Get thee to a nunnery: KMT presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu goes to ground, placing her ill-fought campaign on hiatus.
When I first heard of Hung's bid, I regarded her warily. She wasn't one of the KMT's heavyweights – but then again, Bill Clinton wasn't a Democratic heavyweight back in '92. And, similar to Clinton, there was something admirable in her willingness to throw her hat into the ring against near-overwhelming odds.
But within a week or two, she astonished everyone by stating that she couldn't rightly say that the Republic of China actually existed.
A baffling admission, from one wishing to be president of that supposedly non-existent country!
Since then, her campaign has descended into a clown show – her 15% approval rating testifies to that. Apparently, a sharp tongue ≠ political smarts.
Look, it was always going to be an uphill battle for the KMT after the misrule of President Ma Ying-jeou. A competent Kuomintang candidate might have managed a close (but face-saving) loss. Who knows what a brilliant one might have done?
If there's any lesson in all of this, it's that competitive party primaries are indispensable for discovering who party nominees truly are. Because had Hung Hsiu-chu been tested in debate with other KMT presidential hopefuls, her gaffes would have been made and pounced upon.
And she would have been quickly winnowed from the field.