But something is amiss out there. Word has been filtering into the SBSB news room as well as to members of The Crack Team that a another form of ballot splitting occuring. Which can be quite ominous for the Unity ticket.
From what we here have heard is that many members of Unity are fed up with Mulgrew. That this year nstead of voting for the Unity slate, these people with be voting Camille Eterno for president and voting for the rest of Unity.
Of course this is anecdotal, and some of it has come to us as second hand. But where there is smoke there is fire. So far in this election cycle we are seeing things never before seen from Unity. There have been attacks upon the opposition on Twitter and a professionally created web page. We have seen talking points and slogans that seem to have originated with focus groups and let's not forget one more thing; The smell of real fear coming from Unity.
Now of course we don't know how many in Unity are ballot splitting. We don't know if those that are taking this path are "official" members of Unity or just regular rank and file teachers like you and me. Heck, we don't even know if its a few dozen or so who are doing this or if there are hundreds. There is no way to know. But what we do know this years election cycle is different than in years past.
What does this say about Unity if that many are fed up with Mulgrew? Look long term. The worst thing for Unity would not be for it to lose the election, but to get under sixty percent of the vote. At least a total lost there probably will be people willing to fall upon there swords and have the foresight to reform the caucus. But if Unity stays in control and loses a significant percentage of votes the bloodletting can and will begin. It's time for the Unity house of cards to have some damage.
