Time to Scramble...

* The four presidential candidates--William Lai, Ke Wen-je, Hou You-yi, and Terry Gou--begin September with a specific target that each wants to reach. With roughly four months before the January 13 vote, all four want to make sure major handicaps removed and poll positions strengthened.

* As the "first among equals" in opinion polls, Lai cannot afford to be complacent and plans to step up campaign activities around the island. Though Lai currently has a double-digit lead over the closest rival, he is fully aware that the opposition will intensify efforts to form a combined ticket in coming weeks and months. It's not the time to sit on his lead and look too far ahead.

*  KMT's Hou You-yi will visit the U.S., including D.C., in mid-September. Not well-known for his position on cross-Strait relations, Hou must convince U.S. policymakers that he will not "lean overwhelmingly" on Beijing, particularly in economic and technological areas. It remains to be seen as how he plans to deliver on that front.

* Similar to Lai, TPP's Ke Wen-je has outlined campaigning activities in the coming weeks, particularly in Central and Southern Taiwan. Ke has been slipping a bit in recent polls, with many unsure about his position on key issues, including cross-Strait relations. He has been advised to elaborate on key policies, but has protracted the process, which has been easily interpreted as an indication that he's not quite ready.

* Finally, Foxconn Founder Terry Gou has to put all of his efforts in the write-in, petition drive, which starts on September 19. The process is only 45 days to reach, at least, 290,000 copies. Though Gou's camp sounds optimistic, it's not an easy target to accomplish. If he's not able to generate that many, Gou won't be on the ballot as a write-in candidate. Moreover, if he's not able to submit substantially more copies than 290,000, say a cool million, he won't be able to generate adequate momentum going into the final campaign stretch.