With less than two months to go before polling day, the Kuomintang is anxious about voter apathy and cracks in the blue-white alliance — bad news for the blue camp's electoral prospects.

• Eric Chu said bluntly that this year's election mood is "unusually cold," with sharp swings in the stock market and the AI boom diverting attention, and that turnout will decide the outcome.
• He warned supporters not to back New Taipei mayoral candidate Lee Si-chuan only from the comfort of home, saying that watching the polls every day amounts to nothing and that they must go out and vote on November 28.
• KMT Chair Cheng Li-wun has barred the party's legislators from appearing at campaign events for Chiu Chen-yuan, the Taiwan People's Party candidate for Zhubei mayor, raising doubts about the state of blue-white cooperation.
• Vice Chair Hsiao Hsu-tsen said the two parties will not fall out and that Zhubei has "turned the page," but acknowledged that the race in Hsinchu County is extremely tight.
• Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an, meanwhile, is bogged down by a sugarcane controversy and food safety problems with school lunches, while his war of words with Democratic Progressive Party candidate Puma Shen is also heating up.

Outlook: A mass rally in Banqiao on October 4 will be a crucial test of the blue camp's ability to boost morale, with Han Kuo-yu, Hou Yu-ih, Chiang Wan-an and Lu Shiow-yen all sharing the stage.