On Obama’s Nomination…
August 28, 2008 by PUMA Pundit
This is GrandPUMA, and I am speaking for myself. Not for P.U.M.A and not for any of the other coalition groups or other members of P.U.M.A.
Apart from being a devoted and dedicated PUMA, I am also the webmaster of this site. Consequently, I get to see the hundreds of reader posts and comments which come our way. Yes, I read them all, and it seems the coherent albeit negative ones all center around a few things… I am going to respond to the main themes in them:
Firstly, as PUMAs we are united in our belief that Obama is an usurper who used less than stellar / transparent / fair play methods as a way of clinching the nomination of the Democratic Party. We believe that if a free and fair primary election proccess was held, Hillary Clinton would have emerged as the party nominee. While all this might be water under the bridge, and Obama is now the nominee, his ascenscion to that distinction is not one we can or shall support. An illegality can never bring forth a legality. Breaking into someone’s home and stealing their belongings still makes you a thief, Obama stole my vote, and 18 million votes that came with it. That is personal, and cannot be undone.
Secondly, not all PUMAs support McCain or shall be voting for McCain in November, nor is PUMA a covert GOP operation. Many of us who are PUMAs are undecided voters, and shall probably remain so till election day, on which we shall either vote for McCain, Write-In Hillary Clinton, vote for a Third-Party or Candidate, or just not vote for President at all.
Thirdly, and this is addressing the McCain issue head on. Based on his track record in Congress, and not mere political rhetoric typical of an election year, John McCain is as centrist as can be when it comes to political ideology. He has crossed the aisle many times to support positions the GOP was against and the Dems were for. While I understand he has to do what he has to do to get elected, based on his track record, I have no doubt that he will continue taking a bi-partisan approach to issues if he is elected. While it is not my intention or desire to play his advoctate, the hundreds of letters we get saying he is some variant of the devil’s apprentice are pure balderdash.
Those who want support Obama are free and welcome to do so, but I was brought up believing that America is the land of the free. I was brought up to believe America was a land where as a citizen, my vote counts for something, a land where the people control who gets to lead and not a cabal of opinion makers plotting and scheming behind closed doors.
The proccess which brought George Bush to the White House in 2000 shook this belief to the core, the proccess which has taken Obama to the democratic nomination injured it. If trickery, intimidation and the race card are the method by which one gets into higher office in America, I want no part of it.
In March 1775, Patrick Henry stated inter alia: It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace– but there is no peace. … Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! Well, in 2008, the imposition of Barack Obama on the Democratic Party is no different from the impostion of the authority of the crown of England on the 13 colonies in 1775. In the interest of “The Party” and retaking the White House we are all supposed to forget that we were robbed of our votes? We are supposed to forget that chains went out with slavery? No way.
Apologies to Pelosi, Reid and Obama, but not this time. If it takes another 8 years of Republicans in the White House to teach the powers that be in the Democratic Party that those of us who vote for the party’s candidates are Free Citizens and not mere pawns, then so be it.
If only 10% of Hillary’s 18 million voters stay true to course and show the Party that we are NOT for sale, Barack Obama would not be elected President in November, and that in itself would be a fitting coup de grace for those of us who refused to be bamboozled by an Obama candidacy.
Posted by GrandPUMA
I respectfully disagree with you. Before I do so I would like to apologize for others who have disrespectfully disagreed with you, because this season it seems like there are a lot. I am disappointed with the PUMA characterization of Obama supporters as mindless drones who have hopped onto some sort of chess board as pawns. I have always loved Hillary, but I have also been keenly interested in Obama since 2004. When I had to choose between the two of them I sat down and made a hard choice - and just because I did not choose Hillary it does not mean that I am stupid, or naive, or a misogynist. I live in Michigan and we here knew the consequences of voting early - we took a measured stand to protest the stranglehold of Iowa and other states at the start of the process. PUMAs have unfairly absorbed Michigan as proof that Obama somehow stole the primary from Clinton - but that intentionally misses the point of what we did and why. Obama did not steal this election from Hillary Clinton, she fumbled the election and he picked up the ball. She was the candidate of experience, and she knew better than to write off caucus states as if they did not matter. But she did ignore them and so she lost them. If you think that Obama’s advertisements and the things that a couple of his kooky unbalanced supporters said or did drastically changed the election or stole it - then you must believe, at a fundamental level, that most Americans and Democrats are mindless and stupid people. But they aren’t, they made their decisions. There were people on both sides that ought to regret their actions and hurtful words, but the majority of us made our decisions - in a close race, and Clinton did not win. Early on Obama supporters in overwhelming margins said that in such a close race if Hillary won they would support her. Clinton supporters at the same time were saying the opposite, and continue now that it is over to say these things that show a profound disrespect to Hillary Clinton.
Whether you vote vote for McCain directly or simply refuse to vote for Obama (thereby delivering a 2nd-graders ‘coup de grace’ by ensuring a McCain presidency) you are spitting on the legacy and the hopes of Hillary. You are saying with that action that you want to deprive every woman the right to choose whether she has to have the child growing inside her. You are saying that you want to spread poverty, misery, and the continued death of our soldiers on a misguided guerrila war. You are voting to continue offering tax breaks to companies that go overseas. A vote of omission is still a vote for all these things. And in the end it still spits in the eye of Hillary and everything she hoped to accomplish.
Well, you may think that it is o.k. for Republicans to rule for another eight years to TEACH the Democratic party a lesson. Tell that to the families who are having their houses repossessed or burying their soldier children or the elderly who can’t afford to live on their retirements! There but for the grace of God go any of us and this election is too important to peoples’ lives for you to be so self-righteous. Get a Democrat elected and then work behind the scenes to get you agenda heard. Coup de grace my ass! I will say it again, “PUT ON YOUR BIG GIRL PANTIES AND GET OVER IT!” I think you are more interested in you own little “outrage club” with your angry puma photo, than in truly getting positive change accomplished!
This is my second post. The first one never made it on to your website. If this one doesn’t either, I’ll assume that all of your talk about freedom and the democratic process is nothing more than BS).
I remain skeptical of your motives in launching this effort to torpedo the nomination and election of Barack Obama. But I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt for the moment that your intentions are sincere. Having only recently visited this website and without spending half a day looking through all the posts, maybe you could succinctly lay out your case for exactly why you think the nomination was stolen from Sen. Clinton, rather than her losing the nomination due to a poorly run campaign by the Clinton machine and Bill Clinton’s mouth vs. the charisma and superior campaign organization of Barack Obama. And I’m looking for specific things that were said or done to support your case. In spite of Hillary Clinton’s many fine qualities, she carries enormous baggage in the name of Bill. Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity were salivating at the prospect of a Hillary campaign in the general election. The belief by her and the people around her early on that she was the presumptive nominee didn’t help her cause. Maybe if she had started the campaign the way she finished, she would have won the nomination. I guess we will never know. And championing the candidacy of John McCain as a reasonable facsimile to Hillary Clinton is ludicrous. I am 58. I am too old to let a Republican inhabit the White House another 8 years. That’s 8 years without universal health care. 8 years without meaningful tax breaks for the nearly extinct middle class. 8 years of war in Iraq and who knows where else. 8 years without real leadership on alternative energy or quality education or a revitalized economy. Maybe you can wait 8 years, but I can’t. And America and the world can’t either.
Attention families losing your houses, don’t buy a house unless you can afford it thankyou. Attention people burying loved one who were soldiers, don’t let them volunteer unles your willing to accept a possible death in combat. Attention retired people with not enough money, perhaps you should have saved more instead of spening like liberals in crongress. notice these are all personal problems, not any presidents fault. Thinking Osama can fix these problems, well thats your own fault.
On another note. I found your article well written. However your going to get a few million brick bats thrown at you from your kind, understanding, and tolerant liberal friends.
I agree with you GrandPUMA. John McCain is an acceptable choice for Democrats. Most of us believe Hillary would have been a much better choice but she is not on the ticket so we must pick McCain or Obama.
I have always stood up for my principles, even when it was not a popular choice. If we expect to prevent a political party from ever “selecting” a nominee again, we must make a resounding statement — This will NOT be tolerated.
When there is a Republican in the White House for the next 4 years or the next 8 years, the blame will fall DIRECTLY on the the DNC, not the average American who stands up for their right to vote and casts their vote for the most qualified person on the ticket.
The DNC and the super delegates had the opportunity to put Senator Clinton at the top of a winning ticket and they made a choice not to do so. The fault lies squarely on their shoulders.
So, PUMA members. Be proud that you have the right to stand up for your beliefs. If you can vote for McCain then please do so. That is the strongest move to make to help assure Obama does not win. If you can not vote for McCain, then take what you belief is the next best action. I would respectfully ask that all of you who live in swing states would consider voting for McCain. This patriotic acion on your part will carry more weight than those of us who live in states that are not in play in November.
I will leave you with this quote: “Each one of us can make a difference. Together we make change.”
Barbara Mikulski
Grand Puma, I respectfully agree with most of your comments. I am a proud Democrat and have been a Democrat since I was born (or so I would like to believe). I supported Hillary Clinton during the CA primary and still continue to support her today. By the way, the CA primary was the first election I voted in since I registered to vote. I believe Hillary Clinton was unfairly bashed by the media and by the Democratic elite. Their unwillingness to allow all voters a voice to declare who they want to be their nominee allowed Barack Obama to win. Unfortuantely, despite all that has happened so far, Barack Obama has done nothing to earn my vote. I am stuck because I do not know who to support. I can’t imagine myself saying I voted for a Republican or my first presidential vote went to a Republican. I would like to say that I would sleep soundly if McCain were president.
Keep up the good work. If Barack Obama does not come to respect all of Hillary’s supporters, there will be no unity!
I just don’t get it. PUMAs, what’s with all the hostility??? After seeing the recent Daily Show piece about the pro-Hillary / Anti-Obama movement (absolutely hilarious in my view), I wanted to find out more about why so many pro-Hillary Democrats and independents are so opposed to Obama. I’m an Obama supporter, and had misgivings about Hillary during the primary, but would avidly vote for Hillary in the general election if she had won. So why are so many pro-Hillary voters not returning the love?
From what I’ve read on this website, and others like it, there seem to be 3 issues keeping PUMAs (and their brethren) from voting for Barack. First, and the most prominent, is the claim that Obama hijacked the primary election, or the primary election was rigged in his favor by the DNC, the Democratic elites, and the media. Second, Obama has recently changed his position on key issues regarding gun control, civil rights associated with the Patriot Act, and election campaign money. Third, and the most out there in my view, is that his connection to once radical William Ayers, however tenuous, means Obama is waiting to implement a radical agenda once he’s elected President.
I agree with PUMAs that with regard to the second complaint, Obama switching positions, that he appears to be contradicting his stated principles. This to me is a legitimate complaint, and all I can say right now is I hope that’s just election pandering, and that his presidency will correct these missteps. The third complaint, that Barack is a latent radical, is absurd to me, nothing more than conspiracy theorist babble which doesn’t deserve serious attention.
That leaves us with the first complaint, that Barack and/or the DNC stole the election from Hillary, who should have been the winner of the primary election, and thus the Democratic nomination. I just don’t get this complaint. In the long months before Barack won the Iowa caucus, you couldn’t find a serious political pundit, either in the media or in government, who thought Barack would win the nomination. Hillary was the overwhelming favorite to win by liberals, moderates and conservatives, hands down. So how can you say the media or the Democratic elite were biased in Barack’s favor? And what about Michigan and Florida? Even had all of the Michigan and Florida votes been allocated to Hillary based on her campaigns formula, Barack still would have won (see article link from Politico.com posted below). Hillary’s own campaign manager, Terry McAuliffe, while he was chairman of the DNC, vehemently threatened Michigan Carl Levin that he would cut Michigan’s delegates in half if Michigan moved up its primary (McAuliffe said so in his own book). Hillary’s key strategist, the formidable Harold Ickes, was a member of the DNC Rules and Bylaw Committee and voted to strip Florida and Michigan of their votes. So how in the world can you argue that the Michigan and Florida outcome was unfair or biased? I just don’t understand.
If anyone has read to this point, I’d be interested in hearing your arguments about why you think the outcome was unfair. I understand many think Hillary was the better candidate, and should have won, but it didn’t work out that way because a majority of people voting in the primary and caucuses voted for Barack. That’s the plain truth, so please explain, with concrete facts and not conjecture or pure emotion, how you think Hillary was cheated out of this election, because I just don’t get it?
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10247_Page2.html
I didn’t believe PUMAs existed, but alas.
You claim: 1) Obama captured the nomination through some illegal tactics; Obama “stole” your vote. 2) You will vote for McCain, Clinton, Nader, Barr, McKinney or none of the above; but not Obama. 3) McCain is a “centrist”. 4) Your vote counts.
First, I will say, you are free to vote however you wish. And I believe America gets exactly what it deserves.
But:
Of course, Obama got the nomination by getting more votes than Clinton. Surely you don’t believe he stole the vote by working the court (Bush, Florida, 2000) or rigging the machines (Bush, 2004, Ohio). Clinton could have won but her campaign wasn’t good enough. She LOST!
If you supported Clinton but will now vote for anyone but Obama you are either incredibly bitter or profoundly stupid as Obama holds by FAR the closest policy positions to Clinton of all other candidates.
John McCain has talked a good game and the media has promulgated the myth of the maverick. But if you take the time to actually look at his votes (you obviously have not), he has consistently voted with the far right Republican block. He’s voted against veteran benefits, for the MCA, for telecom immunity, for tax cuts, etc. BTW - he opposes a woman’s right to choose. Don’t believe me, look it all up for yourself.
Remember, in a take all democracy (like ours), your vote ONLY counts if you voted for the winner. Clinton lost. Get over it.
If you supported Clinton but now choose to vote for someone other than Obama you are either emotionally immature or intellectually dishonest. Which is it?
America gets what it deserves…
You bunch of damn fools!
Grand PUMA, I agree with your comments. I listened to Obama’s acceptance speech tonight and it was very disappointing. Obama promised a lot of things that he cannot deliver on. Free health care, free education, etc etc. Problem is Obama did not explain how all of these grand government programs are going to be paid for. Obama stated that he would cut taxes for 95% of the people and raise taxes for the 5% riches people. The 5% percent of the riches people include corporations which cannot be forced to stay here, so they will leave the US and take their jobs with them. Hillary seemed to have a better grasp on reality and was honest enough to let people know that if the US was going to get universal health care everyone would have to pay their fair share except the truly poor. Obama is not being honest about how he plans to pay for all of his grand government programs. Obama does not have the experience and judgment to be President.
To jwilson07,
I writing this to widen your scope of understanding…something I believe you desperately need (besides spelling lessons). First, families loose their homes for many reasons, consider catastrophic illness and not having HEALTH INSURANCE (I suppose that’s always their fault too)! Parents sometimes condone their children enlisting, even with possible dangerous consequences, because that is the only way they can see for their children to learn a skill or earn money for college. There is also the case of people who were in the National Guard (after serving in the military), thinking they were protecting and serving those at home, just to find themselves on multiple deployments overseas. Finally, consider YOURSELF preparing all of your life for retirement, saving all the way only to face soaring inflation and learning that the house you were planning on selling as your biggest investment (a long held belief in our country) decreasing in value, even if you could find someone to buy it! I find your lack of compassion deplorable, you can’t possibly be a Democrat. You sound like a Republican. There is no way, with your lack of humanity, that you could have been a TRUE Hillary supporter! Shame on you!
P.S.
I find this continued act of trying to link Senator Obama to Osama Bin Laden moronic! Can’t you come up with something a little more clever?
Radicals dont deserve respect. You people were living your lives through Hillary and now she is out of the race and she has moved on but you cant. You blame her loss on Obama because there were sexist comments and they used the race card and thats crap. Maybe the media tried to spin those on the people but it never stuck. The election process has been the same for years so why now are so many of you angry with the way its setup. Were you angry before. Why didnt you do something to change it or why didnt you support someone who wanted to change it. I just dont get how PUMA and the other organizations can be so militant about this. I live in Florida and voted for Hillary and I am not whining. Are all of you from Florida and Michigan.If you are a democrat and believe in democracy then you will vote for Obama
By the way, The more I look at all of these sites the less I worry, there are so very few post that I am not even sure many people are that dedicated to you. Good luck.
Interesting (and clumsily unstirring) use of the 1775 quote. Maybe next time though use a quote without the word “slavery” alongside the word “liberty” - the founding myths are unravelling faster than…well faster than Clinton’s campaign did and that passage in 2008 is ugly at best, downright brainwashed at worst.
I beleive the FULL text was:
“Give me liberty to keep slaves and wipte out natives! Damn the the banning of slavery that would ruin my riches, damn them for stopping us from stealing more natives land! Let’s start a new country and become the biggest mass of deluded simpletons ever to exist on the face of the earth!”
I’ll stick with Obama thanks!
A view observations:
Firstly, do you really believe Hillary always used stellar / transparent / fair play methods while she was running for office?
Secondly, since you brought up 1775 … did you happen to notice how quickly the British got over the nasty shooting-from-behind-the-trees tactics we colonials used against them so well? Don’t bother =comparing yourself to the Patriots — or the Redcoats. You have much more in common with the grudge-holders of the Middle East. “I will never forget what happened! Never! I will make you pay for the wrong your cousin did to my cousin!”
Thirdly, if just 10% of Hillary’s supporters contributed $15 to her campaign now, her debt would be paid. That would make PUMA look like a force to be reckoned with. But you don’t have 10% of her supporters, do you? Besides, you found out hatred is more fun to give out than cash.
But your circle of hate is shrinking. Surely you’ve noticed you can’t even generate a dozen supportive comments on your blog any more.
Grand Puma, thank you for your words. These past few days have showed us what “real politics” is really all about. One day President Bill Clinton makes a statement about candidate X and candidate X; the next day he endorses BHO as convince as he did when he told us he “did not have sexual relations” with Monica Lewinsky.
There are those that tell us HRC fumbled and lost the election because of how her campaign screwed up the first few months of the primary, yet they don’t talk about how she came out fighting mad and finished off like a winner and with the momentum to go into the GE while BHO was dragged across the finish line by the party leaders. How convenient is it that BHO got to give his acceptance speech 45 years to the day of MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Was this a coincidence or something that was planned four years ago? The list of reasons this democratic primary season was a sham is a long one, and the history books will talk about that. It is unfortunate that the next person of color that takes any party nomination honestly will not be able to have the historical honor that was stolen by BHO. And for any female who believes Hillary has paved the way for women to be President they are deluded. Hillary was beaten down every single step of the way. While she showed us what a powerful and true hero is, how many women would want to be next in line for that treatment?
To me, being a gay American I have lost my democratic party and stand lonely today. Pride in this country is first and foremost; more important then gay rights and more important then the right for a woman to chose what to do with her body (with all things equal these issues are extremely important). This election year I get to cast my vote for COUNTRY above Party. I am sorry, but the democrats should not have put a candidate forward that associates with the likes of William Ayers or places people like Jeremiah Wright on high esteem. The bleeding heart liberal democrats have gone to far this time and conservative America will tell them so in November.
Thank you “Barbara”. Really, a Senator from Maryland? Nice, it’s lovely to see what type of person this sort of thing brings out.
But I digress, Grand Puma, and other honest Clinton supporters. As a Died in the wool admirer of Sen and First Lady Clinton (yes, I remember Hillary’s days as First Lady with bittersweet pride) I want to ask you some hard questions, questions that our First Lady asked us (sorry, she’ll always be The Ambassador of the Clinton Presidency to me, i’m not from New York.).
Hillary reminded us that Public Life is about sacrifice. Whose blood are you sacrificing when you let McCain keep our troops in harms way?
Whose jobs are you sacrificing when McCain lets Corporate Greed continue to run rampant?
Whose rights are you sacrificing when you let McCain continue to run Planned Parenthood into the ground?
Whose rights are you sacrificing when McCain is forced by the Religious Right to stack MORE Right Wing Radicals into the Supreme Court?
Don’t tell me that you don’t think McCain will do that, he’s already promised to do ALL these things. So he’s either now eating at the feet of the Millitary Industrial Religious Right, or he’s become a serial Liar. Either way, he is no longer a man I can say is a laudable candidate for President.
And HILLARY SAYS THE SAME THING OF JOHN MCCAIN!
I Voted for Bill Clinton in the General election of 92, and the primary and general election of 94. I was stunned by the amazing poise and grace she demonstrated while his iniquities were held out for the world to see, embarassing as they Must have been for her. And I Admire her conviction and passion and loyalty as she kept President Clinton by her side and worked their Marriage through that. I would have been Honored to have Hillary as the Presidential Nominee for the Democratic Party. So I voted FOR Hillary as my nominee for President.
But it is now time to face facts. Hillary is NOT the Democratic Nominee for President. She has endorsed Barack and Joe along with Bill, in what I can only say were stirring and magnificent speeches. It is time to put aside your anger and be constructive, instead of letting it blind you to the TRUTH.
The Republicans are using you, like they used Nader. They are trying to divide their enemies so their weak candidate can get a Free Pass. Obviously, you’ve been told this. By a hundred people both more eloquent, and Less eloquent, than I.
But may I, for a moment, remind you what the stakes are again. Any of you from Texas? Do any of you remember what happened when Texas was let slip into Republican control? The word is Gerrymandering. Texas was carved into voting districts that could be called balkanized at Best, with the Sole purpose of eliminating Democratic power bases.
The same thing happened in Kansas when a poorly run Census was made (in 1990) that determined that Kansas had Far fewer people than it did just 10 years ago. (odd, I don’t remember 100,000 people dying off in 1989….) The lower number allowed the Republican run State Legislature to merge two Congressional districts into one, and obliterate a liberal stronghold in that otherwise solidly conservative state.
Simply put, the Republicans will take your misguided McCain votes, and laugh with them all the way to the bank. They will hear the sound of your silence in Nov and call it sweet music. And then they will continue to do exactly what Bush Jr. has done, run this country into the ground, with your help.
Hillary’s Grace, allowed her to accept Barack’s Nomination with Dignity, not as a Defeat, but as an Affirmation of the Democratic Process.
Hillary’s Poise earned her a Ringside Seat to History.
Hillary’s Passion, her Conviction, and her LOYALTY has placed her firmly behind Barack Obama and Joe Biden as the Hope of America for the next four years.
If you profess to support her, and the causes she holds dear. You could do much better than to do this in her name.
And finally, personally, Grand Puma, your words telling your other puma’s to be free to vote Obama if they wish, sounds Disingenuous at best, considering your propensity to echo the republican nonsense pointed at the Senator from Illinois. It reminds me of the type of skullduggery that we saw from the Swiftboat campaign that the Rove-ites played so viciously, or the dogged tawdry insistance of digging through Bill’s private weaknesses, draining the bright innocence out of Hillary’s eyes and our Hearts, during Bill’s impeachment.
You’re making your own bed. I respectfully ask that you join your “ownership” society, and Lay in it.
Well, I kind of went on a rant there. Obviously, I care very much for the outcome of this election. I admire Hillary so much, and believe SO deeply in the core of what she stands for. To those men and women that were Real Ardent supporters of Hillary, who feel somehow disenfranchised, please understand that we need you.
Not just the dem’s, not just Barack, not just America, all of us. The US has been a leader in technology and idealogy and the advancement of Human Freedom, for so long. How it’s been squandered by the Republican Money Gathering Machine angers me to no end.
Worse than that, is the squandering of our ability to Solve the world’s problems. As Al Gore reminded us, imagine what we could have Done in the last 8 years.
If you are wondering what we have to Lose by voting for John McCain, let me point you here, http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/08/27/arctic-sea-ice.html .
We need you. The World needs you, and your responsible action. Ask yourself whom you’re punishing by voting for John McCain. Hillary spelled it out pretty obviously during her campaign, I think.
We can’t afford four more years of irresponsible climate policy, greedy energy policies, or policies based on corporate greed.
If you remember right, those were Hillary’s words.
“and the primary and general election of 94.” oops, my gaffe… i meant 96. 94 was that fatefull midterm election. That was So painful. I was interning for my Congressman at the time when the Contract on America slapped us all in the face.
GrandPUMA
There is something missing from your anti-Obama argument. The weakness lies in your inconsistent rationalizations. The Republican party has treated Ron Paul far worse than any Democratic contingent ever mistreated Hillary. You say you want no part of the faulty process that gets someone into the White House. Yet you totally ignore the Republican party’s exclusion techniques that essentially ostracized Ron Paul.
So, wouldn’t it be a fitting revenge for those Ron Paul supporters who refused to be bamboozled by a McCain candidacy to vote for the Democratic candidate instead?
The rationalizations can go either way. Essentially, yours is a hollow argument. It promotes irrational consequences justified only by your unspoken agenda which, all along, can only have been to get the Republican candidate elected. Having bought into the Limbaugh theory that getting Hillary nominated provided the best chance for a Republican victory, you supported her. You’ve looked at it as a contest of personalities through your neo-con colored glasses. Now you’re disappointed that the Hillary strategy didn’t pan out.
The GrandPUMA hypocrisy of it all is that your are trying to manipulate people’s actions through your blog. You’ve created your own political kettle of disingenuously spiked Koolaid. You hope to sufficiently deceive as many confused Hillary supporters as possible to vote against their best interests - to vote Republican.
As a proud Michigander, I would respectfully disagree with joshuatree. The DNC has once again demonstrated its inability to show leadership. I gladly voted dems into congress last election. I did so because I truly thought there was going to be a CHANGE. Instead this congress has the lowest approval rating in history! The DNC harshly punished the state by denying delegates to Hillary. Then the DNC again punished and added insult to injury by ‘giving’ us 1/2 . Then the ultimate insult was giving us full delegates all to BO!!
BO refused to put his name on the ballot here but change sure did occur!!! It is not only BO I am refusing to endorse but the DNC!!!
Fine. Go ahead and vote for McCain/Palin and watch women’s rights go bye-bye.
Oh, and by the way, Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton, not even close, but I’ll let you discover her record on your own.
Now, here is the test of PUMA’s ability to see through the b.s. that the Republicans are putting out there. Will you fall for their blatant bid to win your votes by selecting Governor Palin as the V.P. choice? Don’t think they don’t read these sites and think that if they choose a woman…any woman, they will land your disgruntled favor! It is an insult to the intelligence of women. I get to sick to my stomach when I think that women, who had the sense to back Hillary, will rationalize their voting Republican because there is a woman on the ticket! Think with your head, not your heart. Get past it for the COMMON GOOD!
To PhxNickD and all the other people out there that feel as you do, what’s with you nut jobs??????????
PhxNickD wrote “The list of reasons this democratic primary season was a sham is a long one, and the history books will talk about that. It is unfortunate that the next person of color that takes any party nomination honestly will not be able to have the historical honor that was stolen by BHO.”
PhxNickD, or anyone else who thinks this way, please, please, PLEASE give us your list of 5 reasons why the primary election season was a sham, and how exactly you think Obama “stole” the election. You say the list is long, but I’m betting you can’t even come up w/ 5, so how about 3. In your response, explain exactly what rules were broken and what unfair tactics were used by the Obama campaign and the DNC to give the election to Obama? I see so many people saying Obama stole the election, but don’t say how this was done. It’s emotional drivel because your candidate lost, nothing more.
You can’t say the Michigan and Florida primary votes were unfair because (1) Clinton agreed to this censure early in the race, and then changed her stance, (2) Clinton’s own campaign chair Terry McAuliffe threatened to do THE EXACT SAME THING TO MICHIGAN when he was chairman of the DNC, (3) Clinton’s top campaign strategist Harold Ickes was part of the DNC group that voted to strip Florida and Michigan of their votes, (4) it wouldn’t have mattered anyway, as even giving Hillary what she wanted in the Florida and Michigan standoff would have resulted in Obama’s nomination under the agreed to DNC rules, and (5) most importantly, most of you are claiming (without any evidence, just emotional ranting) that democracy has been subverted and undermined by this primary election, but then you vehemently argue that counting votes from those two states, when one candidate’s name wasn’t even on the ballot in Michigan, is a fair and just outcome. You’d make Vladimir Putin proud. Your commitment to the democratic process is laughable if you argue Florida and Michigan should have counted under those conditions.
The other thing I hear many of you complaining about is the use of sexism to diminish Hillary. No doubt, at times this did go on in the media, but was never a tool used by the Obama campaign. But if you want to complain about that, then why not complain about how Obama was smeared with being a radical just because he knows William Ayers and attended a Jerimiah Wright’s church? In my mind, the use of sexism and branding Obama a radical are both unfair, and its clear the Jerimiah Wright issue had a much larger negative impact on Obama’s trajectory than sexism did in Hillary’s case. In addition, if you think many white Democratic males are sexist, how many more white Republican males do you think there are out there? The Republican Party’s prayers would have been answered with Hillary’s nomination.
So please, PLEASE, give me this list of inequities, with supportable facts and not emotional foot stomping. This list is like Bigfoot, many people claim to have seen it, but there’s no proof. Now’s the time to give us the proof, or stop acting like such a b*^$h, as the great recent Daily Show piece scolded. Put up or shut up.
I would like to share the letter I sent to Hillary’s office. I hope she responds to it.Which explains a lot for how I feel about the election.
Dear Mrs. Clinton,
My name is Craig. I am a 23 year old political science major in Jacksonville, Florida and of your P.U.M.A. supporters. I can understand the Democratic party’s frustration with your P.U.M.A. supporters but no one has asked about our frustration. I can’t speak for all the P.U.M.A. supporters, just myself. I have been supporting the Clintons since 1992, at age 8. I know that is young to get started in politics, but was always a dream of mine to go to D.C., which I did for the first time 2005. You were an awesome first lady and made “herstory” by becoming the first first lady to hold a public office. Eleanor Roosevelt was appointed to the U.N. in 1946, another great first lady in our “herstory”.
Lately, I have felt like a rag doll instead of a voter. I have the media questioning the Hillary Clinton supporters, John McCain using you in his campaign ads to appeal to my vote, Mr Obama having you on the campaign trail to sway the votes his way, ect. As a supporter, I feel tugged instead of Mr. Obama talking right to your die-hard supporters. It just shows the game of politics and I am not one who will give in easily, as I am sure many supporters feel. We aren’t pawns on a chess board that can only move one way. The supporters and voters are more like the queen, can move any way she wants. I think politicians forget who works for who. The voters elect officials who best represent them, meaning the people employ and fire with their vote. The voters have certain standards and qualities they look for when voting for an official. But when there is tugging and saying anything to get elected, aren’t qualities I want. This makes my decision harder as one can imagine.
I really felt that DNC gave me the finger on a few things as well. Florida and Michigan were a disaster for the beginning. Florida’s legislature is dominantly republican. The DNC wanted to change the voting date to an earlier one, but need the state to approve, knowing that the votes wouldn’t count. That was the DNC’s big mistake. The primary is moved and the voters didn’t have a say in the matter. I am sure if left to the voters, the primary wouldn’t have been moved. That was the fault of the DNC, possibly knowing you would win Florida hands down. Then the next slap in the face was when we tried to get our votes back because the voters didn’t have a say in the matter. We should have gotten full votes but they declared a half vote, which started the P.U.M.A. supporters against Obama. Our vote is our voice, amendment #1, and that was taken away. Mr. Obama did not come out and say that as he should have, then maybe supporters would have flocked to him now. To make matters worse, you suspended your campaign and not even getting the VP nomination, which would have brought your 16 million supporters to the Obama campaign, myself included. I felt Mr. Obama turned his back on your supporters by picking Mr. Biden and sending out a text message at 3 a.m. The only one who would be up answering their phones that early would be you, as you did in the campaign ad. The next blow to the gut by the DNC was the next day, knowing you weren’t on the ticket, was reinstating the full votes to Florida and Michigan. I see this as a waste of time and money, just to get you out of the race all together. The DNC got what they wanted and I feel “pissed on” by the party. They wanted you out of the race so bad, that this was almost like cheating to get what they want, being no better than the republicans. Sexism is the least to mention. I remember watching CNN last year with a story on your cleavage. So what I would like to see if the DNC give an apology to the supporters for some of their actions taken, but I don’t think Mr. Dean is big enough to do so unfortunately.
With that said, I do have a fair compromise that may help other supporters come back to the side of the DNC. We have Nancy Pelosi, the first woman speaker of the house, but we never had a woman president of the Senate. I like Harry Reid but I think it might be time for him to step down. I don’t like the way the Senate has been run lately. I watch the Senate on TV, because I want to become a Senator myself one day, possibly from the state of New York, since NY has produced some great Senators, like you and Bobby Kennedy. As far as a replacement for Mr. Reid, I would nominate Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. This way you will be the first woman president of the Senate. This allows the legislature to be run by women, and things will get done, while the executive branch is run by men until 2012. This suggestion might help the P.U.M.A. supporters considering it will be a “herstory” accomplishment.
I can’t say that I will or won’t vote for Mr. Obama, but I do hope you take my thoughts and feelings into consideration. We need a strong leader in our society and I am glad we have you. You have the greatest asset and liabilities, Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton, to me is the greatest president of the 20th century next to John Kennedy. There are people who are afraid and wouldn’t want him back in power. The fear of the people would be you win the election, inaugurated on January 20th, appoint Bill as your VP, and resign on January 21st, giving Bill the presidency. We all know that Bill can only serve two terms and that would never happen. You will be the one in charge, after all, I tend to think you ran the country from 1993-2001 as co-president, which adds to your experience resume.
Thank you for taking the time to hear what I have to say and hope you take what I had said into consideration. I am a Clinton loyalist but can’t support the Democratic nominee as of yet. I only watched the convention for your’s and Bill’s speeches. I was excited about this election, but this still should have been your convention. I would like to recieve an autograph picture of you and Bill. I still have a letter you sent me back in October of 2005 that I would like to display your picture with.
I wanna puke. Don’t you see what’s unfolding?
BESIDES THE GLARINGLY OBVIOUS POLICY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PALIN AND HILLARY that do nothing to help women, which is 100 percent against Hillary’s life work, AND the fact that Hillary has a sweet juicy position of her choosing waiting for her in the Obama cabinet, here are some other points to consider:
Once again the conservatives have no creative or original ideas of their own, so they steel ours. They’re opportunists, watch them work. They took a truly organic and heart-felt, hard-worked run of Hillary’s, who earned every single vote that she received, and ARE TRYING TO remanufacture it in Palin.
PALIN IS NO HILLARY, IT WOULD BE A SLAP IN HILLARY CLINTON’S FACE IF YOU SUPPORT MCCAIN/PALIN!
SEXISM. They plan to heavily capitalize on the divisions and pitfalls they witnessed in Hillary’s campaign - sexism, (which trumps “racism”) and they are jumping right on it. If we question anything about Palin’s family responsibilities to her special needs child who’s only 5 month old, or we say that she hasn’t earned the spot, they spit sexism at us with a huge smile on their face, because finally now they’re in the race -CALL ‘EM On IT!
FLIP FLOP? They complained about inexperience AND THEY’RE REVERSING THEIR STANCE ON IT -CALL ‘EM On IT!
JUDGEMENT ISSUE or RECKLESS PANDERING? - McCain’s “Off the rails on a Crazy Train.” He just met her 1 time before they met to offer her the job. And he claims she’s “the one.” And he’s entrusting her with the whole country’s problems if he croaks, which drives home the “reckless” accusations that the Republicans said before -CALL ‘EM On IT!
HILLARY WORKED FOR IT, PALIN WAS HANDED IT - (typical of the republicans) PLEASE NOTE: - HILLARY CLINTON went through years of preparation, struggle, strategy and fight to win over the hearts and minds of the people. Palin only has a BA in Journalism, barely even enough to get a job on CNN, let alone run the country. -CALL ‘EM On IT!
PALIN IS NO HILLARY, IT WOULD BE A SLAP IN HILLARY CLINTON’S FACE IF YOU SUPPORT MCCAIN/PALIN!
jwilson07 wrote:
Attention families losing your houses, don’t buy a house unless you can afford it thankyou.
I agree with this statement. However, if anyone is going to be “bailed out” why should it be the people who bought mortgage paper to get a few basis points more in interest, at the expense of the taxpayer? The Fed and the Treasury are accepting toxic paper and giving back Treasury certificates. The Republican Secretary of Finance wants to bail out the bond holders (if not the equity holders) of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Altogether, these bailouts will total between $500 billion and $1 trillion
Attention people burying loved one who were soldiers, don’t let them volunteer unles your willing to accept a possible death in combat.
Most soldiers volunteer out of a sense of partiotism. You should thank G-d they are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice if it comes to that. Or would you prefer we abolish the military? Surely you don’t think we could have a military consisting only of those whose families wouldn’t mind if they were killed?
Soldiers do not make policy. It is up to the civilian powers to make the decisions of where and when to use military force. Our patriotic soldiers go where they are told.
Attention retired people with not enough money, perhaps you should have saved more instead of spening like liberals in crongress. notice these are all personal problems, not any presidents fault. Thinking Osama can fix these problems, well thats your own fault.
The minimum wage was not raised for a decade. Even if the minimum wage were $10/hr, how much could you save if that’s all you made?
As for spending by congress - remind me, which party controlled Congress AND the presidency from 2000-2006, while almost doubling the national debt? We have a crisis with youmng officers leaving the military, because we pay private military contractors 7-8 times as much to do essentially the same work. So much for “privitization” saving money.
I am a 65 year old post counter-culture, 60’s activist, peace protestor, anti-war, liberal democrat. Being a man I can’t claim to know how a woman is inspired by Hillary Clinton and how you feel about your hero loosing, but I do know how it feels to lose your heroes. I lost John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Bobby Kennedy. I remember how angry I was when Bobby was killed. I kept thinking, “they killed him; every time I find a person I can believe in they kill them”. Damn them to hell! It took me a long time to deal with my personal feeling of rage and bitterness at the loss of those great leaders and what they could have done for our country. Hillary’s political views were forged out of that same tumultuous period of history and I believe she probably had similar feelings. I think, at that time, all who really cared felt the pain of lost opportunity.
However life goes on, and as happens when you get older, my idealism has become balanced with a pinch of pragmatism. Now, as a lifelong democrat, I am writing you of PUMA (Party Unity My Ass) to remind you that it was the liberal democrats that supported and fought for the “Equal Rights Amendment” while conservative republicans opposed and killed it. The republicans have long been and still are on the wrong side of women’s issues; minimum wage, equal pay for equal work, Medicare prescription drug coverage, and universal health care. These are issues Hillary has fought for and John McCain, has voted against, and if elected you can be sure John McCain would appoint more conservative judges to the Supreme Court in an effort to overturn Roe v. Wade. I hope that those of you who were around, and can still remember, will pass down to the younger women what it was like before Roe v. Wade. I remember when it was not un-common for young women, who had no choice, to be found dead from an illegal abortion that had gone tragically wrong. A woman’s right to choice should not be the concern of government then, now, or ever. Roe v. Wade should be protected at all cost. While I understand that some of you are bitter and want to demonstrate at the ballot box your anger over Hillary’s loss you shouldn’t forget the beliefs and policies she was fighting for and that she will continue to fight for as a unified democrat.
I ask that you stand back from your feelings and consider what a vote for McCain/Palin would mean to women’s issues. The way I see it a vote for the republican ticket would be counter to everything Hillary Clinton stood for and tantamount to committing political suicide.
Bill Sides
Hana, Maui, HI
For all of you who believe “it was fair and square” but are willing to consider evidence to the contrary, please listen to the NO WE WON’T Blog Talk Radio shows
for Sept 6th and 7th. Make sure you watch the video ‘We Will Nor Be Silenced’ about what went on at the caucuses. I agree with all of you who understand the importance of this election. It would be lovely to be able to believe in our (Democrat’s) nominee; I certainly think we owe the planet an apology for 8 years of Bush but not at the cost of democracy. Please write back after you listen.