Terry Gou Made it Official... 

* Foxconn Founder Terry Gou called a news conference on August 28 and declared his candidacy for president. Though he has been at the bottom of most opinion polls in recent months in a possible four-way race, he appeared unfazed and believed his "numbers will climb upward" after today's official announcement.

* Gou's decision to join the race was not a surprise. His aspiration to contest the top political office on the island is no secret. Though his first crack at the presidency was not successful in 2020, he has remained active in the public domain since, most notably the purchase of five million doses of BNT's anti-corona virus vaccine at the peak of the pandemic in 2021. Many thought he had given up on pursuing the presidency and would just remain a philanthropist on social and biotech issues, but Gou's political ambition "resurfaced" last April when he took part in the opposition KMT's nomination process. Yet again, he came up short and lost the nomination to New Taipei Mayor Hou You-yi.

* Now Gou's needs to undertake a signed-petition drive and must exceed 290,000 copies, which is 1.5% of the total electorate in the last presidential election, to put his name on the ballot. Despite Gou's optimistic beat at the news conference, it is a formidable challenge, particularly for someone that lacks grassroots organization to coordinate and reach that goal. Besides, a prospective candidate only has 45 days--from September 19 to November 2--to get the job done. In this day and age where a premium is placed on personal data protection, it's going to be tight.

* Some believe Gou is pursuing a strategy of "stop me, if you dare." He doesn't expect the KMT or the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) to take him seriously unless he has made significant progress toward becoming a candidate. Launching his candidacy today and making a split in the pan-Blue (KMT) camp a looming reality will achieve that objective. However, Gou would not want to risk shouldering the responsibility of breaking apart the opposition alliance, but he wants a seat at the table and be treated as equal.

* It would be premature for the DPP's William Lai to declare victory following Gou's announcement today, though that prospect is getting brighter. In a four-way race with Gou in it, Lai is expected to win a landslide. Everyone knows it's simple mathematics. Only the leaders of the opposition seemingly don't get it since everyone just sits and waits for someone else to make a mistake, either strategic or substantive. But the clock is ticking.....