When You Win, Win with Grace. When You Lose, Lose with Style!

When You Win, Win with Grace. When You Lose, Lose with Style!
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
March 11, 2008

When you win, win with grace. When you lose, lose with style. At least one Blue camp leader and one Green camp leader have made the above point. In each case, their emphasis was on the word "lose." Just before the court handed down its ruling on the Kaohsiung Mayoral Election lawsuit, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu said politicians may lose, but they must not be sore losers. Beautifully put. So beautifully put some people wondered if Chen Chu knew the court's ruling in advance. Taichung Mayor Jason Hu of the Kuomintang made the same remark when he criticized politicians for dirty tricks. He said, "When you win, win with grace. When you lose, lose with style."

During the upcoming Presidential Election, both sides are determined to win. So why has "losing" become a topic? It is not because the Blue camp has maintained its lead over the Green camp in the polls. It is because the DPP has made a series of radical policy shifts, and the Hsieh camp has resorted to a string of desperate election tactics. Some of these tactics are so underhanded they don't even deserve to be called "tactics." Not just political observers, but even the man in the street have begun to sense an atmosphere of desperation within the Green camp.

Since the odor of defeat is beginning to permeate the atmosphere, why not think about how to lose gracefully?

The notion that Hsieh may lose is not the result of any such intimations from the Blue camp. It is the result of anxiety and confusion within the Green Camp. The most recent example was Lo Wen-chia's remark: "The DPP lost [the Legislative Election] on January 12, 2000. It cannot win [the Presidential Election] on March 22. The DPP's next opportunity will be four years from now."

But Lo Wen-chia's words were the lamentations of DPP renegade. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party is preparing for battle. It is counting on its monopoly over government resources. Its behavior is so erratic, it obviously no longer cares about its image. On the one hand is frantically trading "Benefits of the Week" for votes, including amnesty for Taiwan businessmen and relaxed ceilings for mainland investments. It is even accelerating the adoption of controversial development plans. Aside from currying favor with targeted voters, the DPP can offer no logical explanation for repudiating the policies it has clung to for the past eight years. Nor can it offer any assurances that it will deliver on its promises. The DPP's behavior smacks of sheer desperation.

Serious charges have been leveled against the DPP, the most serious of which involve a string of scandals. The DPP is suspected of emptying out the nation's coffers. First, the Chen regime ordered the Ministry of Defense to invest in Taiwan Goal, a "private sector company" in which the government owns less than half the shares. Next, it allowed the Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corp (SSAC) to acquire vast amounts of government assets at fire sale prices. Next, it allowed assets to be diverted from the Grand Hotel. Recently more cases have been uncovered in which certain individuals have been acting as "middlemen" for overseas investments. The specifics may differ, but all involve the transfer of wealth out of the state treasury into the pockets of shadowy figures. These companies were less than 50% government-owned. The ruling DPP relied on this loophole to fend off legislative oversight, even though the government was paying through the nose. What happened next was even more unspeakable. Witnessing the DPP's frantic efforts to empty the state coffers, one thinks of rats deserting a sinking ship, and stealing everything not bolted down in the process.

The strangest thing about all this is not the corruption. Corruption has long been a trademark of the Chen Shui-bian regime. What boggles the mind is the frantic "take the money and run" mood -- the air of impending doom. The DPP senses it will soon have to step down, and isn't bothering to pretend otherwise. The Chen Shui-bian regime isn't bothering to wage an election campaign. Instead, it is accelerating the rate at which it is emptying out the state coffers. It is, for all intents and purposes, conducting an "anti-campaign." Hsieh's campaign, meanwhile, has become more and more ridiculous. Hsieh began by advocating "reconciliation and coexistence," and by rejecting negative campaigning. But now he is attacking his opponent's daughter for attending a private school, and accusing his opponent's wife of stealing newspapers. He even trotted out fringe supporters willing to publicly slander Ma's family. These supporters included one "Professor Chang," who appeared with his face covered, and one "Mr. X," who appeared with a paper bag over his head. Even the Hsieh camp was embarrassed by such tactics. His campaign committee denied all responsibility and accused the Ma camp of authoring the tabloid smear stories and CDs on its own. The Green camp's dirty tricks have misfired badly. Could this be because the writing is already on the wall?

Hu said losers should lose gracefully. Admittedly he said this because KMT candidates were being smeared and his blood was up. Chen Chu, confident she would win the election lawsuit, held forth about "not being sore losers." Wasn't the idea to set higher standards for future elections? Wasn't everyone hoping that a mayoral candidate who won by a mere 1,000 votes would behave a little more graciously?

Political figures can't always expect to win and never lose. Naturally one celebrates when one has won. But suppose one loses? How does one lose with style? For that matter, how does one sow the seeds of a future victory? That is something worth thinking about.

If the DPP wins this battle, will it win with grace? Conversely, if it loses this battle, shouldn't the DPP give some thought to Lo Wen-chia's observation: "The DPP's next opportunity will be four years from now?"

贏要贏得漂亮，輸也要輸得漂亮！
【聯合報╱社論】
2008.03.11 02:09 am

贏要贏得漂亮，輸也要輸得漂亮。這句話，至少一藍一綠兩位大將皆曾公開說過，且重點都在那個「輸」字。陳菊在高雄市長選戰官司二審宣判前說，政治人物就算輸，也要輸得起。話說得這麼漂亮，所以有人猜，是否陳菊對官司勝算已有十足把握。最近說此話的則是國民黨籍的台中市長胡志強，批評這次選戰奧步太多，打得難看，所以高呼「贏要贏得漂亮，輸也要輸得漂亮」。

總統選戰，兩方拚死求勝，何以「輸」卻成了話題？倒不是因藍綠雙方民調差距和勝負趨勢穩定，而是，從民進黨的連番政策動作，到謝陣營的種種選舉招數（或曰「不成招數」），不要說政治觀察家了，連尋常百姓都嗅出綠營之內似乎已有「莫非大勢已去？」的味道。

果若「輸」的氛圍已在醞釀之中，則難道不是該想想「怎樣輸得漂亮」的時候了？

感覺謝長廷可能要輸，不是出自藍營的詛咒，而是從綠營內的焦慮和慌亂顯現出來。最近的一個例子如羅文嘉所說：「民進黨已在一月十二日（立委選舉）輸掉，三二二（總統大選）不可能贏回，民進黨下次機會是在四年後。」

羅文嘉之言，尚只代表黨內一「寇」的感慨，而整個民進黨挾執政之資源，「備戰迎輸」的動作更是誇張到不顧形象。一方面是瘋狂地放送「每周大利多」，包括特赦台商、放寬登陸投資上限，乃至加速通過一些爭議性的開發計畫等等。除了討好特定選民之外，對自己過去八年政策「覺今是而昨非」的大轉彎，既無邏輯性的解釋，也未見得敢保證兌現的可能，簡直有點「跳樓大拍賣」的意味。

另一方面，民進黨最近受到指責最嚴重的，就是一連串的五鬼搬運事件。從國防部被指示投資、但官股不過半的鐽震「民間公司」開始，繼之以賤售鉅額投資的華揚史威靈、圓山飯店的資產挪移等，近日更被挖掘出多起由特定人士擔任「仲介」的海外投資計畫，案情雖各異，但皆不脫將國庫的錢投資或移轉於名目可疑的單位，又以「官股不過半」的手法形成「國庫出錢，國會無法監督」的局面，接下來的演化自然更是不堪聞問。這種急著將公家的錢往外搬的手法，令人聯想起沉船前狠撈最後一筆的景象。

最可怪者倒不是這些貪腐的情節，因為貪腐本就幾已成為扁政府的註冊商標。令人感到詭異的是那種「撈一筆油水再逃」的亡命心態，充滿了末日氣味。這使很多人懷疑，是否民進黨人自己都不遑掩飾地宣告著「預知下台物語」。扁政府不忙著輔選，反而以種種更加速的五鬼搬運計畫進行「反輔選」，令謝長廷陣營的選戰也越打越不成章法。謝長廷從倡議和解共生、不作負面競選開始，如今選戰手法卻惡濁到抹黑人家女兒特權上私校、太太偷報紙等等，又由外圍支持者或周邊單位找來蒙著臉的「張博士」及頭上套著紙袋的「Ｘ先生」作證誣人……，真是慘不忍睹。這種選戰手法的效果如何，連謝陣營自己也感心虛，因而才由競選總部出面喊冤，甚至說那些「週報」與「光碟」是馬營「自導自演」。綠營招數太亂，難道是因敗象已露？

胡志強呼籲「輸要輸得漂亮」，固然是因國民黨候選人被抹黑而說的氣話；而當初陳菊在對官司結局頗有信心之時稱「輸要輸得起」，不也是希望在僅以一千多票領先而當選市長的「贏得不夠漂亮」的局面下，重新樹立一個較為優質的形象？

政治人物不可能永遠贏而絕不輸，贏時的歡天喜地固然值得慶幸；萬一輸了，要怎樣留下漂亮背影，甚或乘勢埋下「我將再起」的種子，也是一門嚴肅功課。

民進黨倘若如此這般就打贏了這一仗，會不會贏得不夠漂亮？反之，如果可能輸掉這一仗，總該有些民進黨人要為羅文嘉所說的「四年後的機會」想一想吧！