PUMA Takes Over
Filed under: 2008 elections — Michael van der Galien, Editor-in-Chief on June 28, 2008 @ 5:41 pm CEST
That’s a short video, probably making you wonder ‘what the hell was that?’ Well, it is the official video, and symbol, of Puma: a group of active Hillary Clinton supporters who are not exactly ready to rally behind Barack Obama now that he has won the nomination of his party. Instead of uniting the party, this group - a very, very large group indeed - says “party unite my ass” (hence; Puma).
The somewhat official site of the Pumas is “Just Say No Deal,” run by Diane Mantouvalos. An article about her and her fellow Pumas was published in the Washington Post yesterday:
Diane Mantouvalos is an anger-shaker. The night before Clinton announced the suspension of her campaign, Mantouvalos was at home in Miami checking posts on her blog and sensing a mood that went beyond disillusionment, beyond sadness, beyond “I’m upset and bummed out.” As co-creator of Hireheels.com, which describes itself as “a forum of power chics for Hillary,” Mantouvalos hangs out on the sassy edge of the blogosphere. Feeling more empowered than embittered, the public relations consultant wondered: “Wouldn’t it be great if we could thread all of these disparate factions and form one coalition?” A brassy coalition of rebels.
On June 8, the evening after Clinton conceded the Democratic presidential contest to Barack Obama, Mantouvalos organized a conference call with some 40 bloggers, political activists and other hardened loyalists of the New York senator’s, in what became “a jam session of very intense opinion” — about the party, its leadership, its presumptive nominee, the media. Five hours later, Mantouvalos, age “north of 35,” had built a new Web site, JustSayNoDeal.com, which has become a clearinghouse for the renegade forces that are now confounding Democratic Party officials and Obama campaign operatives.
Democratic leaders insist — and polls indicate — that the vast majority of Clinton supporters, including women, already have flocked to Obama or eventually will. But the effectiveness of the Internet as an organizing tool for dissent is creating concern and uncertainty about the scope and intensity of those unwilling to fall in line…
Though not all have the same specific grievances or agree on a course of protest, they are linked by their dissatisfaction with the primary process and its result, and are unpersuaded by the gestures of heroine Hillary.
Several groups are planning marches in Denver, the site of this summer’s Democratic National Convention. Others are organizing a Clinton write-in campaign or have switched to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), creating sites to promote his candidacy. Some have more targeted interests, such as establishing an ongoing critique of misogyny in the media, pressing for changes in Democratic National Committee rules on delegate selection, even the ouster of national party chairman Howard Dean. “Howard Dean is running this party like it is a Soviet-style dictatorship,” fumed Faith Chatham, a Clinton delegate to the Texas Democratic convention.
There are quite some blogs that are run by Pumas. For instance:
1. No Quarter
The latter was, as far as I know, quite a modest blog only a couple of months ago, but it’s now a blog with hundreds of comments beneath each and every post. In short; there seem to be a whole lot of angry Clinton supporters out there.
Although my initial assessment is that of the Democratic leadership - that the Pumas don’t truly form a threat right now - I think that they could most certainly pose a threat to Obama in November. They are energizing people through the Internet. It seems that they are quite effective. Increasingly more former Clinton supporters sign up. They’ve got a real movement going; once a movement gets going it’s often difficult to stop it.
Obama et al. should have tried to stop this movement weeks ago. Instead they assumed that all Democrats would simply support Obama in November, after all, he’s the Democratic nominee. ‘They may complain and nag now,’ the Democratic leaders thought, ‘but they’ll do what they have always done in November; vote Democrat.’
That assumption may have been incorrect. Clinton and Obama are now trying to unite the party, but many Clinton supporters are listening to their (former) leader no longer. They are fed up with what they see as politics as usual, and they strongly believe that Clinton was fighting against the entire Democratic establishment and the media; both, they say, actively tried to help Obama win. Additionally, the Pumas say, many votes have not been counted. Voters have been disenfranchised they say, and all those who opposed Obama from the get-go were quickly labeled ‘racists.’ They’re angry, and not quite willing to compromise.
The main question is, however, what they want. They’re creating a movement, but what is it’s purpose? Is it simply to prevent Obama from being elected? If so, they’ll have a hard time succeeding; negative goals don’t fire people up as much as positive goals do. This means that they have to come up with a plan to take over the Democratic party in one way or another.
No, we are not taking a position for or against this movement. We’re simply noting it exists.
1 mary
June 28, 2008 @ 9:30 pm CESTDear Bloggers how would you act if someone called you a racist? Get a clue man. Clinton saved this country in the 1990’s. Our country is in the pits and you want to belittle this guy? He still is the BEST president we ever had. Stop drinking the OBAMA cool-aid. The Obama campaign called this great and former president a racist. That is unbelievable!!! Hillary supporter, woman voting NO to Obama cult club.
2 Jeanette
June 28, 2008 @ 9:51 pm CESTWell I’m one of those African Americans that says NO DEAL to OBAMA. Obama has done NOTHING, in fact he has taken the least of us and sold us down the river, to enrich his own political power in Chicago.
What do I mean…I’m talking about Tony Rezko…the convicted Slum Lord that donated money and property to another typical corrupt politican. That with Obama’s help was able to get 250 million dollars loans for those death traps call public housing.
Words matter and yes they do, but actions speak louder then words.
Obama is a lot of "Hot air" and little actions. NO Unity, NObama in NOvember.
3 RAFREE
June 28, 2008 @ 11:01 pm CESTLong term what do PUMAS want? The DNC leadership needs to clean up it’s act!! They have to return to their principles. They cannot be allowed to sit silent for rampant sexism when it benefits the one they wanted to "install", they cannot ignore cheating in caucus states. They gamed the system, insulted voters who were told to "stay home" and "we don’t need the base anymore" Okay, Donna Brazile, Howard Dean, Pelosi and the rest of you, who sat silent and did not stand up to the sexist media and who allowed those of us who are life long foot soldiers for your liberal causes…we’re done working for you only to be back stabbed and lied to. If they don’t replace these lying, pandering people who treated this process as if the U.S. was a banana republic then we’re not going along to get along. Long term goals are that this can NEVER be allowed to happen again. If we don’t stand up to it obviously no one else is going to. Our party has allowed one candidate to use republican tactics against one of it’s own and her supporters. No integrity left. Bottom line? I no longer trust them or their candidate of choice from 2004 on, to have any of my best interests at heart or to do a thing they are promising they will do. But be held accountable they will before any sort of "unity" will happen ever again. You don’t betray your most trusted foot soldiers this way and then expect them to not stand up. They have under estimated us. We are liberals, we don’t "fall in line’ when we see injustice and we have years of practice at protesting…this time it will serve us very, very well. Alice Palmer knows who Obama really is and so do we. See you in Denver!
4 kenoshaMarge
June 28, 2008 @ 11:06 pm CESTSame for this old Democrat is Wisconsin. Voted straight Democratic ticket for 40 years. This year will cast my first Republican vote ever.
The Democratic Party has much to answer for and should not expect lifelong party loyalists to blindly enable their corruption. This is no longer about Senator Clinton. This is about the corruption of the Democratic Party and it’s pathetic excuse for leadership.
NOBAMA!
5 Paula
June 28, 2008 @ 11:35 pm CESTKudos to kenoshaMarge. I have only been voting stratight Democratic since 1976, every single day of my voing life. I am in Arizona, so my November 2008 vote for John McCain will not mean as much as some others, but down-ticket Democrats may want to be careful from here on out. I will no longer be the imbecile who blindly votes for Democrats. Howard Dean and the others are miserable representatives of a once great Party.
6 REFUSE the Public Manipulation! » Archive » I likes this article
June 29, 2008 @ 3:14 pm CEST[…] http://poligazette.com/2008/06/28/puma-takes-over/ […]
7 sparkos
June 29, 2008 @ 7:03 pm CESTI too was a lifelong Democrat of 40 yers who has left the party…actually I realized through the primary season that it indeed had left me…nothing there left to support of my convictions or ideals.
8 blatham
June 30, 2008 @ 4:55 pm CESTUm…actually folks, given Rush’s "operation chaos" (where Republicans pretend to be Democrats to cause division and attempt to lift the electoral opportunities of the Republican candidate) your testimonials above ring a tad hollow.
And then if we take into account that ‘clintonsformccain.com’ was registered May 15 by The Republican National Committee (see register.com, whois lookup) this all gets rather more incredulous. We’ll note that a writer at Wired got wind of this registration, queried the RNC (who didn’t respond) then published a piece on it June 5. Coincidence of coincidences, the original site was never activated BUT on June 4, a second registration was made for ‘clintons4mccain.com’ but this time with the registrant’s identity hidden. The folks running this second site are, as most of you likely know, are also involved in organizing justsaynodeal.
9 Chevalier
July 1, 2008 @ 2:31 pm CESTBlatham, get a clue. I’ve been a life f-ing long Democrat, used to laugh at people who called themselves Republican. And I’m a PUMA now. Obama is to Hillary what Bush was to Gore, and he was propped up by a corrupt, unimaginative media (the same one that supported the Iraq war) and by a lifeless DNC (the same one that lost an election to George Bush, and the same one that passed the FISA last week). He’s an idiot, and as someone said on the Confluence, I’m not voting for McCain merely because he’s the lesser of two evils - I also believe Obama is the evil or two lessers.
10 Grace
July 3, 2008 @ 7:10 pm CESTI’ve got to say, I don’t get it. I don’t get how these PUMA types are so ready to chop off their own noses. Admittedly, I skew out of the age group — this is only my third presidential election — but I’m also a woman in the workforce who’s held a fair number of management positions and experienced the glass ceiling phenomena. Yeah, it’d be nice to have a woman in the Oval Office, but I didn’t think this woman was the right one. I thought there was a better choice. It’s somewhat stunning to me that this splinter group have decided to blame Obama for pretty much everything that didn’t go their way. Florida and Michigan, a decision handed down while Hillary was the clear frontrunner – rigged for Obama. Caucases, which the Clinton camp basically ignored – Obama cheated! Bill Clinton saying something damn stupid – somehow, Obama’s on the hook for that one as well, his people “played the race card”. He’s to blame for Hillary “misstating” Bosnian sniper fire as well, though I can’t quite figure out how, he just IS. The media’s misogyny – well, Obama should’ve come out and made a speech about that. The former Hillary supporters are pissed: fine. But they’re ticked about a host of things, sourcing back to all sorts of people, and it’s bizarre that they’ve chosen to land it all at Obama’s feet. The overwhelming feeling seems to be that they’re pissed the frontrunner woman didn’t get the nom, and while I get that, I don’t get how you respond to that disappointment by voting for the guy who wants to restrict abortion and continue these bellicose Middle Eastern wars! Maybe all of the “long-time Dem voters” just want the chance to do something big and flashy, to prove that their votes count after years of being trounced by Republicans. To them I say: I’m 28. The gears of the next administration are going to be in prime position to run right over the years I intend to use to marry, start a family, buy a house, set myself up as a law-abiding and contributing American. It’s going to be tough enough during a recession with a colossal national debt – adding at least 4 years MORE of the policies that brought us to this position? It’s going to be very damaging to my generation. We’re already struggling. My parents are going to retire soon, and I need to be in place to support them. And you’re willing to throw in with the candidate who’s most likely to take all of that out at the knees. So no, I don’t believe that these PUMA types are truly pro-woman, or pro-family or really pro anyone but themselves. You are not hurting the Democratic party. You are hurting ME and the rest of my generation, and the worst bit is, I’m pretty sure you’re going to spin around if McCain wins and snarl “LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO.”
11 steve at High Ridge
July 19, 2008 @ 1:53 pm CESTThank god for PUMA and the angry cat snarl. Obama proudly refers to himself as a Community Organizer. What is a Community Organizer? I could never get an answer. So I changed my question: who is a Community Organizer. The answer came easy: Al Sharpton. Al Sharpton is a Community Organizer. I no want no Community Organizer no way to be my president. Maybe Reverand Wright can help me pray for nobama in November.
12 RRRocks
July 19, 2008 @ 3:09 pm CESTPerhaps what many who dont get the puma anger fail to understand is how they believe that the election was stolen from Hillary Clinton and put into Mr. Obamas lap by Republican crossover voters who may or may not vote for him in November.
In the early campaigning with the total lack of enthuasim for their own candidates GOP’ers began crossing over to do the one thing they vowed to do. Prevent Hillary from entering the White House ever again. Many guesses is that Obama’s delegates are as much as 10 percent larger then they would have been had these GOP’ers not crossed over.
Thus take away the 10 percent of Obama’s popular vote, Delegate count and hand it to Hillary and you have Hillary as the nominee.
In fairness once the Delegate count and popular vote was firmly in Obama’s hands then the GOP’ers showed less inclination to vote for Obama and in fact started voting for Hillary to prolong the contest. Thus giving her an increase of perhaps 8-10 percent in Votes and Delegates. However by this time the Senator had built up momentum and the Superdelegates rather then looking at what was happening decided to flock to Obama.
In essennce the election was stolen from Hillary and her supporters……….ACCORDING TO THEM………..by the GOP crossovers who may or may not vote for Obama in the fall. It is this one thing more then any other that angers them. Imagine how you would feel as an Obama supporter if the Democrats concluded yes this is true and gave the nomination to HILLARY right now.
You would be furious and it would be very hard to stomach voting for Hillary. That is essentially what is fueling those who refuse to crossover to Obama. I believe it is about 5-7 percent of the Democratic party. As a result I think its why Obama only has a 3-6 percent lead instead of a 20 point lead over McCain.
Personally I think all these polls are skewed with PUMA types claiming to vote for McCain but come November I doubt they will vote for McCain and will in fact vote for Obama or stay home. Either way Obama is our next president.
13 Gina
July 27, 2008 @ 10:47 pm CESTTHE PUMAS ARE TOTALLY JUSTIFIED … 1. Contrary to what Obamabots say … Obama and Hillary were in a dead heat, when the DNC pressured Hillary into not only conceding, but campaigning for Obama. 2. Obama is once again in a dead heat, but now with McCain, even though Obamabots act like Obama has already won (like they did in the primaries against Hillary). So, this means that half of the Democrats, and all the Republicans (3/4 of America) dIdn’t want Obama. Plus, he didn’t even win the popular vote, and refused a revote in Michigan and Florida. 3. Obama has the thinnest resume in politics, and he won state legislature and Senator by disqualifications of his opponents, not by earned experience, or votes. 4. Obama’s one claim to fame is being a community organizer, where he boasts of registering voters. Then he took their votes away from them, by disqualifying his opponents on technicalities, prior to the election. 5. Obama’s mentor of 20 years, was an anti-American racist … not to mention other unsavory associations. 6. Obama is simply buying the election, since he’s good at fund raising … hardly a qualification to be President of the United States. 7. The media never vetted Obama, and they are giving him a free ride, plus more than twice the print and air time as McCain, as they did against Hillary. 8. 90% of blacks are voting for Obama, because he is black, while the campaign gained ground by accusing most opponents of racism. 9. Obamabots were, and are extremely nasty and sarcastic towards Hillary supporters, as well as McCain supporters. 10. Pumas should be applauded for putting country before party … especially a party that did not represent them, and a party which highjacked the nomination for Obama.
14 Elli
August 22, 2008 @ 10:13 am CESTPlease remember that Hillary Clinton has endorsed Barack Obama for President. Senator Clinton has stated that the differences between her and Sen. Obama are more style than substance. She expects to work with a President Obama to end this horrific era of wars, to preserve women’s rights particularly related to their bodies and livelihoods, and towards universal health insurance. Clearly, the white haired dude will be a major obstacle to any of these and other ideals, and will shut out Sen. Clinton’s views 1000%
15 Claudia, Assistant Editor
August 22, 2008 @ 10:47 am CESTUgh, now that I had promised I’d ignore the PUMAs because I had arrived at the conclusion that their leaders are frauds and their followers are either duped or insane or both, but now I’ve got to make a whole post on the subject of why this group is not credible on virtually any level.
I can’t spend the time to fully describe the matter here, but suffice it to say that the leaders lie every time they open their mouths (they claimed to have raised millions for Clinton only to have to admit they’d raised about $50,000), while they say they are a "very very very large group" they have thusfar shown very little actual evidence outside web traffic (which anyone who has observed Ron Paul knows is not indicative of wide support). They couldn’t even get 250 people to show for a conference, and though I don’t doubt that they’ll get 100-150 people to scream obscenities in Denver, that doesn’t represent a groundswell of support (you couldn’t get 150 skinheads in a pinch?).
More later on the subject.
16 Jason, Managing Editor
August 22, 2008 @ 11:47 am CESTWhat is the evidence of its size? Paulbots proved that number of comments doesn’t indicate a large group size, right?
At the end of the day, ideology will trump. I think the "PUMA" phenomenon might peel away some of the few conservative Democrats that remain after the MoveOn purges of the past few years (especially given McCain’s relative moderation on many issues), but after the attack machine gets done with him, most Democrats will have been made to believe that McCain is two steps to the right of Hitler and, even worse, approaching George W. Bush in his level of evil, so such people will likely hold their nose and vote Obama anyway. After all, the kind of emotionaly over-reactive people who embrace the "PUMA" tantrum (let’s call it what it is, an "our candidate didn’t win….WAAAAAHHHHHH!" tantrum) and who read and write the blogs you reference aren’t known for their critical thinking skills (how long has it been since Larry Johnson guaranteed the existence of that "whitey" tape again????).