Yukio Hatoyama and Katsuya Okada, the two candidates in the Democratic Party of Japan's presidential election Saturday, both stuck to the party line in a public debate in which the only way they seemed to differentiate themselves from each other was in their choice of ties.
The two were apparently wary of media reports that the election may divide the party just when it needs to unite for the general election that must come by fall.
Having been President Ichiro Ozawa's right-hand man as party secretary general, Hatoyama and his supporters are naturally considered pro-Ozawa, while Okada, who had distanced himself from the departing chief, is gaining encouragement from the anti-Ozawa clan.