Echoes of the Past
Swamp vs. Unite… Say that three times fast and it starts to sound like the 2002 battle between Swamp and Ignite. Heh. But it gets better – apparently the same people behind Ignite are helping behind the scenes with Unite, and some of the same demographic groups are backing Swamp in 2006 as they did four years ago.
Senate President John Boyles (Gator-Fine Arts) is taking most of the Gator Party establishment, plus presumably SHO and IRHA, and is turning it into the SWAMP Party. Senator Jared Hernandez (Gator-Law) is taking most of the Impact Party leadership, plus dissident Greeks who don’t fully trust John (a non-Greek), to make the Unite Party. But make no mistake – the nonGreek is the system candidate and the Greek is the anti-system candidate. Confused yet?
Well, apparently, there is a third party, the Most Valuable Party, made almost entirely out of athletes running. And a Grad Students et al Party, running exclusively in grad school senate seats. And there is an Access party redeux floating around, as well as a rumor of a potential wildcard party. Finally, there’s Susan Henriques running as an Independent for Treasurer.
Right now, my public and private sources suggest that Unite has the momentum, but that the sheer number of additional parties – especially this new all-athlete ticket – may scramble the calculus even more than the unconventional nominees (with echoes of 2002) have done for the two big parties.
Ken,
Check your sources. I am biased (just look at party names), but Swamp has the clear momentum and MVP is the only party that can take that away. I would be suprised if Unite gets serious consideration at the end of the day. Too unorganized and too dissident. There message is divisive, despite their party name. They are calling foul on the Gator Party and this is their reason for being.
Chris, I’ll admit that my private and public sources are biased. I’d love to get some balanced points of view, as it will help me work out this new novel I’m developing on SG campaigns.
But from what I’ve been told, I don’t see where Swamp is picking up support from where the Gator Party left off, and may be losing some from it. Perhaps you can better explain things.
But yes, a divisive message and/or lack of organization can be a major problem, as you and I have seen over the years.