Only three months ago, Kan was chosen as the DPJ’s top leader to restore its public image, which had been severely tarnished by political-financing scandals involving his predecessor as prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, and a separate scandal involving Ozawa. Hatoyama’s mismanagement of Japan’s relations with the United States, centered on the relocation of a Marine base in Okinawa, had also dented the DPJ’s standing.
菅开始以民主党领袖身份出现不过是三个月前的事，当时前任首相鸠山由纪夫的政治献金事件和另一桩涉及小泽的丑闻使该党声誉大为受损。鸠山首相对日美关系的不当处理——以冲绳岛海军基地迁移问题为焦点——也对民主党造成不利影响。