Taiwan's KMT is heading into the local elections complaining it cannot land a punch on the ruling party, a sign the opposition expects a tough fight.

• Legislative speaker Han Kuo-yu told a party workshop the KMT has "only swords, no bows" — plenty of scandals to point at, but no way to fire them at the public.
• His argument: the KMT's media reach is far weaker than the ruling party's, so its own mistakes get magnified while the government's get smoothed over.
• He said a lot of what is said about the opposition is simply made up, pointing to years of attacks on himself and his family.
• His advice to candidates was to keep a thick skin and stay friendly even with the people attacking them.

Outlook: Expect the KMT to push hard on corruption allegations in the run-up to the mayoral and county elections while blaming unfriendly media for any lack of traction.