MUTNODJMET'S MUSINGS

Just before August's Democratic convention, my journalistic instincts told me that the legacy media would be suppressing the level of dissent of Hillary Clinton supporters. Reading the news blogs avidly, I was vaguely aware of PUMA ("Party Unity My Ass"; Hillary-supporters unhappy with Obama), and suspected that there might be a blog or forum on the Internet that would help me gage the actual level of support for Obama during the nominating process.

In my quest, I found the Hillary Clinton Forum. The members there are mainly Democrats, but are generally fair-minded people who do not want a socialist, race-baiting, Chicago thug as President of the United States. I subsequently embedded myself in the group, in order to ascertain how much support Obama was actually able to count on from former Hillary voters.

During the convention, I read a blow-by-blow account of how Clinton supports were insulted by O-bots (the term the PUMAs used to describe rude, aggressive, "in-your-face" supporters of Obama. Clinton-supporters were isolated, and either forced to support Obama or have their long-held party positions endangered. If you take a look at the clips, you can see how quickly Nancy Pelosi shut-down the proceedings after the "nomination by acclimation" process was complete. You will note, if you review what happened during the convetion that the delegate count from California was passed; likely, this was due to the very vocal support of Senator Clinton by Gloria Allred, the prominent attorney and Clinton delegate. Basically, she stated her voters selected Clinton, and so would she. This was the stance taken by many Puma-delegates.

PUMAs feel that the Democrat leadership perpetrated a huge fraud in the nominating process. Many also feel uncomfortable at the extreme-left direction that party has taken.

I must say, as a flaming capitalist with a strong interest in national security, I was delighted to find this interesting group of Americans. Granted, we do not see to eye on a variety of subjects (e.g., the wisdom of Clinton's healthcare proposal, the merits of gay marriage); however, the moderators demand civility and do not tolerate any abuse posts or nasty disagreement. Therefore, this is one of the few places where political discusions occur with an elevated, repsectful tone. I have to say is this is very refreshing.

I have to say, the PUMAs are more avidly anti-Obama than my right-leaning friends on my conservative forum, if such a thing is possible. They rightly view themselves as the original victim of Obama's frauds. Many admire the national-security stance of John McCain. Quite a few are self-employed or small business owners, and mock Obama's proposal that few small businesses would be impacted by his tax raises that start at @$250,000 annually.

Many of the PUMAs are thrilled with the selection of Sarah Palin as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate. This is because these people are true feminists -- who want all women candidates treated with respect regardless of political ideology. The PUMAs found all the personal attacks on Sarah Palin and her family by the legacy media and the O-bots distasteful (e.g., "Palin is a C***" t-shirt).

These PUMAs are highly informed (the forum is constantly updated with the latest news items) and very savvy politically. In fact, one of the PUMAs outed a sex-offending Obama supporter of "astroturfing" a McCain rally to make it seem that Republicans were racist. Being highly motivated, they jump at the chance to participate in polls, and those that are willing to vote for McCain are actively supporting him with money, phone calls, displays, and emails to the campaign with ideas. These Americans have inspired me to be active, and do all that I can to ensure Obama doesn't win this November.

How many PUMAs are there? I have read from the legacy media that 95% of the people voting for Hillary are going to vote Obama. I disagree. There is a 5000-plus membership in the Hillary Clinton forum, and many of these members have family that are also like minded. The number the PUMAs give is close to 7 million. We will see; however, I would put my money on the PUMA number. These people could be key in battleground states. And here is a thought: If so many Clinton supporters were going for Obama, then why make "Hillary Supporter for Obama" stickers?

The PUMA goal is to have McCain win in 2008, and Hillary Clinton win in 2012. But for now, these people are my best frenemies.

According to Wikipedia, "in personal relationships, the use of the term 'frenemy' has become increasingly used to describe two (or more) people who are apparently friends but are actually enemies." The PUMAs, conservative Democrats, and people who despise cheaters may be the voters that prevent the compete ultra-leftist takeover of the White House and US Congress (and ultimately, the Supreme Court).