WesDem - PUMA

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WesDem

Posted by WesDem in General Discussion: Presidential
Sat Jun 28th 2008, 01:02 PM

PUMA tried to disrupt the unity rally yesterday:

http://pumaaction.com /

But there were only five or six of them protesting, according to the Concord Monitor, although there could have been others in the rally crowd.

-snip

Four or five women from Massachusetts clustered near the press entrance to protest for Clinton, who they said is the real winner. The women, who met online on a website for PUMA - Party Unity My (A--) - held homemade signs that said "Hillary: People's Nominee" and another that showed Clinton being run over by a bus.

"We obviously believe Hillary won," said Robyn Miller, a 49-year-old poet from Quincy, Mass. "She did win."

Miller, who said she would vote for McCain, said she's "essentially homeless" these days, because all of her friends are Obama fans.

PUMA focuses on the media, though, not getting crowds of people showing up (I'm not sure they could).

This Connecticut newspaper report gives an idea of their tactics.

-snip

But eventually Stone-Oks acquired an audience, for herself and for an ally, Sharon Chang, largely because they seemed to realize that Chang was what the vast array of media was looking for: A quotable detractor of the nominee who would say she'd rather vote for Republican John McCain than anyone other than Clinton. (That threat meant less coming from Stone-Oks, who conceded that she was a Republican anyway.)

�You're familiar with 'puma?'� Chang asked the veteran reporter David Lightman of McClatchy newspapers, gesturing to the logo of the sneaker company on her shirt, but meaning something very different.

When Lightman raised his eyebrows, Chang spelled it out: �Party unity, my ass.�

But while the diehards did a good job of attracting attention from reporters and from those immediately around them, unity seemed to be breaking out all over.

Here is the bit about David Axelrod, which is rather amusing in an ironic way:

When a compatriot of Lewis' felt faint during Clinton's address, those around her held out campaign signs: a Clinton-Obama canopy. A mustachioed man in a dress shirt leaned forward from behind the tangle of CNN's cables and tripods to hand Lewis a cup of water, which she accepted immediately, not recognizing David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist.

The Washington Post did an in depth article on the umbrella group (there are several PUMA-like groups, designed to make it look like a huge movement) a few days ago which will give you a better idea of where they're coming from. Here is PUMA's website.

It's not about John McCain and it's not about Republicans. The GOP can exploit these groups, but I would say it's a mutual exploitation. PUMAs use John McCain to devalue Barack's nomination; that's the primary goal. It's not about November except as a threat, whether or not they do end up voting McCain. It's about August, and getting Clinton the nomination through whatever means it takes.

Unity is okay by me, but PUMAs are the opposition, as far as I am concerned, and they shouldn't be let off easy because Democrats don't want to believe other Democrats would do this.

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WesDem

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24623 posts

Member since Wed Feb 11th 2004

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I was "Jersey" on DU, Summer 2003-February 2004. I'm a writer and a Democrat. I believe more than ever that America needs Wes Clark. And Barack Obama.

Thanks to the lovely incapsulated for the Clark graphics.

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wes clark says

I don't believe that America is run by politicians in Washington. I believe it's run by people like us, in places like this. -Tulsa OK, January 29, 2004

We must assure investments in the technology infrastructure � the broadband and wireless access improved and modernized highway, air, and rail transportation systems, and the access to affordable, reliable sustainable energy essential to continuing economic development. We must have a real plan to achieve energy independence. And we need to do so without further damaging our fragile environment. In fact, sustainable energy and so-called green engineering provide major growth opportunities for American ingenuity, and we must move in that direction. - "Real State Of The Union," January 30, 2006

We need to really get to the bottom of the Abramoff scandal, we should have a special prosecutor appointed for that, we really need a congressional investigation of the whole business of the NSA wiretapping and how far that goes, there's been a lot of squirreling around the edges; we've never completed the investigation of 9/11 and whether the administration actually misused the intelligence information it had - the evidence seems pretty clear to me, I've seen that for a long time. I think Americans are best served by a strong 2-party system and that's been out of whack and what I can do in 2006 is try to help the right Democrats get into office and that's what I'm going to do. - "This Week," March 5, 2006

stand tall

2004 primary, how'd he do?

Clark entered the primary race a year or two after everybody else was running. He was a novice candidate who ran in a field that was 80% elected officials or former elected officials; experienced campaigners, in other words. The only other candidate without an election history had been a preacher-political activist since childhood, a very, very experienced campaigner.

So how did Clark do?

In a four-month long campaign, before withdrawing on 2/11/04 and endorsing Kerry, Clark competed in 13 states. He won Oklahoma over experienced campaigners. He came in second in Arizona, New Mexico and North Dakota ahead of experienced campaigners. Third in New Hampshire, Tennessee and Virginia ahead of experienced campaigners. Fourth in Missouri and South Carolina ahead of experienced campaigners. Fifth in Delaware, Maine, Michigan, and Washington ahead of experienced campaigners.

Since the day he dropped out in February 2004 and began campaigning non-stop for John Kerry, he's been campaigning for Democratic candidates all over the country. He's now a very experienced campaigner in his own right.

GO WES!!!!

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