UFT staffers and members said that an endorsement of Thompson was likely, but won't be a done deal until the members vote on the issue Wednesday afternoon.
The UFT then plans to hold a news conference announcing the endorsement at its lower Manhattan headquarters at around 5:45 p.m.
"All signs are pointing to Thompson," said a teachers union chapter leader who asked to remain anonymous. "Things seem to be lining up for his endorsement."
The national teachers' union endorsed Thompson, as has Merryl Tisch, the chancellor of the state Board of Regents who enjoys relatively good relations with the UFT.
Thompson is being heavily funded by Al D'amato and corporate backers as well as Merryl Tisch.
The good news in all of this is, as Mayor Bloomberg noted yesterday, a UFT endorsement is the "kiss of death" for a candidate.
No UFT-endorsed mayoral candidate has won since David Dinkins in 1989.
So maybe the best thing that could happen if you're opposed to Thompson is to have the UFT endorse him.
Doesn't a UFT endorsement almost guarantee a loss?
I am curious as to how this will go down tomorrow? Like this in 2009? http://protectportelos.org/what-if-the-uft-had-endorsed-bill-thompson-for-mayor-in-2009/
ReplyDeleteNo Thompson! No Tisch.
I suspect it will go down just the way Mulgrew's re-election went down - with a yawn from most members. Unfortunately.
DeleteIn 2009, Jonathan Halabi spoke in the Oct. DA and passionately stated the need to endorse Thompson. It was to get another mayor that was NOT Bloomberg and if Thompson wins the 2009 election, for teachers to heal from the barrage of attacks. However, Paul Egan stood up and said that it would be impossible for Thompson to win because of the millions ($100M) that Bloomberg had spent.
ReplyDeleteWe all know the lesson learned on that day. Bloomberg won by approximately 50,597 votes (Bloomberg: 585,466; Thompson: 534,869 - 50.7% to 46.3%) and another four years of tyranny continued. The Mayor4Life stole a third term, paid an obscene amount of money to secure his position, continued to break edlaws, under funded schools where class size got larger each and every year, closed schools, co-located charter schools, installed incompetent chancellors, allowed no-bid contracts to vendors who have stolen from the city's coffers, refused to negotiate in good faith to give teachers a raise and a contract, and maintained his status as a wealthy billionaire where his empire has quadrupled from $4 billions in 2001 to $16 billions.
That was then when the lesser of two evils was to endorse Thompson. But, today the members and the UFT leadership can make the right choice. Thompson's close relationship with Tisch may border on conflict of interest. If Thompson's elected, how much of his ties to her and his promise to the teachers may create uncomfortable situations and unnecessary decisions for teachers that seem to pander to her?
I would hope that the UFT listens to the rank and file. Many favor DiBlasio or Liu. But if the kiss of death has to fall on a candidate, then let the smacking of the lips on Thompson's cheek begin.
The UFT leadership think they are much smarter than everybody else. And just look at all the results that prove it!
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