KMT chairmanship election

Two candidates have declared their interest in the KMT chairmanship election. The first is current acting chairman Wu Po-hsiung (吳伯雄), which is not a surprise. But the second registered candidate came as a real shock. Hong Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), the "iron lady" of Taiwan, saying she was a "new candidate, with new thinking and new hope."

Hong had planned on running in Yunghe District of Taipei county. She no longer has any such plans in mind. However, she did *not* rule out running for an at large legislative seat, only for a districted seat. She ruled out running for any legislative seat at all.

My favorite memory of Hong is her hitting a police officer during the Depose A-bian rallies. And not getting into any trouble. Twice (well, really two police officers). Good game, Hong! Because protecting Ma Ying-jeou, attacking police officers and being an overall jerk are the kind of "new thinking" and "new hope" that Taiwan needs.

There's an editorial that mentions her from the Taipei Times here.

Update: check the comments for a great link to a story about Hong training her dog to bite when it heard "A-bian," and how the dog bit the reporter covering the story!

國民黨主席補選／爆冷門！「鐵娘子」洪秀柱摃上吳伯雄 (ETTV)

國民黨主席補選作業8日上午9時許開始受理領表。除了代主席吳伯雄委託秘書長領表參選外，連6屆資深立委、號稱「鐵娘子」的洪秀柱，今天也大爆冷門，前往黨中央領表參選。洪秀柱參選聲明提出「新人選、新思維、新希望」。