Fake Assassination Attempt Turns Election

Executive Summary: On March 19, 2004, the eve of election day, President Chen Shui-bian and Vice-president Annette Lu were traveling in a motorcade in the DPP stronghold of Tainan. Both Chen and Lu were standing in the rear of an open Jeep Wrangler, clinging to the rollbar. At 1:45 pm, the two candidates were allegedly subjected to a hail of semi-automatic pistol fire from the right shoulder of the roadway. Miraculously, the two candidates received exactly one gunshot wound each. No more, no less. More miraculously, the two candidates received only "flesh wounds," the kind suffered by lantern-jawed leading men in 50s Hollywood movies. Most miraculously of all, the two candidates, who were trailing by 10% in the polls, were "re-elected" by a 0.2% margin the following day, making this failed assassination attempt the most successful assassination attempt in recent memory.