KMT candidates largely held that reform should be carried out within the system, while the "DPP" called for "the future of Taiwan to be decided by all of its people," a demand which, if it means that day-to-day public policy should be decided by the people of Taiwan, is not unreasonable, but which some of the "DPP" candidates "extrapolated" to mean "self-determination."
國民黨籍候選人多主張體制內改革，使未來的政治更民主、更開放；而「民進黨」人士則提出「台灣前途由全體住民共同決定」。這句話如果是指一般性的公共政策應由台灣地區的人民決定，並非不合理；如果解釋為台灣可以自外於中華民國，則是明顯的違憲與違反國家的利益了。