Taipei's mayoral race has turned into a fight over the mayor's 15-year-old son, and the backlash looks bad for green-camp challenger Puma Shen.

• Chiang Wan-an's son has been picked apart over minor scout-group honors, and KMT councilor Ling Tao calls it a smear of a child who is not in politics.
• Shen's line that kids should be left out is being called hypocritical, since allies and TV pundits kept up the attacks anyway.
• The anger is pushing swing voters and KMT supporters to turn out, widening Chiang's lead instead of closing it.
• Elsewhere the opposition is splintering: the KMT-TPP deal in Zhubei collapsed, a passed-over DPP hopeful quit the party to run in Taichung, and New Taipei polling now shows the DPP's Su Chiao-hui ahead of Lee Si-chuan.

Outlook: If the attacks on the mayor's son continue, Shen risks being locked into the DPP base and hitting a record-low Taipei vote share.