In politics,

Now that the presidential candidates from the major parties have been confirmed, the search is on for a running mate in both camps. As President Ma and his DPP challenger Tsai Ing-wen are virtually neck-and-neck in recent polls, either side is advised to make a creative nomination for the post in order to break the tie.

The 2012 presidential election will see Tsai Ing-wen and Ma Ying-jeou in a race against each other.

According to polls conducted by the media, Tsai and Ma are tied in their voter support.

Tsai is even leading in some polls.

While the blue camp was alarmed by the poll results, the green camp believes there's hope for victory for the DPP party.

With the two presidential candidates now confirmed, their running mates is now the focus of everyone's attention.

The KMT party is planning to have Ma Ying-jeou's running mate decided in June.

Currently, support is highest for Vincent Siew and Wu Den-yih for running mate, while others are calling for a female running mate that will be compatible to the leadership and agenda of Ma Ying-jeou.

In the DPP party, several names have been raised, from Tsai Su-pei, Tsai Hsieh-pei, to Su Chia-chuan.

Some have even proposed looking beyond the borders of the party to the head of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Lin Hsin-yi, or the president of Taiwan Central Bank, Peng Huai-nan.

However, the final decision lies with Tsai Ing-wen.

Certain legislators have also emphasized the importance of referring to public opinion.

The two parties are fussing over the running mates so that the candidates will be able to take advantage of the remaining nine months to prepare for their presidential election.