It’s certainly not premature to assess Hsieh’s performance as premier … and it ain’t a pretty picture. The DPP has been crashing and burning since he took office. Maybe some of it is bad luck (shit hitting the fan when he’s in charge), but his handling of the various messes hasn’t been particularly impressive either.
TC: calling him the ‘fall guy’ implies he’s being unfairly scapegoated, which hasn’t happened. He was mayor for the majority of the time the Kaohsiong scandal was going on and so it’s not unreasonable that it tarnish his reputation. Also, all he’s done since the scandal broke is tried to shift the blame away from himself; at least other members of the government have given the pretence of trying to find out who was responsible and punish them …
While Hsieh may not be directly responsible for the two biggest disasters in recent time for the DPP (the TVBS mess and the Kaohsiong scandal), they have both been caused by his closest supporters/underlings who he has supported & promoted through the years.
As for 2008, I doubt it really matters who stands. The only way Ma is going to lose is if the Blues make a complete mess of things (Soong 2008 anyone?)
Ma needs to get shot if he wants to win the undecided vote. 
BlueGreen, thats not a wise thing to say even jokingly.
Frank would need some very serious PR help. Not only with the KMRT fiasco, but also with his image in general. Just a few years ago he/wife were both involved with some black magic guy (glowing eyes…forgot his name) plus the Kazoo playing and looking like a nerd while trying to show he can match Ma with his gymnasics doesn’t help. Also, what about the Xanadu land management scandel a few years ago. I know it was ChinaDevelopment/KMT, but also didnt some DPP heavyweights have a part in it?
If sourpuss LeinChan could get almost 50% of the vote, then Ma is definately a shoe in as long as nothing happens. Frank doesn’t have a chance. DPP blew it by not electing a VP canidate that had more potential.
Disagree. The DPP are blowing it by acting like a bunch of incompetent corrupt buffoons.
Yes, you are right David. The worst thing is the timing. Why now? With so much at stake. The next couple of rounds of elections are really going to determine the future of Taiwan. They blew the last one, now the mountian is even higher.
Disagree. The DPP are blowing it by acting like a bunch of incompetent corrupt buffoons.[/quote]
They’re not acting.
[quote]david wrote:
4nr wrote:
DPP blew it by not electing a VP canidate that had more potential.
Disagree. The DPP are blowing it by acting like a bunch of incompetent corrupt buffoons.
They’re not acting.[/quote]
:roflmao:
They seem to be trying to do theri best to outswindle the KMT