Anson Chan Fang On-sang's 12 percentage point victory over Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee in Sunday's Legislative Council by-election was, by any count, a clear margin. Yet, the fact of the matter is that we in the democratic camp feel we had a close shave.
That is because this was no ordinary election; it was a battle between the two camps behind the principal candidates and the values they stand for. This became exquisitely clear in the last week of campaigning, after the district council elections. Up until then, Mrs Ip's campaign had been run on a strategy of softening her image by taking a moderate position in order to blur the line between herself and Mrs Chan.
At the same time, an offensive campaign was mounted to attack Mrs Chan's image and credibility. But, in the final week, the real issue came to the fore.
It was a battle between the democratic movement, which has taken root and grown in Hong Kong, and the 'leftist' and pro-Beijing forces with their mainland connections; between Hong Kong's core values and the Hong Kong way of life, and deference to the wishes and authority of Beijing; between the open and orderly Hong Kong style and its opposite.
Starting with the election debate in Chater Garden the Sunday before polling day, the support behind Mrs Ip's campaign emerged in force, with its sea of orange banners and teams of campaigners - not only the recognisable colours of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. Throughout the final week, wherever the democrats went to campaign under Mrs Chan's crimson banners, they ran into the orange team. Orange banners surrounded MTR exits and lined the streets at strategic locations. The crimson forces were outnumbered and outmanoeuvred everywhere.
Throughout the long polling day, the fight was intense in every district. Orange reinforcements were seen to rush to the scene within minutes. One important tactic for the team on Mrs Ip's side was to block the democrats from effective rallying in the streets, while keeping up their behind-the-scenes tactics of calling on voters at home to come out, and organising groups of voters to go to polling stations.
To counter this, we democrats had to somehow break through the barricade and get our message across to the public, but we had few weapons at our disposal.
