This is the the second or third (memory is the first thing to go...) AFM election about which I've made predictions on this blog. Either I'm getting better at it or this one was a little easier.
The only things I missed this time were Bob McGrew not getting re-elected and Joe Parente not being the top vote-getting of the IEB candidates. That not-quite-meaningless honor went to Vince Trombetta, although Tino Gagliardi and Dave Pomeroy were only 4 and 5 votes behind respectively. Parente was 277; only three votes ahead of Tina Morrison, who won the fifth spot with 274 votes.
Maybe I can score Bob McGrew as an almost-correct prediction, given that he was the runner-up at 240 votes, although I doubt that's much consolation to Bob. And Pete Vriesenga didn't do as well as I thought he would; perhaps because he tied himself so closely to Tom. I guess I should detract a point or two for predicting that Vince would be one of the contenders for the fifth spot; obviously not what happened.
It's definitely a change election when even the popular IEB incumbents lose or come close to losing.
I'm told that Ray's campaign counted 414 votes he was likely to get in advance of the election. That is impressively good counting; he actually got 408. Ray was right when he spoke about how good his campaign team was.
Robert:
Thank you so much for your excellent coverage of the convention. You went so far beyond play by play...and way into historical retrospective, which I massively enjoyed. There's so much backstory on nearly everything in this union, and for us late-comers, sorting it all out is no easy mission. Thanks for supplying some perspective. I'll do my job smarter now because of your very smart blog.
Kathy O
Posted by: Kathy Osborne | June 26, 2010 at 01:57 PM
Robert,
Let me add my heartfelt thanks! You have helped bring about this change.
Posted by: 802fiddler | June 26, 2010 at 11:04 AM
Robert,
Thank you so much for your elegant, insightful and stunningly timely reporting throughout the Convention. I have to join in the chorus of the many Delegates I overheard thanking you for what you do with AFM Observer.
Posted by: Marc Sazer | June 25, 2010 at 09:55 AM