I'm back ...

I know this blog has been left to founder under the crushing weight of neglect. I've been working on a big project, of which the first stage is complete, so now I can start posting normally again for awhile. The last post, the stream of consciousness thing, was a sign of duress and rather than subject you to more such malarkey, I just decided to take a week off.

As far as the elections go, I don't feel so bad for calling it wrong. Even the Asian Wall Street Journal missed it, and I covered my bases by warning you how off I usually am. So what's the final analysis? Humdrum stuff. The electorate goes for the status quo. President Chen Shui-bian will have more difficulty pushing his reforms. Chen steps down as party leader, so the only question left is what will happen to KMT party chairman Lien Chan in March, when his tenure expires and the party has to decide whether to keep him?

The past several days I've paid less attention to what I am reading and where I am reading it, but I know I saw an article, presumably in the Taipei Times, that suggested that the moderates in the party want Lien out now, and if that happens, they anticipate cooperating with Chen's government more thus breaking the gridlock that has plagued the legislature for the past four years.

I think it'll be a full on struggle. Lien simply strikes me as too vain to walk away with dignity. As deluded as it may seem, I wonder if he still has presidential ammbitions?