Remarks made by Lai Ching-te during recent local visits have been seen as indirect mockery of his Blue-camp opponents, an unfavourable signal for the Kuomintang's candidates.

• On a visit to Yilan, Lai said he knew "you can't go to Yilan on a Saturday morning" because of the traffic — taken as a dig at Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an, who arrived nearly an hour late to a campaign event last Saturday.
• In Changhua, he praised Democratic Progressive Party candidate Chen Su-yueh for having worked the constituency for 20 years and "not just parachuting in at election time," a line read as aimed at Kuomintang candidate Wei Ping-cheng.
• The controversy over Wei's status as a parachute candidate has come mainly from within the Kuomintang itself; party legislator Hsieh I-feng publicly criticised the party's central leadership after his nomination in May.
• Wei describes himself as a born-and-bred native of Shetou, but he studied in Taipei, worked in trade for more than a decade, and now practises law in Taipei as well.
• This approach of not naming names leaves opponents to identify themselves, and makes the impressions of lateness and parachuting in that much harder to shake off.

Outlook: With the year-end mayoral and county magistrate races approaching, the personal image weaknesses of Blue-camp candidates are likely to remain a focus of attack and defence.