Do Not Allow Spin Doctors to Steal Your Vote

Do Not Allow Spin Doctors to Steal Your Vote
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
November 29, 2011

Summary: Voters initially assumed that Ma Ying-jeou and Tsai Ing-wen had the same political manner and the same concern for professionalism. They initially assumed that the current presidential election would be different from past presidential elections. They initially assumed that the current presidential election could leave behind the demonization, smears, and attempts to incite "ethnic" hatred, Unfortunately as election day approaches, the presidential election has been tainted by smears and defamation. Worse still, the DPP's negative campaign is merely a smoke screen hiding its cross-Strait and industrial policy vacuum.

Full Text Below:

Voters initially assumed that Ma Ying-jeou and Tsai Ing-wen had the same political manner and the same concern for professionalism. They initially assumed that the current presidential election would be different from past presidential elections. They initially assumed that the current presidential election could leave behind the demonization, smears, and attempts to incite "ethnic" hatred, Unfortunately as election day approaches, the presidential election has been tainted by smears and defamation. Worse still, the DPP's negative campaign is merely a smoke screen hiding its cross-Strait and industrial policy vacuum.

Phony issues dominate the campaign. Negative campaigning monopolizes the front pages. The problem is not that one candidate is the winner or the loser. The problem is the voters are the biggest losers of all. Elections are supposed to be opportunities for intensive debates about national policy. They are not supposed to be about irrelevancies such as Chen Ying-chu. President Ma Ying-jeou did not meet with Chen in September. Yet the ruling and opposition parties are arguing about whether Chen is good or evil. This is a meaningless debate that has squandered nearly three weeks of valuable time. For voters, it was a lost opportunity.

Every presidential election is in some way, a key battle. The current election is no exception. The global recession has cast a pall over the globe. The Euro may disintegrate at any moment. The U.S. economy cannot pull itself out of the doldrums. Leading economists predict a second economic downturn even more serious than the first, The world may experience a lost decade. Businesses on Taiwan are issuing unpaid leave notices. In January of next year, the president elect will face an even worse situation. He or she will first face an external crisis. Debts have come due for the EU countries, including Italy. Every one of these EU debts is a potential landmine. Handled improperly, they could send the global economy into recession.

In this crisis-ridden environment, how can people on Taiwan protect themselves? This was supposed to be the key issue in the presidential election. The U.S. and Europe are in recession. Cross-Strait relations have improved. Therefore Taiwan still enjoys an advantage. What are the prospects for improved cross-Strait relations? These are the issues we should be paying attention to. But they have been sidelined. Election rhetoric on Taiwan now revolves around Chen Ying-chu.

All this time, the DPP has been demagoguing non-issues such as the "Three Little Pigs," Chen Ying-chu, and the "Wasted Labor Calendar." These issues may help the DPP. They may hinder the rival KMT. But they are all phony. Past experience has shown us that the DPP is unqualified to govern the nation. But every election season shows us that the DPP is a world class illusionist. The DPP is an expert at playing the voters for fools, at pulling the wool over the voters' eyes, at sidelining the key issues.

Phony issues replace genuine issues. The DPP's Achilles Heel is cross-Strait policy. But these issues have vanished from the debate. The DPP has the KMT at a disadvantage in two ways. First, the DPP is adept at constantly raising phony issues and forcing the KMT to play catch up. It is adept at forcing the KMT to forget that a party seeking re-election must offer a positive program. Secondly, Taipei and Beijing have already signed 15 agreements. Cross-Strait exchanges are already routine. Yet the DPP is still able to lead the KMT around by the nose, merely by accusing it of "pandering to Beijing and selling out Taiwan." The KMT remains too afraid to defend its cross-Strait policy. This disadvantage is even more serious than the first.

The DPP uses these opportunities to escape blame for its mistakes or pretend nothing happened. Without a shred of evidence, it alleges that "[Mainland] China has eight different plans for intervening in the elections on Taiwan." Beginning with its victory in the 2004 presidential election, the DPP attempted to win over Taiwan businessmen based on the Mainland. Now however, the DPP has abruptly reclassified them as members of the "five black categories." It has suddenly reclassified them as fifth columnists for the CCP. The DPP knows the KMT lacks the courage to defy its negative campaign.

The DPP's cross-Strait policy contradictions do not end here. Tsai Ing-wen, the DPP presidential candidate, has long condemned ECFA as worthless. She says it failed to help farmers, that it decreased rather than increased their income, that fruit sales to the Mainland were "Wasted Labor," and that ECFA was responsible for the widening of the gap between rich and poor. Yet she recently told the British Broadcasting Corporation that if elected, she would not nullify ECFA. This was a policy that the DPP depicted as unmitigated evil during the election. Now however, it vows to perpetuate this policy in the event it wins the election. Presidential candidates in advanced democracies cannot get away with such flagrant self-contradictions. But on Taiwan, they can. On Taiwan, negative campaigns are ideal smoke screens. On Taiwan, they allow the DPP to easily gather the votes they need.

Cross-Strait issues are not the only issues being sidelined during the current election. Taiwan's agricultural future is another issue that has been sidelined. The DPP spread disinformation about the price of fruit. It falsely claimed that persimmons command only two dollars a kilo. It successfully shifted attention away from real issues. Have the voters forgotten that Tsai Ing-wen promised to become the voice of a new generation. The DPP is triumphant. It forced the KMT to jump on the DPP bandwagon, and increase the subsidy for elderly farmers to 1000 dollars. Tsai Ing-wen has forgotten that debts incurred by this generation must not be foisted on the next generation.

The Republic of China is a democratic nation. Voters are the final arbiter. Voters must not allow themselves to be dazzled by election gimmicks. Voters must remember that illusionists may have any number of tricks up their sleeves, but ultimately they cannot change reality. The election is less than two months away. Voters must confront the candidates. They must demand to know, "Where's the beef?"

別讓大選魔術師騙走你的票
2011-11-29 中國時報

以雙英的風格及專業形象，選民原本預期，這次的總統大選應該是一場不一樣的選舉。過去醜化、抹黑、分化族群的選風能夠有所改善，可嘆的是，到總統大選末期，我們看到的還是一連串的做假抹黑；更嚴重的是，負面選舉策略其實只是煙幕彈，背後真正要掩蓋的真相是，民進黨提不出一套完整的兩岸、產業政策方案。

當假議題當道、負面選舉新聞充斥媒體版面時，這不只是關乎候選人的輸贏而已，選民的權益也受到傷害，因為競選原該是一次密集辯論國政的最好機會；但是陳盈助何許人也？總統馬英九今年九月沒有見他，但朝野政黨竟然為了爭執陳盈助究竟是好人還是壞人，一個毫無意義的議題就這樣虛擲了將近三個禮拜的時光，對選民來說，這都是損失慘重的機會成本。

每一次總統大選，都是某一種形式的關鍵戰役，這次也不例外；就短期而言，不景氣陰影籠罩在全球上空，歐元隨時會有解體危機，美國經濟一直拉不起來，國際著名的經濟學家預判，二次經濟衰退遠比第一次嚴重，全球可能進入失落的十年。國內現在已陸續出現無薪假狀況，明年一月選出的新總統，面對的情勢只會更糟，他首先要面對的外在危機，包括義大利在內的歐盟國家債務到期，每一個都是地雷，處理不好都會讓全球經濟進入衰退。

在這樣危機重重的大環境，台灣如何自保，本來應該是這次總統大選的主軸。尤其是，當歐美都陷入衰退，台灣卻因兩岸關係改善、仍然握有優勢時，台灣的兩岸關係前景如何，當然都應該是選舉的重要議題，但現在這些議題都出不來，台灣的選舉話題全都圍繞在不相干的陳盈助身上。

這段時間以來，民進黨不斷丟出三隻小豬、陳盈助、農民「嘸採工月曆」等議題，這些話題不論正面（對民進黨自己）還是負面（對對手國民黨），重點是，這些全是假議題；從過去的經驗來看，民進黨治國也許不怎麼樣，但在大選時，他們可是第一流的魔術師，耍得選民如癡如醉，然後趁機偷天換日，將最重要的議題給置換掉了。

這些假議題取代了真正的議題，也就是民進黨的大選罩門─兩岸政策，完全從選舉中消失。民進黨可以說是雙重吃定國民黨，一方面用假議題讓國民黨疲於奔命，渾然忘記尋求連任的政黨必須提出正面訴求；第二重也是最致命的，即使兩岸之間已簽訂十五項協議，雙方互動已經常態化的今天，國民黨仍然被民進黨「傾中賣台」的血滴子緊緊箍住，幾乎不敢為自己的兩岸政策利多辯護。

民進黨不但是趁機金蟬脫殼，甚至還「回到從前」，毫無證據、想當然爾的提出「中國介入台灣選舉八套劇本」，在這些劇本中，民進黨從二○○四年大選就開始拉攏的台商，瞬間又被打成黑五類，被貶為中共在台的第五縱隊。這同樣也是吃定國民黨不敢反擊的負面選舉操作。

民進黨兩岸政策矛盾不只於此，該黨總統候選人蔡英文向來將ＥＣＦＡ說得一文不值，不但沒幫到農民、他們收入不增反減、種水果都是「嘸採工」，而且還惡化台灣的貧富差距；但她日前接受英國廣播公司訪問時，卻又公開表示，當選後不會廢除ＥＣＦＡ；一個在大選時被民進黨無情抹黑醜化的政策，當選後卻要繼續施行，任何民主國家的總統候選人，都不能出現這樣的矛盾，但台灣卻可以，因為負面選舉招數，已成最佳煙幕彈，讓民進黨可以輕騎過關。

在這場大選中，被置換掉的不只是兩岸議題。再如台灣農業未來如何轉型，民進黨則以水果一斤只值兩元這樣的假消息，轉移了真正該深入討論的焦點；如果選民不健忘，蔡英文之前一直矢言為年輕世代發聲，但是現在的民進黨卻得意洋洋、能夠逼使國民黨拿香跟拜、讓老農津貼加碼一千元，蔡英文大概也忘記不該將債務留給下一代這樣的原則了吧！

台灣已是民主國家，選民才是最後決定的人，當選民被各種選舉招數眩惑時，他們還是該記住：魔術師手法雖然千變萬化，但是最終不可能變出真正的東西；離選舉投票只有不到兩個月時間，還是請候選人拿出真正的牛肉吧！