Welcome Pumas! Wow. We have gathered an army of united Democrats here at Puma PAC. A look through the threads shows how ready we are to speak with one voice to the DNC and the country. We are protesting the 2008 Presidential Election because we refuse to support a nominee who was selected by the leadership rather than elected by the voters. Today we start making our voices heard.
In the comments below please write the reasons you will be protesting the election in November. Be specific. Use your best reasons. Be passionate, but dignified; firm and sincere. Be to the point. 50 words or so is ideal. Be personal — tell the reasons you have decided to take such a drastic action against the party to which you have been so loyal and supportive for so many years. This is about us — not about John McCain, Barack Obama, or even Hillary Clinton.
When we have 1,000 responses to this thread, Puma PAC will print and deliver 1,000 separate post cards to Howard Dean, chair of the DNC. Please address your comment, “Dear Dr. Dean” and close it with your first name, your county and state, and Puma Democrat underneath.
Refrain from foul language, threats of any kind, and ad-hominem attacks. Comments with unacceptable content will be deleted and not sent.
New users, you can register to comment by clicking on the “register” link in the right sidebar. AS requested there is a permanent link in the right sidebar, under “Pages,” for people to contribute to Puma PAC. We are going to need funds to get our work done, and every contribution, no matter how small, really makes a difference.
If we get more than 1,000 responses, well then we’ll send 10,000. Tell your friends. Let’s start making noise!
UPDATE June 8, 2008 at 7:30pm: Please only post letters to the DNC on this thread. There is an Open Thread above for discussion of all other topics. Feel free to repost your comments from here to the Open Thread if you’d like.
THE LETTERS ARE AMAZING! Lurkers, newcomers, and shy people — PLEASE JUMP IN. Read some of the other letters for ideas and inspiration. We want to hear from all of our members.
717 comments ↓
Re-post letter to Super Delegates . Feel free to copy and post anywhere you wish . And will someone please put me on the list under Texas (East Texas)
Donna Brazile had stated early on in the election process that ,”If the Super delegates choose the nominee…” she would ‘leave the party’ . Apparently she meant if the super delegates don’t choose HER candidate , she will leave the Party because this is exactly what has happened. Ms. Brazile was a major player in the undemocratic decisions made by the r&b committee to literally steal votes from the candidate the people have chosen , Sen. Clinton . Donna Brazile has shown herself to be a hypocrite of the worst kind , and her actions , along with those of the other members of the r&b committee who supported this unfathomable action have imbued this party in a way that has created a deep wound that will not easily be healed . We will not fall in line and support Obama - he is NOT the choice of the people . Neither will we support ANY candidate in ANY state that has perpetuated this violation against the 18 million of us who voted for Sen. Clinton .
Not since the days of slavery and the ‘3/5 personhood ‘for slaves in the original Constitution has any American’s vote been counted as less than a full vote , but the leadership of the DNC seems to think that giving half votes is somehow appropriate in this election .
Sen. Clinton’s words on Saturday were moving , and inspirational . Her dedication to this Party , and to the causes she believes in were resounding , and the accolades that were given to her by her opponents made it abundantly clear why she is the nominee of the PEOPLE .
Her decision to support Obama going forward is exactly what you would expect a leader of her caliber to do . Unfortunately for the DNC there are millions of us who will NOT forgive the misogyny and sexism ,the unscrupulous tactics , the ridiculous dispersement of delegates via the caucus system , the theft of votes in Michigan , the awarding of half votes for Mi. and Fla. , and the attempt by the DNC to silence the voice of the PEOPLE by inserting their own candidate at the top of the ticket .
We will not forgive these infractions on our rights or affronts to our dignity . The actions of the DNC leadership have only served to make us stronger , and we WILL FIGHT for what we believe in . We are unified in our dissent , and WE ARE STRONG . There will be no falling in line behind a candidate we did not choose , and any elected official who chooses to ignore the will of the people of this broken Party may very well find themselves defeated in the fall .
Now , as Super Delegates , you have the opportunity to correct the mistakes , and amend the corrupt policies of the DNC that have divided us to the extreme .It is your responsibility to take the necessary measures to CHANGE the primary voting procedures to ‘one person = one vote ‘ to eliminate the caucus process , to adhere to the standards of counting every vote and to ensure that the popular vote determines the nominee .
You have the chance to heal this Party . The decision is your’s , but know this , we are NOT happy , we are NOT weak , and we are NOT going away . PUMA Democrat
I am protesting the 2008 Presidential Election because I have volunteered for the party since 1976. I thought it was the party of reform and change. I have come to find out in this primary that has become the party interesting in silencing the voices of many of its members. Too many of the party leaders stood silent themselves on the sidelines and condoned the sexist attacks on one of its most important figures during the primary. The Democratic Party is no longer my party.
repost no write ins plz
http://mfoster.com/misc/write_in_rules_2008.html
New here what is the list about I will pass it around
Oops, I forgot to mention — please address your comment to Dr. Dean and close it with your first name, your county and state, and type Puma Democrat underneath.
Lioness, your comment is perfect. would you repost it with the address and closure? thank you.
There is now a link to Contribute on the right sidebar under Pages. Please pass it on.
thanks.
repost Donna Brazile
Donna Brazile: Dont Count Out Hillary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMfiZk3etzo
I will not be taken for granted and taking us for granted is exactly what the DNC is doing. Claire McCaskill claims to ‘know these women.’ Really? She claims that we ‘would not vote for a man who would set women back in this country.’ But they expect us to vote for a party that has just set back women in this country by about forty years. This time, you have gone too far. (source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-mccain-women-jun06,0,5085404.story)
I am a 53 year old 35 year voting democrat WOMAN.
may 21, 2008 was my last time to vote democrat. i am now independent. In my life I have never seen such grotesque treatment of any democrat like I have seen against Senator Clinton. What on earth inspired your organization to treat this lady and her family so terribly. To me the Clintons were the democratic party. I am so ashamed…after these past 7.5 years of hell with the Bush cabal, you would act this way. I do not even believe Senator Obama is a legitimate or deserving candidate. By the way, Senator Clinton won more votes and all of the must win states.Mich and Fla. sigh… This was a planned scheme anyways and our votes have not counted for squat. My heart was broken but i am PUMA now! WE WILL COUNT FOR SOMETHING!
NotFallingInLine — great post — would you resend it with the address and closure? thank you.
Dr. Dean:
Since the Democratic Party has seen fit to select a candidate [rather than elect one], ram that candidate down the electorate’s throat, and then turn a deaf ear to all and any protest, I no longer feel divided.
I am no longer a Democrat. I am one of the 18 million!
I have been disgusted with the sexism and clear hostility I’ve seen displayed towards Sen. Clinton by the mainstream media. I’ve been terribly disappointed by the deafening silence of the DNC in the face of this sexism/hostility.
It became clear that my suspicions about favoritism were not completely unfounded when the DNC Rules committee arbitrarily ‘awarded’ Michigan delegates to Sen. Obama. Not only did they give him all the of delegates represented by the “Undecided” votes and also all of the votes cast for John Edwards; but they also gave him 4 of the delegates Sen. Clinton had earned.
I will protest the treatment of my candidate by voting for McCain in November.
oops, sorry, reposting - I will not be taken for granted and taking us for granted is exactly what the DNC is doing. Claire McCaskill claims to ‘know these women.’ Really? She claims that we ‘would not vote for a man who would set women back in this country.’ But they expect us to vote for a party that has just set back women in this country by about forty years. This time, you have gone too far. - Stefanie, Morris County, New Jersey, Puma Democrat (source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-mccain-women-jun06,0,5085404.story)
Hello my puma family…i was on Hillary site and nothing that i posted was put on blog..so here i am and ready to make sure BO the selected one and the bloggers from the pew dont run our country…have to go but will be back later… PLZ ad me to the Florida list and im in Citrus County TY…PS I already dont watch cnn fox and other stations
RedInDenver and PeggySue, excellent posts — would you re-send them the address– “Dear Dr. Dean” at the top and sign them with your name, your county and state, and the title “Puma Democrat” underneath?
Thank you!
I am protesting the 2008 presidential election because the will of the Democratic majority was subverted by the actions of a small group of party insiders. As a twenty-four year retired Army veteran, I am appalled and disillusioned by what has transpired. I chose to spend the greater part of my adult life serving this country because I believed in what it stood for. I believed that every vote should count and I thought the Democratic Party stood for that principle. Apparently, I was wrong.
Dr.Howard Dean, I am a 53 year old 35 year voting democrat WOMAN. Boy, do I remember supporting you!
May 21, 2008 was my last time to vote democrat. I am now independent. In my life I have never seen such grotesque treatment of any democrat like I have seen against Senator Clinton. What on earth inspired your organization to treat this lady and her family so terribly. To me the Clintons were the democratic party. As I recall it is a new party with new people anyway. I am so ashamed…after these past 7.5 years of hell with the Bush cabal, you would act this way. I do not even believe Senator Obama is a legitimate or a deserving candidate. By the way, Senator Clinton won more votes and all of the must win states. Mich and Fla. sigh… This was a planned scheme anyways and our votes have not counted for squat. My heart was broken but i am PUMA now! WE WILL COUNT FOR SOMETHING!
Cathy
I am protesting and working diligently to make necessary changes because:
1. Senator Obama was SLECTED not ELECTED
2. Failure of DNC/RBC to follow its own charter/constitution re: fair reflection, uncommitted votes, taking votes from one candidate and giving them to another candidate, and using EXIT POLLS to bolster their own agenda, while all the time repeatedly stating that “Rules are Rules.”
3. The “Bully pulpit tactics” used on anyone to do with Hillary’s campaign
4. Hipocracy of DNC failing to count all votes; when that was their mantra in 2000, I am now 1/2 a person, just call me Jane Crow.
5. The sexism and misogyny piled on and piled onto Hillary, and through her on us, by pundits, politicians, and Obama supporters - pure hatred that will not be forgotten.
6. Obama does not share my values, is not patriotic, and has used Chicago style politics to steal the nomination - with the entire Democratic Party and DNC aiding and abetting.The only thing Chicago style that I like is my pizza.
ShortTermer
Registered Independent Voter from Florida
Antifish, perfect. would you resend it with the address and closure I described in my last comment?
Thank you!
I am protesting the 2008 Presidential Election because it doesn’t reflect the will of the people. The media has become a propaganda machine and with the collusion of the Democrat party bosses, waged a character assassination campaign against the Clintons that is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. They have taken an unknown, inexperienced person with questionable background and associates- and through media manipulation, packaged and sold him ad nauseum. All in a direct manipulation of the electorate and the elections.
The superdelegates do NOT even the playing field, they corrupt the system, voiding the electoral process. I’m not just protesting the 2008 Presidential Election, but the system that allows party bosses to have so much power to manipulate the outcome, the system of caucuses to be forced upon us and the system that encourages the media to be a propaganda machine to create a star out of an unknown.
That’s why I’m a new Independent, and why I’ll work to get John McCain elected. To send an unmistakable message ‘hands off my rights!’
Dr.Howard Dean, I am a 53 year old 35 year voting democrat WOMAN. Boy, do I remember supporting you!
May 21, 2008 was my last time to vote democrat. I am now independent. In my life I have never seen such grotesque treatment of any democrat like I have seen against Senator Clinton. What on earth inspired your organization to treat this lady and her family so terribly. To me the Clintons were the democratic party. As I recall it is a new party with new people anyway. I am so ashamed…after these past 7.5 years of hell with the Bush cabal, you would act this way. I do not even believe Senator Obama is a legitimate or a deserving candidate. By the way, Senator Clinton won more votes and all of the must win states. Mich and Fla. sigh… This was a planned scheme anyways and our votes have not counted for squat. My heart was broken but i am PUMA now! WE WILL COUNT FOR SOMETHING!
Cathy
Jefferson County Kentucky
Dr Dean,
I am protesting the 2008 election for too many reasons to count, but fore-most is the blatant back stabbing of the Clintons. Bill and Hillary are the best thing for the party in my adult lifetime, he was the first 2 term D in decades and she is off the charts smart & ready day one but we all know (GWB) that smarts don’t count when it comes to selecting a Prez.
I support Hillary for my great grandmother, who 100 years ago had everything including the land her name, my grand mother, a woman way ahead of her time as well and my mother who raised 5 kids on a blue collar salary. All have left this earth and are not only whispering but screaming to me from the other side for Hillary!!!!
PUMA Democrat (only till I can become and PUMA I)
Pm, ShortTermer, and Cack — these are exactly great, but we need the address and for it to be signed with your first name, county and state, and Puma Democrat underneath.
Thanks!
Antifish. Perfect! thank you. all, please follow Antifish’s format in your comment. repost it if you need to correct. No need to use last name if you choose not to.
Dr. Dean,
I am protesting and working diligently to make necessary changes because:
1. Senator Obama was SLECTED not ELECTED
2. Failure of DNC/RBC to follow its own charter/constitution re: fair reflection, uncommitted votes, taking votes from one candidate and giving them to another candidate, and using EXIT POLLS to bolster their own agenda, while all the time repeatedly stating that “Rules are Rules.”
3. The “Bully pulpit tactics” used on anyone to do with Hillary’s campaign
4. Hipocracy of DNC failing to count all votes; when that was their mantra in 2000, I am now 1/2 a person, just call me Jane Crow.
5. The sexism and misogyny piled on and piled onto Hillary, and through her on us, by pundits, politicians, and Obama supporters - pure hatred that will not be forgotten.
6. Obama does not share my values, is not patriotic, and has used Chicago style politics to steal the nomination - with the entire Democratic Party and DNC aiding and abetting.The only thing Chicago style that I like is my pizza.
Carolyn
aka ShortTermer
Registered Independent Voter from Florida
Dear Dr. Dean
I am protesting the 2008 election for too many reasons to count, but fore-most is the blatant back stabbing of the Clintons. Bill and Hillary are the best thing for the party in my adult lifetime, he was the first 2 term D in decades and she is off the charts smart & ready day one but we all know (GWB) that smarts don’t count when it comes to selecting a Prez.
I support Hillary for my great grandmother, who 100 years ago had everything including the land her name, my grand mother, a woman way ahead of her time as well and my mother who raised 5 kids on a blue collar salary. All have left this earth and are not only whispering but screaming to me from the other side for Hillary!!!!
Karen
Denton County, TX
PUMA Democrat
what is the list for would like to sign it and pass message on
overat
camille424
hillaryis
I cannot and will not ever vote for BHO, even if he got Hillary, our lady, as his VP. I cannot vote for a man who is supported by a bunch of self-serving DNC leaders and superdelegates and the sickeningly biased media. Moreover, I cannot vote for a man who not only is inexperienced but also is tightly associated with anti-Americans. BHO resigned from his Church for political purposes. I find it hard to believe that it was only now that that Church’s pastors started spewing hateful comments against Hillary, America, and the white people. They have been doing that for a very long time and BHO stayed in that Church for 20 long years.
Hillary was robbed of the Presidency and the DNC represents pseudo-democracy and not true democracy. How can they sleep well at night, knowing that their nominee for President was chosen by them and not by the people?
No to Obama! McCain for 2008! Hillary for 2012!!!
Dr.Howard Dean,
I am a 53 year, 35 year voting democrat WOMAN. Boy, do I remember supporting you!
May 21, 2008 was my last time to vote democrat. I am now independent. In my life I have never seen such grotesque treatment of any democrat like I have seen against Senator Clinton. What on earth inspired your organization to treat this lady and her family so terribly. To me the Clintons were the democratic party. As I recall it is a new party with new people anyway. I am so ashamed…after these past 7.5 years of hell with the Bush cabal, you would act this way. I do not even believe Senator Obama is a legitimate or a deserving candidate. By the way, Senator Clinton won more votes and all of the must win states. Mich and Fla. sigh… This was a planned scheme anyways and our votes have not counted for squat. My heart was broken but I am PUMA now! WE WILL COUNT FOR SOMETHING!
Cathy
Jefferson County Kentucky
PUMA DEMOCRAT
HEY WHERE DO I SEND THIS????
DEAR DNC(DR.DEAN)
THIS IS THE YEAR THAT “DNC”WENT TO FAR….ON YOUR LIBERAL followings…do to tolerant of different views & standards of behavior in others….namely the “ELITIST”….of the party…and REFUSED to LISTEN to the MAJORITY of the VOTERS….which by the pop.vote…SAID “HILLARY”……your own DNC rules the PARTY LEADER HAVE LEFT US the voters……GOD only KNOW how many of us will SIT HOME or vote for the other party……this ELECTION blood of the VOTERS you have DISFRANCHISED…..IS ON YOUR HANDS “SWEETIES”…..STAR OF NEW MEXICO(DEM)
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am protesting the 2008 presidential election because the will of the Democratic majority was subverted by the actions of a small group of party insiders. As a twenty-four year retired Army veteran, I am appalled and disillusioned by what has transpired. I chose to spend the greater part of my adult life serving this country because I believed in what it stood for. I believed that every vote should count and I thought the Democratic Party stood for that principle. Apparently, I was wrong.
Brigitte
Cobb County, Georgia
Puma Democrat
Dr. Dean,
I am protesting and working diligently to make things right that the DNC got wrong for these reasons:
1. Senator Obama was SLECTED not ELECTED
2. Failure of DNC/RBC to follow its own charter/constitution re: fair reflection, uncommitted votes, taking votes from one candidate and giving them to another candidate, and using EXIT POLLS to bolster their own agenda, while all the time repeatedly stating that “Rules are Rules.” The RBC 30 substituting their judgment for 2.3 million voters is - unacceptable!
3. The “Bully pulpit tactics” used on anyone to do with Hillary’s campaign.
4. Hipocracy of DNC failing to count all votes; when that was their mantra in 2000, I am now 1/2 a person, just call me Jane Crow.
5. The sexism and misogyny piled on and piled on Hillary, and through her on us, by pundits, politicians, and Obama supporters - pure hatred that will not be forgotten.
6. Obama does not share my values, is not patriotic, and has used Chicago style politics to steal the nomination - with the entire Democratic Party and DNC aiding and abetting.The only thing Chicago style that I like is my pizza.
7. And make no mistake about it, HILLARY STILL SPEAKS FOR ME. But, Hillary needs to step aside now and let us, the P.U.M.A. Democrats, take it from here. We are many, we are dedicated, we are determined, we are strong.
8. To give just a little liberty to Hillary and in the memory of Susan B. Anthony after working for the Suffragette movement for 60 years, and on her deathbed stated that all she wanted was a little liberty and a say in her goverment and that she will not live to obtain it. Well, 165 years later we are still asking for a little liberty and a say in running our government.
Carolyn Greer
aka ShortTermer
Registered Independent Voter from Florida
P.U.M.A. DEMOCRAT
Murphy,
Is there a way you can delete my previous post with my last name? If not, it’s OK.
would someone please write me in my state is Indiana
marie my state is Illinois
live in Illinois
born in Count My vote Michigan
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am protesting the 2008 election because the Democrat Party has thrown the best candidate they’ve had since Bill Clinton under the bus. The disrespectful treatment of Senator Clinton is unforgivable and unforgettable. We are 18 million strong and we are the foundation of the Democrat Party. We won’t be silenced.
Jean
St.Louis, MO
PUMA Democrat
Murphy, please use my note #31 if you use mine. Also, not sure I spelled hypcracy right????
ShortTermer.
“The only thing Chicago style that I like is my pizza.”
ROTFL!
write my county in it’s OTERO COUNTY N.M.
Dear Dr. Dean,
Neither the DNC, nor the candidate you selected, represents my values and ethics. I cannot support a party or candidate that expresses, and condones, sexism, misogyny, and race-baiting; voter disenfranchisement; vote stealing; and personal and professional associations with racists, terrorists, and thugs. I have walked away from you and your candidate. I will not return in November.
Sincerely,
Gina
San Francisco, CA
PUMA Democrat
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am protesting the 2008 Presidential election after voting as a Democrat for the last twenty years (since eligibility) for the following reasons:
1. The DNC and RBC failed to follow rules and procedures regarding fair reflection, uncommitted votes, taking votes from one candidate and giving them to another candidate, and using EXIT POLLS to bolster their own agenda, while all the time deceitfully and hypocritically repeatedly stating that “Rules are Rules”;
2. The “Bully pulpit tactics” used on anyone to do with Senator Clinton’s campaign;
3. Because of this hypocrisy and expediency of the Democratic Party’s “leaders,” such as yourself, Florida voters are now “half persons.” After what we went through in the year 2000 and its aftermath, I am stunned;
4. The sexism and misogyny piled on Senator Clinton, and through our support of her onto us, by pundits, politicians, and Senator Obama’s supporters;
5. And last but not least, Senator Obama lacks the integrity, experience, and strength of character required to be our President.
Heather
Santa Rosa County, FL
PUMA Democrat
Sadly I, a lift-time Democrat, protest the 2008 Presidential Election because I refuse to support a nominee who was chosen by the leadership rather than elected by voters. The votes of a majority of Democrats were disregarded; the votes of Florida and Michigan were tampered with in a manner that is un-American. I consider the actions of the DNC leadership, including the rules committee, to be a usurpation of the rights of the people. This action, un-American and un-democratic, is akin to a coup. I cannot support this action by the DNC leadership. Because of this, regretfully I am unable to support the democratic nominee. Additionally, I am appalled, saddened, and mortified by the treatment of Hillary Clinton by the DNC leadership.
MCR of Puma PAC
In 1966 my husband ran for City Council in our city and I could not vote for him because I was too young. But I campaigned for him, and marched with him in parades, and wrote his speeches, and stomped up and down the streets, ringing doorbells and stuffing mailboxes. I have been an active Democrat in every election since then. But no more!
I am a Democrat because I believe that my party has a social conscience and I know that oppression is a real evil. But I also know that without fiscal responsibility, children are running the country using Mommy’s checkbook. It is that particular combination of social conscience and fiscal responsibility that attracts me to Hillary Clinton, along with her genuine experience, fearlessness and prudence on the world’s stage. She is the only candidate running for president that brings those issues together.
The Democratic Party has ignored the voice of the democratic voters in the last four years. I do not know how they could support a candidate with less than two years experience on the national scene and no experience whatsoever on the international scene. How could they support a candidate who has significant ties to the Nation of Islam, a group that is no different from Hitler’s Nazis or David Duke’s KKK. How could they support a candidate who sat for 20 years in a church that preaches hate and racism, and brought his young children to learn those lessons. How could they support a candidate whose wife has never been proud of America until she, who is a pampered product of affirmative action, saw her own star rising, a star that provided her with an Ivy League education and a $350,000/year corporate welfare job.
The Democratic Party abused the people of America when they refused to distinguish between the Democratic Party’s leaders in Florida and Michigan and the people of Florida and Michigan. The DNC did not take steps to punish the decision makers who ran afoul of party rules and stole the voice of the people. It is the epitome of arrogance that the DNC did not arrange for new primaries in Florida and Michigan. Billions of dollars have been spent on this campaign. The cost to the party to insure that every voter’s voice was heard while the party leaders were punished was the small cost of liberty, justice and freedom for all.
I am offended to hear that I should vote for Obama. I want to hear, why this candidate will be good for my country. I am offended that Obama went golfing, while Hillary Clinton gave her speech in support of him. I am offended to hear that I should get in line, that I am angry, that I am wrong. Barack Obama has not heard my voice and does not want to hear my voice. He wants me to be silent and listen to him, and vote for him, and pay his way. Until he learns that my vote is sacred, and can only be earned by someone I respect, not demanded, I will never vote for him.
Dr.Dean ,
I will be protesting the November Election due to the unprecidented unethical actions brought forth by yourself and the DNC leadership in Selecting the Democratic Nominee .
This primary season has seen record numbers of voters turn out to vote for their candidate , and the ever - present lenses of the media have exposed , not only their misogynistic biases , but a Democratic Leadership steeped in hypocricy , sexism , and a blatant disregard for the will of the People .
I refuse to support any Democratic Candidate who perpetuated the selection of Barak Obama as the nominee as well as any elected official who has remained complacent throught out this process .
I am only one of many who know that there is a time when it becomes a moral imperrative to stand up for what we believe in , to make certain that our voices are heard , and to protest the injustices that have been placed upon us . That time is now . OUR time is now , and in November , you WILL hear our voices .
K.D. Cooper
Panola County ,Tx.
P.U.M.A. Democrat
Howard Dean
Democratic Party
In 1966 my husband ran for City Council in our city and I could not vote for him because I was too young. But I campaigned for him, and marched with him in parades, and wrote his speeches, and stomped up and down the streets, ringing doorbells and stuffing mailboxes. I have been an active Democrat in every election since then. But no more!
I am a Democrat because I believe that my party has a social conscience and I know that oppression is a real evil. But I also know that without fiscal responsibility, children are running the country using Mommy’s checkbook. It is that particular combination of social conscience and fiscal responsibility that attracts me to Hillary Clinton, along with her genuine experience, fearlessness and prudence on the world’s stage. She is the only candidate running for president that brings those issues together.
The Democratic Party has ignored the voice of the democratic voters in the last four years. I do not know how they could support a candidate with less than two years experience on the national scene and no experience whatsoever on the international scene. How could they support a candidate who has significant ties to the Nation of Islam, a group that is no different from Hitler’s Nazis or David Duke’s KKK. How could they support a candidate who sat for 20 years in a church that preaches hate and racism, and brought his young children to learn those lessons. How could they support a candidate whose wife has never been proud of America until she, who is a pampered product of affirmative action, saw her own star rising, a star that provided her with an Ivy League education and a $350,000/year corporate welfare job.
The Democratic Party abused the people of America when they refused to distinguish between the Democratic Party’s leaders in Florida and Michigan and the people of Florida and Michigan. The DNC did not take steps to punish the decision makers who ran afoul of party rules and stole the voice of the people. It is the epitome of arrogance that the DNC did not arrange for new primaries in Florida and Michigan. Billions of dollars have been spent on this campaign. The cost to the party to insure that every voter’s voice was heard while the party leaders were punished was the small cost of liberty, justice and freedom for all.
I am offended to hear that I should vote for Obama. I want to hear, why this candidate will be good for my country. I am offended that Obama went golfing, while Hillary Clinton gave her speech in support of him. I am offended to hear that I should get in line, that I am angry, that I am wrong. Barack Obama has not heard my voice and does not want to hear my voice. He wants me to be silent and listen to him, and vote for him, and pay his way. Until he learns that my vote is sacred, and can only be earned by someone I respect, not demanded, I will never vote for him.
Ann
Suffolk County
Massachusetts
Puma Democrat
Dear Dr. Howard Dean:
Sadly I, a lift-time Democrat, protest the 2008 Presidential Election because I refuse to support a nominee who was chosen by the leadership rather than elected by voters. The votes of a majority of Democrats were disregarded; the votes of Florida and Michigan were tampered with in a manner that is un-American. I consider the actions of the DNC leadership, including the rules committee, to be a usurpation of the rights of the people. This action, un-American and un-democratic, is akin to a coup. I cannot support this action by the DNC leadership. Because of this, regretfully I am unable to support the democratic nominee. Additionally, I am appalled, saddened, and mortified by the treatment of Hillary Clinton by the DNC leadership.
Marie, USA, Mississippi
Puma Democrat
Dr. Dean:
“You shouldn’t have woken us up……because we’re not going away now…”
The anger is real and it will have repercussions. Just know that the whole: “There, there…it’ll be okay…Just come back and vote for our selected nominee” will not work. Donna Brazile said she did not need the base come November…she just got her wish!
The election just became about Country Before Party, about not letting the media and/or the DNC elite decide a nominee, about counting every vote, and people’s right to vote. There you go, that’s the theme for disenfranchised Dems and Inds (i.e., the swing voters): the survival of democracy in America. Guess who’ll earn those votes? Clue: It will not be Obama.
We will not forget.
Thanks,
Mary in Miami, FL
Mr. Dean,
I am totally ashamed of the Democratic Party and I am protesting the 2008 presidential election because the will of the Democratic process has been totally skewed by the DNC!!
Obama was pushed down our throats by the DNC and the Media.
My protest will be a vote for John McCain in November and to change my party affiliation (after 40 years) from Democrat to Independent!!
Diane
Natrona County Wyoming
PUMA DEMOCRAT
Dear Dr. Dean:
I never though I would see the day that the Democratic Party would deny any candidate the right to run for office. I must say with a heavy heart that during the past months I have witnessed how Hillary Clinton was betrayed by her own party. I have never seen anything like this in my entire life.
The Michigan and Florida votes could not be counted in Hillary’s favor because you had to punish those states. But the DNC somehow found a way to be award Obama 55 Michigan delegates even though his name was not in the ballot.
This might have been legal but it was unfair and disgraceful. I cannot support what I believe is an illegitimate nominee nor can I approve the actions of the DNC.
Eileen, Puerto Rico
PUMA Democrat
Yes letters need to be dignified as we have been labeled morons and uneducated. If you ask me the DNC needs a dictionary.
The purpose of this site for me is unite, unite, unite ! I have seen it over and over again, it is all about numbers. One person can’t change the world but 18 million can sure be a great start. Our system is ruled and not by popular vote as we have seen.
So are we holding the cards until Hillary gets back from R & R ??? I have 6 that are going out from my house and the house next door. I just want to make sure Hillary gets them.
Murphy I feel so much better with this site. It is great to see it grow and grow. Hey if any of you want to go to DC or Denver we will be there. As I told you yesterday I protested and help organize in Conn. when a toxic waste dump was going to be built next to a school and homes……………we stopped it from being built ! It is so easy to organize and numbers count.
Hi puma’s,
I was just talking with another Hillary/Puma supporter and I believe that the one thing that many men know and most women don’t……
They see that women in the past have not banded together and supported one another. If we could manage somehow to all get on the same page and band together (with our men supporters,too) we can take back our Democratic party. We can stop what the DNC is doing, we can stop the biases of the media and we can put Hillary in the white house where she belongs. But first, we must truly get on the same page and organize. I believe Puma and like web sites can work together. We can’t continue going in separate directions. Lets put together a plan and stick to it and be heard. We need foot soldiers, we need secretaries and we need some leaders. We need a concrete plan.
Lisa in Greensboro, NC.
ATTENTION! This is a call to action. The last time I checked there are around 80 days until the Democratic National Convention. You want to make a statement? Then start working today to end the candidacy of Barack Obama, and secure the nomination for the legitimate nominee. The facts are these: Had the RBC sat the Michigan and Florida delegations at full strength, and with fair reflection, HRC would have ended the primaries as the pledged delegate leader, as well as the popular vote leader. Contest the nomination of Barack Obama NOW!
Dear Howard Dean,
The DNC must feel very smug right now as you and the Super Delegates managed to get Obama as the Democratic nominee. As we all know he was selected not elected. I have been a Democrat for 30+ years, but I will not waste my vote on “your” candidate.
You and your delegates along with the media did everything you could to discredit the Clinton’s. Your candidate lacks the necessary leadership and experience to lead this country. This was the good ole boys, backroom politics and there are 18 million voters that will not sit back and accept this as their party’s decision. We will make our voices heard throughout the 50 states, we will concentrate our efforts on all Democrats that will be running for re-election. The peoples voice was not heard, but we guarantee you will hear our voices loud and clear. We are now the Democrats for John McCain.
Michele
Jackson County, MS
Puma Democrat
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am one of 18 million strong who are protesting the 2008 election. My protest is based upon two major factors. The first central fact is that the party elders and insiders, not the people, decided this election and disregarded the tenets upon which democracy and the Democratic Party were founded by disenfranchising states , critical voter constituencies, and the popular vote. Secondly,the blatant, biased support for an unvetted, morally questionable, and unqualified candidate and the unabashed vitriolic assault on the most qualified candidate by the DNC, the media, and the superdelegates suggests shady backroom politics, undemocratic tactics, and a rationale that defies logic. When our country’s future is at stake, particularly in these treacherous times, we cannot afford to have an inexperienced candidate with questionable patriotism, morals, and policies at the head of the ticket. Consequently, the apparent manipulation of this election by the powers that be have robbed this country of its most qualified and effective leader, Senator Clinton. I therefore resolve to protest these tactics and the outcome.
Sincerely,
Nancy
Philadelphia
Pennsylvania
PUMA Democrat
Thanks for the site, I have been looking as I have been so disappointed since last Wed. It was almost like a death in the family. Haven’t watched any of the biased media either. The media is also a big failure in this country. Women fought so hard for the vote, finally in 1920. Black men could vote in 1868. This week has been a huge step backwards. Marleta in Dallas, Texas
Dear Dr. Dean,
On Independence Day I will celebrate my 60th birthday. The next morning, I’ll register as an Independent. I have been a life long, loyal Democrat. I am also a Floridian. I remember the debacle in 2000. I remember the DNC up in arms and rightly so, at having the election stolen from us.
Now, I see the DNC paid close attention and has adopted those same principles fought so hard against in 2000.
I have watched in disbelief as party leaders turned their heads and some even participated in the most hate filled attacks ever purported on a candidate for the Presidency of the United States of America. Please understand there are so many of us who will never be able to look the other way and support a candidate that was selected in such a blatant travesty of justice and total disregard of the voices of the people.
You need to understand that this is about much more than losing a nomination. It is about the complete break down of a party dedicated to the grass roots of this great nation.
We will be heard.
Susan
Florida voter
P.U.M.A. DEMOCRAT
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am protesting the 2008 Presidential Election because the DNC did not support the best candidate to win in November. In fact, it subverted its own Charter and Bylaws in order to aid and abet an illegitimate nominee.
David,
Los Angeles County, CA
PUMA Democrat
#’s 8 16 20 delete!
thanks murphy i finally got it right!
thanks for the site too
donated to puma pac this am
Dear Mr Dean,
I have renounced the democratic party as of 5/31/08. I will be actively protesting the November 2008 election. I have never seen anyone put up with the hateful sexist treatment that fellow democrat’s heaped on Senator Clinton. The Democratic party was not even transparent in their effort to rig this primary. I will vote for Senator Clinton should she end up on the ticket otherwise John Mc Cain will have my protest vote. Senator Obama does not deserve the White House nor do the Democrats. You and Donna Brazile should resign out of SHAME!
LisaNC
I have been trying to get this point across all morning. I am going out now. I am too frustrated to be here.
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am a PUMA Democrat and will be voting for Hillary Clinton in November. I do so because I believe that the Democratic nominee for the presidency of the United States should be basing their platform on the principles embraced in FDR’s Economic Bill of Rights from his 44th inaugural address and Hillary Clinton is the only candidate to do so. I’m an FDR Democrat, a Clinton Democrat and a PUMA Democrat. There are a lot of us and the Democratic party would do well to court our vote.
Sincerely,
Lorenda Starfelt
PS - And I’ll sign my name in big enough letters that you don’t need your bifocals to read it.
Dear Dr. Dean,
I will not support the Barack Obama candidacy.
I have been an active Democrat since I was eleven years old, campaigning with my father, who was a union president in Western New York. I canvassed with him and made phone calls supporting Bobby Kennedy. I have continued to volunteer and support Democratic candidates in every election making phone calls, doing canvassing, serving as a caucus delegate and a poll watcher.
I am heartbroken at what has happened to my party. I’ve watched voters’ rights being subverted by my own party. Senator Obama’s people stormed my caucus and I watched as people I knew were not in my precinct were allowed to vote as if they were.
I’m not telling you anything you do not already know. That’s what sickens me the most. I remember seeing you on television saying that your job was to make sure that the supporters of whichever candidate that loses feel that the winner is legitimate. I’m sorry to say that you have failed.
Hillary Clinton won the votes of the majority of Democrats, and she should be our nominee. Period. I cannot and will not support the illegitimate nominee of the party.
The Obama campaign ran a successful “Democrat for a Day” program that encouraged Republicans to crossover and help defeat Hillary Clinton in the primaries. You knew about it and did nothing to stop it.
On November 4, I will be a Republican for a day. Nothing will change my mind about this unless Hillary Clinton is the nominee for President. Nothing.
Sincerely,
Janice
King County, WA
PUMA Democrat
Dear Dr. Dean:
One would think that after the 2000 s/election, Democrats would want to retain and build on the high moral ground of being the party that counts the votes and enfranchises the most voters.
One would think that after 2004 you of all people would remember how the media railroaded you out of your presidential campaign and you’d be the last person to employ those same tactics on another Democratic candidate.
Well, some of us do remember. Some of us still prefer the higher moral ground. If you can sit by and let Donna Braziele speak for this new DNC who “doesn’t need” the nearly 18 million voters who supported the stronger candidate for nomination then hear this:
We are the ones who don’t need you. We don’t need those who aid and abet the weaker candidate, who, like George Bush, was propped up by the media and who, like George Bush, was selected not elected and given delegates he could never have earned after removing himself from the ballot (you know, the ballot…remember that little tool of democracy, the BALLOT?).
You have failed us, and your fraud of a candidate will fail you. You have made a grave and unforgivable error in judgement and, sadly, because I was a big fan of your grassroots campaign that helped change the tide of the nation, this debacle will be what you are remembered for when we, the majority of the Democratic base, take back our party.
Robyn
Norfolk County, Massachusetts
P.U.M.A. Democrat
ps, my mom, Mary from Fairfax County, Virginia wants to be added to this note
I got this site from a blogger on gretawire.com where I began blogging as an irate Florida voter who tried desperately to get our votes counted….Now I have help.
I’ve posted the introduction you have on Puma and gave out your website to the bloggers….I will continue doing this to increase the enrollment here.
There is power in numbers.
Tell me what I can do.
CJ
Ft. Lauderdale,Florida
a new member of Puma
Oh, crap…I knew I couldn’t keep it to 50 words…
Dear Dr Dean,
I am protesting the 2008 election this year because of the direct and indirect actions of the DNC which I have witnessed over the course of this primary election.
I was incredibly disappointed in the leadership when they did not put forth a statement when the media began to say Hillary should drop out. I was disappointed when you and Nancy Pelosi began to put pressure on the super delegates to wrap things up.
I called the DNC daily to express my concerns and repeated that I wished to remain a democrat as I have been all my life. But would not be able to do so if the RBC meeting did not pan out a fair resolution.
It was with awe that I watched that meeting. With awe when you set the tone in the open by asking democrats to compare Hillary Clinton’s situation to yours and Al Gore’s. I pretty much knew from there that the deal was done.
But leaving the floor for greater than 2 hours and coming back with a “solution” was a disgrace. I am uncertain how the RBC were able to award Senator Obama more delegates then voted for uncommitted and less delegates to Senator Clinton. I felt like over 4 delegates you were sending a message to Senator Clinton. I cannot believe this over 4 delegates.
I changed my party affilitation on Monday June 2nd to Independent.
I will not support Senator Obama because I do not believe he was “elected”.
Sue
Scottsdale Az
PUMA democrat
Dear Dr. Dean,
I will be using my vote to protest the outrageous strong-arm tactics used by the Democratic Party to push Senator Clinton out of the candidacy. She is the most capable, driven, and compassionate candidate, and I do hope you realize that without her, the Republican candidate shall prevail come November. Perhaps then you and your fellow “party leaders” may come to see your folly.
I cannot and shall not vote for a man who denounced the working majority of our noble nation as “bitter”, and who addressed a female reporter as “sweetie”- the very thought of these words makes my blood boil. As much as you might believe that so-called “angry women voters” will come around, the Democratic Party will be rudely awakened in November. Then you will see the true numbers of Clinton’s supporters, who are free-thinking individuals rather than sheep, and who can know a farce when they see it.
I have never voted for a Republican in my life, but I will cast my vote for Senator McCain. It pains me to vote in favor of a party that I have voted against time and time again, but it is utterly unconscionable to vote in favor of a party that has deserted me, that has discarded the votes of millions of people. I will do my part to see that the Republican candidate will win, and that the false candidate of the Democratic party shall not.
K. Belsen
Ramsey County, MN
P.U.M.A. Democrat
Dear Dr. Dean
The Democratic Party has been inclusive and supported
issues that were important for working class, middle class and poor. The abandonment of Universal Health Care is a deal breaker for me.
When I first entered the workforce I had to buy my own health insurance, it cost $30 a month on an income of $360 a month. Recently I had a position at a temporary agency paying $1560 after taxes. The insurance for a single person (my son) is $900 a month. The cost of medical insurance premium went from 8% of income to
58% of income. We are the only Western industrialized nation without guaranteed health care and it is a disgrace.
Sincerely
Charles
Dallas County
Texas
PUMA Democrat
When voice of popular vote doesn’t matter anymore, then, I have no reason to continue supporting the Democratic Party. The DNC and Democratic leaders have corrupted the party. There’s no honor to be a democrat now, this is a corrupt party. This primary have opened my eyes, they’re the party I do NOT want to be associated with.
Dear Dr. Dean,
I will protest the 2008 election for more than one reason, but my main concern is how the DNC allow Senator Clinton to be treated my not only the media but it’s own members. I also can not understand how it is known to the world and not to the DNC that Donna Brazile clearly , set this election to be stolen for Obama. On Sept 28, 07 she gave a speech to the Black Congressional Caucus, telling them, WE HAVE the POWER to give this nomination to Senator Obama, Clearly he is SELECTED and WON’T BE ELECTED.
DEMOCRAT -No-More
Texas Voter
P.U.M.A. Member
I am so grateful for the sentiments we are all putting in our letters. I am proud to be amongst the PUMAs.
ATTENTION! This is a call to action. The last time I checked there are around 80 days until the Democratic National Convention. You want to make a statement? Then start working today to end the candidacy of Barack Obama, and secure the nomination for the legitimate nominee. The facts are these: Had the RBC sat the Michigan and Florida delegations at full strength, and with fair reflection, HRC would have ended the primaries as the pledged delegate leader, as well as the popular vote leader. Contest the nomination of Barack Obama NOW!
====
omg, SHTUEY…is this written up anywhere?? We need to include this in our talking points!
Dear Mr. Dean:
I am a poor, uneducated, bible-toting, Black, ex-democrat.
Like the educated, affluent Ms. Brazile’s mom, my mother taught me a couple of things. First and foremost is “you have to give respect, to get it”. Another, “watch how a person treats others … and don’t ever think it won’t be you, because it will”.
The behavior shown by the DNC and mainstream media was unconscionable. You took the ugliest of human characteristics, turned them inside out, and called it “politics”.
Politics is the process by which groups make decisions. It is the authoritative allocation of values. It’s obvious that the DNC and I no longer share values. So, I suspend my party affiliation.
Beverly
Allegheny, PA
Murphy, I would like to take these letters, and put them on postcards and mail them out to SD’s, would that be an acceptable thing to do - would the members okay it?
Dear Dr. Dean,
I will be protest the presidential election this November because the voices of the people of the democratic party have been silenced. I refuse to vote for a party that discriminates as badly as this party does - against women. The treatment that the DNC has allowed to happen this primary season is horrific. The treatment that the DNC has heaped on good law abiding, voting members has been even worse. There is no excuse for this, and as a result, my vote will not be for the democratic party this election. Shame on you Dr. Dean, shame on you!
Mea J.
Tarrant County, Texas
P.U.M.A. Democrat
Dear Dr. Dean:
I am protesting the 2008 Democratic Presidential election because the democratic nominee is not the choice of the voters. Democratic leadership has made the choice.
I have been a democrat for 50 years because I believed the democratic party championed human rights and making every vote count.
During this primary, voters’ rights have been violated and rampant sexism has gone unchallenged.
I am sad to say I will not be supporting the democratic presidential nominee when I vote in November.
Patricia
Santa Clara County, California
Puma Democrat
Dear Dr. Dean
To Howard Dean and Members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC),
This is to inform you that I have officially denounced the Democratic Party and and will not be supporting the selection not the election of Barack Obama as the democratic nominee effective this first week of June, 2008.
The Party no longer represents what is best for the people of the United States.
The DNC’s obvious endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama has played a major role in sweeping an unqualified, unchallenged, and unseasoned candidate to the forefront of a presidential race he cannot win. Sen. Obama lacks the experience, fortitude, and stamina to withstand what will face the Democratic nominee in the General Election. His severe lack of judgment in his personal and business relations have contributed damaging fodder for not only the media and opposing Democrats .
This said I will be throwing all my support behind John MCain against Obama in the general election. This will be the 1st time that I as a lifelong democrat will ever cast a republican vote.
HillaryDems4Mccain.
Pumapac.org
Dr. Dean,
I am writing to let you know that I am protesting the 2008 election. For the first time in my life I am ashamed to be a Democrat. Bush has made me ashamed of being an American for the last seven years and you have completed the betrayal. Shame on you, and everyone else that orchestrated this scandal. I never thought I would see this day.
Senator Hillary Clinton won, fair and square, and you stole her nomination and our votes. What gives you the right to decide who wins over the American peoples voices?
I will not stay silent. I will, in every way and means, protest the shameful treatment of Senator Clinton.
The DNC seems to have it’s own agenda and it is not the agenda of the majority and it is not mine. So, After being a loyal Democrat for 36 years, I will now register as an Independent and continue to fight for our voting rights and the nomination of Senator Clinton. I will also be taking along with me the many friends and family members that are equally outraged.
Denise
Washington County, PA
PUMA Democrat
Dr. Dean,
I will never vote for a candidate that was not elected by the American people and Barack Obama was not elected by us. Under your leadership the Democratic party used every tactic to attack women and to smear the name of Hillary Rodham Clinton and her family. I am heartbroken that for the first time in my life I will have to vote for a Republican presidential candidate, but I am willing to do so if it will end the corruption in the Democratic Party.
You and the other Democratic leaders that chose Barack Obama as the presidential candidate even before the primaries began have hurt democracy in countless ways. Even Republicans knew that they needed to listen to the will of the people when they chose to accept John McCain as the Republican nominee over other candidates party leaders preferred. Apparently, they have a better understanding of how democracies are supposed to work. The world is watching and many abroad are judging Mr. Obama and the Democratic Party very harshly. How can other countries trust our leaders if we behave in such a reprehensible way at home? They can’t. The only way we can truly regain our standing in the world stage is by abiding by the rules of a democracy and not by presenting the world with a candidate you and your leaders believe will surely help to “elevate America’s standing.” We would have made a much stronger statement about who we are as a country if the Democratic party had acted in an ethical way by letting Democrats choose their own leader.
Sincerely,
Lara, San Antonio, TX
Dear Dr. Dean,
I will not support your candidate or your party because it is NEVER acceptable to use the sexist and misogynist voices in the media to advance your interests.
You, Dr. Dean, sat idly by while one of the best leaders the Democratic party has ever known was attacked because she was a woman and a Clinton. You said nothing while she was subjected to blatant double standards. You lodged not one complaint about blatant misogyny in our mass culture. And your aides shamelessly organized Democrat elites to sabotage Hillary when she had just as much - in fact, more - popular support than Obama.
You proved that you don’t care about all Democrats; only those Democrats who support your agenda.
Senator Obama never denounced the sexism directed at Hillary. He spoke eloquently about race but never about gender. Why? Either he just doesn’t care, or he stayed silent because it worked to his advantage.
And now both of you, and your surrogates, act like I’m the one who is the problem.
Sorry to disappoint you, but YOU are the problem. You should be thinking of ways to win me back. Instead you’re telling me I have no place better to go.
Well I do have a better place to go. Its PUMA Democrats. That’s where Democrats with principles belong.
The ball is in your court, and in Senator Obama’s.
I’m sure both of you will fumble.
Most sincerely,
Ciccina
Washington DC
Proud PUMA Democrat
Dr. Dean,
How dare you and the elite of the Democratic Party do something so unAmerican as counting people as 1/2 and awarding uncommitted delegates to a candidate that wasn’t even on the ballot? How dare you take delegates from Senator Clinton and give them to Barack Obama? How dare you have closed door meetings and secret votes against your own charter?
I could go on and on and on. I am a PUMA Democrat and I will not be coming back, fallin in line, voting party line….etc., etc., etc.
I make this promise to you: I will vote against Barack Obama and downticket dems that supported him.
Sincerely,
Anastasia
Hawaii County, Hawaii
Puma Democrat
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was the best candidate for president of the United States of America and the elected nominee. The treatment of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was unforgivable. For the first time in my life, I will be voting Republican, and am ashamed of what my “Party” has done to destroy the democracy that once was the bedrock of our country.
Sandra M. Collins, PA
Sandra M. Collins
Honorable Mr. Dean,
I don’t know if calling you “honorable” is appropriate, your conduct as chairman of DNC is DISHONORABLE. DNC under your leadership have shown how hatred, misogyny, race-baiting is acceptable provided the person who uses it with gusto is caucasian. DNC and Democratic Leaders also made it acceptable for anyone to call middle Americans bitter people for clinging to their guns and religion provided the person who says it is not caucausian.
The Democratic Party have lost their moral compass, a party supposedly inclusive, a party for all races, religion, beliefs, convictions and mores; has now become a party for ultra liberals and elite. I don’t belong to these two groups that all of you in DNC embraced wholeheartedly and allow your presumptive nominee to insult and spew hatred against Senator right out in the open without YOU, Chairman of the DNC calling the attention of Obama to stop it as it was divisive.
Now, you’re asking us to unite after Senator Clinton was abused, demean not only by the media but the man you all people in DNC support? We are now standing up for GRAVE INJUSTICE committed against Senator Clinton and 18 millions of Americans who voted for her. That grave injustice was committed by you, Democratic leaders, Senator Obama and the media. We will not follow your marching order, we are more powerful than any of you people in the Democratic Party combined, WE ARE THE PEOPLE. We will unleash that power granted to us in the Constitution and it is GUARANTEED come November. You do NOT SELECT who we wanted to represent our party, WE THE PEOPLE ELECT THAT PERSON, our CHOICE is Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Ian
Disgruntled Democrat turned Independent
Puma member for Hillary
Dear Dr. Dean,
You did everything in your power to cut short the democratic process first by the “hijacking” of delegates from Hillary, and then making a gift of undecided delegates to Obama. It was those delegates that put Obama over the top. You flexed your political muscles with the RBC and with superdelegates to short-circuit the process so democrats could get a jump on the general election campaign against McCain. You gave little or no consideration to the convention which historically nominates our candidate in the name of party unity. In accomplishing your goals, you have managed to alienate 18 million democrats who do not approve of appointed DNC officials “selecting” our candidate and ignoring the popular vote of the party.
You, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Donna Brazile, and countless other talking-head Democrats, delegates and superdelegates, not to mention Obama supporters, *now* acknowledge what a wonderful job Hillary did in the primary, and praise the incredible contributions she has made to the DNC. She was scorned, ridiculed, and raked through sexist derogatory slime while the primary was in effect, but now you, and other DNC officials, party leaders and superdelegates all look to her to clean up the mess which YOU, the DNC, and party officials have created.
I say Hillary should not be demoted to head housecleaner for the DNC. The party is in a wreck not because of Hillary, but because the DNC did not value the vote of all democrats, not to mention the life-blood of the party, women. You think you will be able to re-establish party unity…think again. You had your opportunity with this election, and you abandoned us, and you miscalculated the end result.
We are angry. We intend to take our votes elsewhere, and our donation dollars will be going to McCain.
Party unity…maybe the next election, but for this year, there will be many defections and my fondest hope is that those defections will be reflected in the election of John McCain.
Sincerely,
Missy
San Mateo County, CA
I just joined today, thanks to a blogger’s posting info
on Gretawire. Since the day I watched the R&B steal
delegates from Senator Hillary Clinton and watched
the members like Donna Brazile sits placidly by, I
could not believe this was the my party of 40+ years.
Mr. Ickes said it right, Hillary Clinton’s candidacy had
just be “hijacked.” I watched as Harriet and others passionately decried the sacrilege that had just happened. I watched as our brave and stalwart BEST Candidate gave two speeches with grace and later as
an “illegitimate candidate was appointed the nominee.”
Well, we ARE taking it from here, in ALL 50 states to
RESTORE the 18 million of us who ELECTED the people’s choice for Democratic Nominee, Hillary Clinton. We will fight from the Pacific Northwest to the Atlantic Eastcoast, to the Great Lakes of the North to the Gulf Coast of the South, and we in the HEARTLAND in the KEY SWING STATE of OHIO, that WILL DEliver the next president of the United States, HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, we Ohioans will Elect HERE in 2008. I am proud to call myself a new PUMA, and my claws are out and ready for whatever it takes.
Could you put me on the list for Washington, PA
Thanks!
Hey SunnyPA, isn’t it funny our posts ended up next to each other?
Oops, sorry, Murphy…I forgot to put that I am a PUMA…should i resubmit? I’m proud to be a PUMA — huge oversight!!!
Missy — Yes, please. thank you!
These are great everyone. Keep them coming.
Dr. Dean:
I will not be voting for Obama because:
• he is an imposter pretending to be above politics while violently playing the race card (the final straw was his campaign’s fueling of the RFK statement controversy – how can a true Democrat who is supposed to uphold the loftiest of ideals fuel such vitriol in an already divided time?).
• The unifier successfully divided the democratic party by playing the race card and viciously attacking a well-respected opponent.
• Obama performed terribly in the debates and was never presidential – he parroted Hillary’s responses because he couldn’t give his own (evidence: he repeated her position on negotiating with Cuba only if it released political prisoners and showed other signs of improvement, which conflicted with his own previously stated position that he would negotiate without any preconditions).
• he fanned anti-trade sentiment in small town America which he later faulted as being bitter and clinging to the anti-trade sentiment he began.
• He mailed out flyers criticizing Hillary on NAFTA (while claiming to never run a negative campaign) but was later caught in NAFTAGATE for doing nothing more than political posturing.
• The powers behind the scenes have attempted to manipulate the masses and manufacture consent for the election of this emperor without clothes through the media.
• The youth were deceived through tactics such as the use of the mtv culture and a paid-actress that did not even vote for Obama in the Obama girl video.
• The media coverage was replete with distortions and lies.
• Obama tried to suppress the vote in SD and Montana by releasing false rumors that Hillary was conceding that evening - completely UN-American and UN-Democratic.
• Obama thwarted the re-votes in Michigan and Florida, gaming the system and depriving citizens in those states of their vote - completely UN-American and UN-Democratic.
• The DNC arbitrarily applied the rules: (1) by initially discounting all the delegates in those states; (2) stalling resolution and any possibility of revotes; and (3) ultimately giving Obama four of Hillary’s delegates. Completely UN-American and UN-Democratic.
• The DNC did not apply the rules evenly by failing to punish Obama for campaigning in Florida through national advertising and failing to punish him for appearing in Florida. If the DNC really wished to follow the “RULES” (peevish intonation) then he should have received ZERO delegates for his violations.
• The media, Obama, and the certain members of the democratic party tried to push Hillary out of the process from very early on, AND have tried to discourage any chances that she will be a Vice President.
• Polls lied until they became self-fulfilling prophecies. Hillary and Obama were tied with respect to the educated vote. AND, Hillary brought out a lot of youth vote too.
• I DO NOT TRUST THE HIDDEN AGENDA OF YOU, PELOSI, BRAZILLE, AND OTHERS.
Joanne
Kings County, New York
A PUMA DEMOCRAT
Honorable Mr. Dean,
I don’t know if calling you “honorable” is appropriate, your conduct as chairman of DNC is DISHONORABLE. DNC under your leadership have shown how hatred, misogyny, race-baiting is acceptable provided the person who uses it with gusto is caucasian. DNC and Democratic Leaders also made it acceptable for anyone to call middle Americans bitter people for clinging to their guns and religion provided the person who says it is not caucausian.
The Democratic Party have lost their moral compass, a party supposedly inclusive, a party for all races, religion, beliefs, convictions and mores; has now become a party for ultra liberals and elite. I don’t belong to these two groups that all of you in DNC embraced wholeheartedly and allow your presumptive nominee to insult and spew hatred against Senator right out in the open without YOU, Chairman of the DNC calling the attention of Obama to stop it as it was divisive.
Now, you’re asking us to unite after Senator Clinton was abused, demean not only by the media but the man you all people in DNC support? We are now standing up for GRAVE INJUSTICE committed against Senator Clinton and 18 millions of Americans who voted for her. That grave injustice was committed by you, Democratic leaders, Senator Obama and the media. We will not follow your marching order, we are more powerful than any of you people in the Democratic Party combined, WE ARE THE PEOPLE. We will unleash that power granted to us in the Constitution and it is GUARANTEED come November. You do NOT SELECT who we wanted to represent our party, WE THE PEOPLE ELECT THAT PERSON, our CHOICE is Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Ian
Whatcom County, Washington
Disgruntled Democrat turned Independent
Puma member for Hillary
I have to do it again Murphy, sorry for doubling my entry.
Dear Dr. Dean:
Sebator Hillary Rodham Clinton was the ebst candidate for President of the UNited States of America and the ELECTED nominee. The treatment of Senator Hillary Clinton was unforgivable. For the first time in my life, I will be voting Republican and as ashamed of what the “Party” has done to destroy the democracy that was once the bedrock of our country.
Sandra in PA
PUMA Democrat
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am protesting the 2008 Presidential election because of the smearing of the Clintons as racists for political gain. I will never, ever vote for a democrat who would smear another racially in order to get votes. That’s akin to falsely accusing someone of being a child molester. That so many party leaders would consider this acceptable is appalling.
Linda (Marion County, Oregon)
PUMA Democrat
Dear Dr. Dean,
You did everything in your power to cut short the democratic process first by the “hijacking” of delegates from Hillary, and then making a gift of undecided delegates to Obama. It was those delegates that put Obama over the top. You flexed your political muscles with the RBC and with superdelegates to short-circuit the process so democrats could get a jump on the general election campaign against McCain. You gave little or no consideration to the convention which historically nominates our candidate in the name of party unity. In accomplishing your goals, you have managed to alienate 18 million democrats who
do not approve of appointed DNC officials “selecting” our candidate and ignoring the popular vote of the party.
You, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Donna Brazile, and countless other talking-head Democrats, delegates and superdelegates, not to mention Obama supporters, *now* acknowledge what a wonderful job Hillary did in the primary, and praise the incredible contributions she has made to the DNC. She was scorned, ridiculed, and raked through sexist derogatory slime while the primary was in effect, but now you, and other DNC officials, party leaders and superdelegates all look to her to clean up the mess which YOU, the DNC, and party officials have created.
I say Hillary should not be demoted to head housecleaner for the DNC. The party is in a wreck not because of Hillary, but because the DNC did not value the vote of all democrats, not to mention the life-blood of the party, women. You think you will be able to re-establish party unity…think again. You had your opportunity with this election, and you abandoned us, and you miscalculated the end result.
We are angry. We intend to take our votes elsewhere, and our donation dollars will be going to McCain. Party unity…maybe the next election, but for this year, there will be many defections and my fondest hope is that those defections will be reflected in the election of John McCain.
Sincerely,
Missy
San Mateo County, CA
Proud PUMA Democrat
Shorttermer,
I think your idea of sending postcards to superdelegates is a good one, but personally, I would not want my letter, as it is written to go to superdelegates. This is just my opinion, but it is based upon some feedback from the superd’s–I think we need to send postcards to super d’s praising Hillary and stating why we want her as our President and perhaps stating that the convention has not yet occurred so we are within our rights to ask them to reconsider. Just one humble opinion. The purpose seems different to me.
JenT you say your from Tarrant County I am as well Fort Worth…
Dear Chairman Dean:
It is with a heavy heart that I, a life-long and loyal Democrat, send you this message. May 31st 2008 is forever etched in my mind as a very sad day for the Democratic Party. For on this day our Party turned against the very principles on which it was founded. On this day the DNC Rules Committee violated the right of one person one vote- the very bedrock of our constitution and democracy- with its MI and FL decision. The right to vote trumps Party primary scheduling rules, especially when the race is in a virtual delegate tie. My mama taught me that when rules violate civil rights, they need to be changed, not followed blindly for political reasons and expediency.
In light of this, our Party’s “presumptive” nominee is not valid. The Party has left me no choice but to protest the General Election in November in defense of the right of one person one vote.
Respectfully,
Evy (Texas)
PUMA Democrat
I am sure that many of you have read the article in the Chicago Tribune:http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-mccain-women-jun06,0,5085404.story
I have written the following letter to Senator McCaskill:
I beg to differ with you regarding the fact that you think you “know” these women. We are not going to pull the lever in the privacy of the voting booth for Obama. He was selected not elected. He lacks all the qualities to become our next president. No leadership, poor judgement and a complete lack of experience. Your party the DNC is the one that has set women back by 40 years.
As a Democrat for 30+ years, I will not support Obama or the DNC. My vote will be cast for John McCain. And just so you know, the outreach from the McCain campaign has been kind, sincere and heartwarming. The Obama blog is filled with hatred. Maybe you should get to know us better.
Michele of of 18 Million
P.U.M.A. Democrat
Please go to her website so we can send a strong message to her as well as the O campaign that we will not vote in the privacy of the voting booth for a candidate that is not a leader.
http://mccaskill.senate.gov/
Dear Dr. Dean. It is absolutely disgusting how you and the DNC pretended that the 18 million persons that voted for Hillary Clinton did not count. You chose instead Senator Obama who has absolutely no experience, no one knows anything about him except his best friends and mentors are terrorists and hate mongers and antisemites. I have been a loyal democrat for all my life since I came to this wonderful Country 60 years ago, but I cannnot continue to support the Democratic Party in the way it is evolving and not listening to the voters. Monique Pegg Riverside CA 92506
Dear Mr. Dean,
Yes, I am a passionate card carrying liberal Democrat who has NEVER voted Republican in my life. I regularly contribute to the DNC and to our presidential candidates. I contributed more than $1500 to Hillary Clinton in the primary with the hope that my party will nominate the Clinton brand – the only one that has won Presidential elections since 1976 and has produced a centrist winning coalition to produce excellent results in the economy and abroad. As Hillary pointed out, Bill Clinton remains our ONLY Best 2 term president from our party who has won 2 out of three times that the Democrats have won the Presidency.
Instead, the DNC selected, not us elected, a fringe left candidate that I just cannot support to vote to give the keys of the WH to.
I will vote McCain for President focusing my energy and money on his campaign. By the way, you have been a totally ineffective Chair which allowed the likes of Arianna Huffington to split our party. Also, I am not old, poor, or uneducated as the Obama Maniacs who caricature me- I am a female, with 2 graduate degrees and a six figure income. “Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned”….incase you didn’t know this but “Loyalty is not transferable.” I absolutely admire and support the Clintons. I refuse to vote for Barack and Michelle Obama.
JoAnn
Allegheny County
Pennsylvania
Puma Democrat
DNC under your leadership have shown how hatred, misogyny, race-baiting is acceptable provided the person who uses it with gusto is NOT caucasian.
* correction to first paragraph.
I noticed that, Ramsey. lol
Let’s pull our energy together to start working in this area.
You know nobama will be gunning for the greater Pittsburgh area. He needs it to win PA.
There are other Clinton campaign workers who would like to get started as well. I’m working on hand out materials.
Howard Dean:
The DNC has lost all credibility. The presumptive nominee has been selected by the Party Elite, not the people. You and other members of the party sat by or partook in the misogynistic attacks on Hillary Clinton. You sat by as the Clintons and her supporters were labeled racists. All this was done to promote an egregiously unqualified candidate.
Women are your largest and most loyal voting bloc; why was no one in the DNC standing up for us? I know. You were trying to force Hillary Clinton out of her right to run in this campaign.
I cannot turn my back to what has transpired in this election. Senator Mccain will get my vote and party loyalty is a thing of the past. I will protest to be sure this travesty never again happens in this country. The willfull stealing of elections is not acceptable.
Tawnee
Los Angeles, CA
PUMA
Mr. Dean,
What would Michelle Obama say if her choice for the presidential candidate had been treated as unfairly by the DNC as my choice (Hillary Clinton) was?
She would probably say the same thing she said about being an American. But she won’t say anything about the DNC now, because her candidate was pushed over the top by the unfair set up rules of the DNC. My candidate was cheated out of the competition, so I am writing to tell you how I feel.
“For the first time in my adult life here in America, I am ashamed to be called a democrat.” Therefore, I have switched my party to Independent.
You probably will say that my opinion does not matter, because I am just a woman, as Hillary Clinton. That’s not the case anymore…Hillary was just “one” incredible woman trying to compete against a wall of unwilling male political figures capable of doing anything to keep her from a chance at holding the position of president of the United States. The difference is…I am “one” woman in an army of millions of other women and men who are not happy with the decision of the DNC. We will be heard…and we will matter more than you think.
Formerly yours,
Delilah Bromfield, Fl
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am protesting the 2008 presidential election beacuse as party elders; you had an OBLIGATION to step up to the plate and stop the STRONG ARM TACTICS, CHEATING, SEXISM and the PROPAGANDA that spewed forth.
By not stopping these divisive actions and SELECTING instead of ELECTING the nominee; you have caused a massive seperation in the Democratic party to the tune of 18 MILLION and counting.
After 26 years of steadfast support always remember I did not leave the Democratic party; YOU HAD ALREADY LEFT ME! The Democratic Party is the party of my ideas; only if you actually “practice” instead of just preaching. Otherwise, you are just another organization with which 18 MILLION voters and I find no common values, integrity or bond. You are not a religion!
This Sweetie, Refuses to go sit Quietly in the back of the bus! We will Not be coming home in November.
Sincerely,
Kim~
Monroe County~Newport, Michigan~
“Puma Democrat”
Dear Dr, Dean,
Why am I protesting the Democratic Party?
The Democratic Party does not share my values and my beliefs. This years primary season I have learned that the Democratic Party does not count nor value every vote.
Example of this is the MI decision. It is one thing to give Senator Obama the uncommitted votes (though wrong) it is truly “unethical” and “morally” wrong to take from Senator Clinton’s votes and give to Senator Obama. That is NOT a democratic value I wish to aspire to or belong to.
If you want unity the Democratic Party as a whole should stand united and against any form of media bias, sexism or racism toward any democratic candidate.
If you want unity in the Democratic Party fellow democratic leaders should NOT be asking candidates to drop out of a race that is for all intense purposes tied. Further more if you want unity democratic leaders should allow a candidates who are for all intense purposes tied to make there case at the democratic convention and NOT ask to drop out or get in line for unity sake.
In addition it has become clear that the Party Leaders have selected Senator Obama as the candidate rather then the people electing their candidate.
I can not nor will I support Senator Obama for many reasons in part I strongly disagree with Senator Obama’s issues on healthcare reform and foreign policy. In addition I strongly disagree with Senator Obama’s character and his associations with so many very questionable people. I also do NOT agree in voting for someone who clearly does NOT have the experience to run this country and has no history to back up his “change” sales gimmick. You may fool some of the people some of the time but you can’t fool everybody all of the time. I can NOT trust Senator Obama’s judgment and feel he is a very serious threat to our country.
You do realize that you have thrown the core democratic voters under the bus. Senator Clinton attracted and held the base, the core of the party and yet you Dr Dean and Party Leaders threw Senator Clinton and her supporters under the bus. To that I say NO thank you. I am never going to consider myself a democrat ever again.
William Kronert
Hillary, Obama did not win the nomination for Presidency of the United States of America. The DNC and he stole it from you. Let it be known here and now, they will pay a “bitter” price for this move in November if you do not prevail in the end. The Democratic Party just handed the election to McCain when they hosed you over Obama. I for one woman will be voting McCain in the fall, if this incredible theft is allowed to stand. What happened to count all our votes? I cannot, even with your urging endorse this man. Now, after your campaign suspension speech the audacity of the media never ceases to amaze me. Now those arrogant @#$^$es are saying that you must get out and campaign for their golden boy. Of course you do (not), if you want a Democrat in the Whitehouse. They know he can’t win without you and we all know that too. So let’s go girls, let’s get their poster boy elected. Yeah [W]right, when hell freezes over, I’ll start. Sorry Hillary, it is you or McCain. I still say it will be you because Obama will implode before Denver. Thank God, you merely suspended your campaign.
Dear Dr. Dean:
I am a new voter who was naturalized December 19, 2007. I filled in my voter registration with pride and marked the Democrat box. I am no longer a Democrat. As a feminist, your party’s values have diverged from my own. Your silence in the face of the misogyny and sexism aimed at your fellow Democrat, Senator Hillary Clinton, created a wound in the hearts of feminist Democrats that will not soon heal. You had the opportunity to take a stand and chose not to. That is the coward’s way. That is not my way.
Sincerely,
Jackie
King County, Redmond, Washington
Proud PUMA Democrat
MURPHY< will there be a way we can edit our posts once submitted without having to retype?
Sandy in PA
Typos and such
LisaNC & goandersen,
I agree with both of you, we need to band togeather on the same page.
HD,
As a first generation born American to immigrant parents and a veteran of the military I am a very proud and patriotic American. Pride in my country and flag, above all else, FIRST. The candidate you have forced upon us has demonstrated by his actions, his words and his close associates his complete lack of pride and love for our great country. His own wife even acknowledged her lack of Pride in our country. While there are many many reasons for not voting for Obama in November, this one reason is the main reason I will place my vote for John McCain. Is there really any other choice for that decision when you made sure Hillary was not on the ballot?
Nick D.
Phoenix, AZ
PUMA Democrat
Hillary Democrat
No Hillary No Unity
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am one of the 18 million Democrats that you have chosen to ignore. The actions of a small group of party insiders have torn the Democratic Party apart. In all my
life I have never seen such horrific treatment of a Political Candidate as that which I have seen directed against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton over the past few months. Her own Party has turned on her and relentlessly and repeatedly betrayed her. To me the Clintons are the epitome of the Democratic Party. Since the Democratic Party (with the help of an egregiously biased media) has seen fit to select, rather than elect, a candidate and then to ram that candidate down our
throats, I refuse any longer to be identified as a Democrat. The DNC selected candidate, Barack Obama, does not share my values and at his own admission,
identifies with his father’s people, the Luo, rather than with anybody in America of whatever ethnicity, color, sexuality or religion. He is morally questionable and
identified with highly questionable people and he is utterly unqualified for the Office of President of the United States. He does not and never will represent my
beliefs and values or those of most other Americans. I will NOT vote for Obama. Ever. Period.
On a Legal note, since, at the time of his conception and birth, Senator Obama’s father held a British and Commonwealth Passport (and subsequently a Kenyan
Passport) and since, to the best of my knowledge, the Senator has never either renounced his father’s Nationality, his own right to such a Passport, or been
Naturalized as a Citizen of the United States, he must currently, in theory, hold a Dual-Nationality and therefore, be Constitutionally disqualified from holding the Office of President of the United States of America. (See Section 1, Article 2 of the Constitution of the United States of America.) It is possible that the Supreme Court would rule this view to be incorrect, but they have not so far done so and until they do, it is a valid legal position. It is possible that Senator Obama does not realize that he was born with an entitlement to either a British or Kenyan Passport or that he subsequently acquired one to an Indonesian Passport by his mother’s second marriage. However, since such is the case, he should take active steps to repudiate said Passports. In all honesty, it seems highly unlikely that on his visits to his brother-in-law in England or his paternal family in Kenya, no one has mentioned the issue of his Citizenship to him. Since, in the past, people have raised the issue of Senator McCain’s place of birth, even though both of his parents were natural born American citizens, it is difficult to see why no one has, so far, raised the anomaly of Senator Obama’s father.
By the way, I hold a Master’s Degree from a well known Private Research University. I am also an Honorary Doctor of Divinity. As a person of Religious bent I also have to say that I find a number of Senator Obama’s speeches contain sentiments and asserverations I find deeply suspect and offensive. I have no problem with Honest Believers in any Creed, be they Christian, Moslem, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Taoist, Shintoist, Confucian, Mormon, Wiccan, or what you will, I do not share their Beliefs but I will Defend their Right to them. However, it seems almost as if the Senator, himself, believes he is a Prophet leading America to some kind of Kingdom of God on Earth. If that is the case, he has no business running for President, and you have no business helping him to! If it isn’t Blasphemy, and Anti-Constitutional to boot, it is so close to it as to be
indistinguishable.
D.
Onondaga County, NY
Puma PAC (former) Democrat
Barbara Charline Jordan was a member of the House of Representatives (Texas) from 1973 to 1979. She was bright, articulate and saw many key issues very clearly. She gave a speech in support of the Articles of Impeachment against Richard Nixon. Part of what she said was:
“Earlier today, we heard the beginning of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States: “We, the people.” It’s a very eloquent beginning. But when that document was completed on the seventeenth of September in 1787, I was not included in that “We, the people.” I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, I have finally been included in “We, the people.”
Today I am an inquisitor. An hyperbole would not be fictional and would not overstate the solemnness that I feel right now. My faith in the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total. And I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction, of the Constitution.
“Who can so properly be the inquisitors for the nation as the representatives of the nation themselves?” “The subjects of its jurisdiction are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men.” And that’s what we’re talking about. In other words, [the jurisdiction comes] from the abuse or violation of some public trust.”
I submit that Barbara Jordon’s words can be applied to the DNC and to some members of Congress. Their abuse of a public trust is so egregious that calling for their resignations in regard to that abuse is the least we can do as citizens. I understand that a U.S. Senator is contemplating forming a committee to investigate the DNC. Let’s us hope he is successful.
DEAR DR. DEAN
I COULD GO ON AND ON WITH REASON OF WHAY I AM PROTESTING THE 2008 ELECTION. I WILL JUST KEEP IT SIMPLE FOR THE DNC…DONNA BRAZILLE SAID THE DEMOCRATS DO NOT NEED THE 18 MILLION VOTERS THAT SUPPORTED SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON. SO I WILL BE SUPPORT SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN IN NOVEMBER. THE DNC, YOUR POLITICAL ANALYSTS AND THE MAINSTEAM MEDIA HAVE LEFT A VERY BAD TASTE IN MOUTH WITH YOUR CONDUCT THROUGHOUT THIS PRIMARY SEASON. OH AND JUST SO YOU KNOW I AM NOT AN ANGRY WHITE WOMAN…NO SIR…I AM AN AMERCIAN BLACK WOMAN & TENNESSEEAN FOR HILLARY!!
VELMA,
SHELBY COUNTY, TN
PUMA DEMOCRAT
PLS DELET POST #109 ..I HAVE TYPOS.
Dear Dr. Dean:
I am protesting the 2008 democratic election and will vote for McCain in November. This process was rigged. The treatment of Hillary by the good ol boys of the democratic party (Leahy, Kerry and Kennedy with his ‘nobility’ crack) shocked, sickened and stunned me.
I worked every weekend leading phone banks for Ohio for Kerry fron June 04 til the week before the election when I traveled to Cincinnati. I canvassed every other weekend for CD11 in 06 and helped win that election. I feel abandoned by the party I’ve worked so hard for.
SLDEM
Alameda County, CA
gokim,
I’ve been away..cooking for the coming week…what’s up?
with #108
DEAR DR. DEAN
I COULD GO ON AND ON WITH REASONS OF WHY I AM PROTESTING THE 2008 ELECTION. I WILL JUST KEEP IT SIMPLE FOR THE DNC…DONNA BRAZILLE SAID THE DEMOCRATS DO NOT NEED THE 18 MILLION VOTERS THAT SUPPORTED SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON. WITH THAT SAID I WILL BE SUPPORTING SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN IN NOVEMBER. THE DNC, THE DEMOCRAT POLITICAL ANALYSTS AND THE MAINSTEAM MEDIA HAVE LEFT A VERY BAD TASTE IN MOUTH WITH YOUR CONDUCT THROUGHOUT THIS PRIMARY SEASON.
OH AND JUST SO YOU KNOW I AM NOT AN ANGRY WHITE WOMAN…NO SIR…I AM AN AMERCIAN BLACK WOMAN & TENNESSEEAN FOR HILLARY!!
VELMA,
SHELBY COUNTY, TN
PUMA DEMOCRAT
I just have to say how moved I am by all your letters. They are strong and should be heard by many. Not just Howard Dean. These should be sent to the New York Times or the Washington Post.
Great job PUMA
Clinton’s new job: Persuading diehard fans to back Obama
The above is one of the stories on CNN’s political ticker.
Are we fans of Hillary?? We support Hillary because of her views and ideas of how this country should be guided. Unlike the Obamabots we do not treat her as an Idol!!!!
Howard Dean,
You all had it in for Sen. Clinton from the start. We all know this. We will not unify and we will not be “good little girls” and step in line. It’s time you learned that we make intelligent choices. My goodness, women make up more than half the population. What were you thinking?
I have voted for Democratic candidates in every primary election, general election (including midterm elections), and recall election (I voted in CA against the 2003 recall of Gray Davis) since 1996, sometimes enthusiastically and other times not so much, and since 2004 I have donated money to candidates like Harold Ford, Jr. (at least $200) and Hillary Clinton (over $500) and even a little to the DNC.
But I will never support or vote for Barack Obama for President of the United States.
As if his weak performances in all the debates until the last few–revealing just how much he really did not know about the issues just 9 or even 6 short months ago–weren’t enough, when I learned about the way he eliminated other Democratic candidates from the ballot in 1996 when he first ran for state Senator, when I learned about the way in which he did only what was best for his own career for eight years as a state Senator by voting ‘present’ at least 130 times, when I learned that he joined a church twenty years ago to advance his political career (and then watched him renounce that same church recently to advance his political career… you just can’t make this stuff up), when I learned about his relationship to Rezko (and that he found time in the first year as a U. S. Senator to buy a nice house and a bit of extra land for himself from this convicted felon in an under-the-table deal, but that he could not find time in a year and a half to convene the subcommittee with jurisdiction over NATO and Afghanistan that he supposedly chairs even once), when I learned all that about him and more, I decided that I can never vote for such a person to be president of the United States. Even if he weren’t shallow and sleazy, he has no record of real accomplishments or service whatsoever, and he has weaseled his way off with the nomination that he does not deserve for an office that he is far from ready to hold with nothing but flowery rhetoric and empty slogans.
And I say nothing about the horrible things that the party leaders and the media have done to Hillary, to our principles and to our system of government, which relies on good judgment, counting votes and fair reflection and on the reporting of information rather than spinning the truth because of a blatantly sexist bias.
Goodbye, my party that has betrayed itself and us all.
Witness the rise of the Pumas.
Howard Dean,
Many times in the past my candidate of choice has not won the nomination and I have voted for the democratic nominee because the nominee was the clear choice of the people. I can not say the same for this election cycle. I will be protesting the 2008 general election because:
- The current nominee was selected and not elected by the people.
- The leaders of the DNC encouraged the undecided Super Delegates to support Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.long before any clear cut winner was determined.
- The DNC chose to punish many life-long Democrats in Florida and Michigan.
- The attitude by the DNC that women who don’t fall in line with the selected nominee are somehow not true Democrats.
- The sexist attitude displayed by members of the DNC.
There was a time when women stood back and did what they were told. Fortunately, women are now educated and capable of making their own decisions.
Shirley
Harris County, TX
PUMA Democrat
Dear Dr. Dean,
I have been a registered and active Democrat since 1980, and have always made a point of voting the Democratic ticket. The 2008 primary process has made it clear to me that the Democratic party leadership is not interested in winning this year’s presidential election. You have deliberately gamed the process to defeat the most qualified candidate in favor of one who has no hope of winning in the general election.
I am your ideal demographic: educated, fortunate to be relatively affluent, motivated. I have donated to Senator Clinton’s campaign. I will not donate to the DNC or to Senator Obama’s campaign.
This November, if Senator Clinton is not the nominee, I will vote Republican. I will vote the entire Republican ticket. You will have to find two voters to replace me: one because I am not voting for any of your candidates, and another because I am voting for your opponents. Congratulations on creating a replay of 1972.
Cordially,
Mike
King County, WA
PUMA Democrat
Dear Dr. Dean:
I have voted for Democratic candidates in every primary election, general election (including midterm elections), and recall election (I voted in CA against the 2003 recall of Gray Davis) since 1996, sometimes enthusiastically and other times not so much, and since 2004 I have donated money to candidates like Harold Ford, Jr. (at least $200) and Hillary Clinton (over $500) and even a little to the DNC.
But I will never support or vote for Barack Obama for President of the United States.
As if his weak performances in all the debates until the last few–revealing just how much he really did not know about the issues just 9 or even 6 short months ago–weren’t enough, when I learned about the way he eliminated other Democratic candidates from the ballot in 1996 when he first ran for state Senator, when I learned about the way in which he did only what was best for his own career for eight years as a state Senator by voting ‘present’ at least 130 times, when I learned that he joined a church twenty years ago to advance his political career (and then watched him renounce that same church recently to advance his political career… you just can’t make this stuff up), when I learned about his relationship to Rezko (and that he found time in the first year as a U. S. Senator to buy a nice house and a bit of extra land for himself from this convicted felon in an under-the-table deal, but that he could not find time in a year and a half to convene the subcommittee with jurisdiction over NATO and Afghanistan that he supposedly chairs even once), when I learned all that about him and more, I decided that I can never vote for such a person to be president of the United States. Even if he weren’t shallow and sleazy, he has no record of real accomplishments or service whatsoever, and he has weaseled his way off with the nomination that he does not deserve for an office that he is far from ready to hold with nothing but flowery rhetoric and empty slogans.
And I say nothing about the horrible things that the party leaders and the media have done to Hillary, to our principles and to our system of government, which relies on good judgment, counting votes and fair reflection and on the reporting of information rather than spinning the truth because of a blatantly sexist bias.
Goodbye, my party that has betrayed itself and us all.
Witness the rise of the Pumas.
Brian C, Knox County, TN
PUMA DEMOCRAT
Dear Dr. Dean:
Since the Democratic Party has seen fit to select a candidate [rather than elect one], ram that candidate down the electorate’s throat, and then turn a deaf ear to all and any protest, I no longer feel divided.
I am no longer a Democrat. I am one of the 18 million!
Margaret
Knox County, Tennessee
PUMA Democrat
Dear Dr. Dean:
I have always voted Democrat. I am afraid that it will not happen this November. My main reasons are as follows:
The process to nominate Presidential candidate for Democratic Party in 2008 is deeply flawed and does not represent the will of the people. Instead, it represents more of the will of the party activist and elites and is anything but democratic. The allocation of delegates from Michigan by the BRC to a candidate who, legally, did not receive a single vote in the state of Michigan was the worst example of fixing an election.
DNC leadership stood silent throughout the primaries when the party activists and elected leaders (super delegates) systematically unduly influenced the outcome of every major election since March 1, by coming out on MSM just before the election and asking Senator Clinton to dropout and declaring that the Senator Obama was going to be the Nominee. I believe that sexism was at the core of this behavior by the party activists and elected leaders—they were just not able to make peace with the thought that a woman could rule on them as the President of the United States.
Syed
Nassau County, New York
Puma Democrat
Let’s be patient. I am sure the site is still being built. It just went up! I know we need to have subject lines and need to be able to reply to individual comments.
This is like the Village Square and there lots of houses in the village springing up everywhere- am sure Murphy will add links to other sites and vise versa so we can really grown this village.
It’s gonna take a village- an online village!
gokimfrommichigan, LisaNC,
I am going to find somewhere where there is some organizing going on. I have written many letters to Mr. Dean and DNC already.
I know we are all shell-shocked, and need some healing time, but, we HAVE TO KEEP HILLARY’S SUPPORT AND MOMENTUM GOING. LET’S NOT GET ALL DIFFUSED AND UNFOCUSED. PEOPLE NOT ON THIS BLOG OR THE OTHERS ARE NEEDING DIRECTION.
Oops- I meant “grow”.
Dr. Dean,
I am protesting the November election and voting for Senator John McCain. In my 40 years of being a devoted Democrat, I have never voted Republican.
Your party has stood by while Senator Clinton and her supporters were treated in an appalling, misogynistic manner by the media.
The fact that your party has chosen to SELECT a candidate instead of letting the people VOTE IN the popular candidate is unforgivable.
I am 1 of 18,000,000 voters that voted for the most competent and compassionate candidate and will not go away.
This sweetie has had enough!
Ronda Ballard
PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA
P.U.M.A. DEMOCRAT
Goandersen and gokimfromichigan.
Thanks for paying attention.
Murphey needs to give some kind of direction. All the blogging in the world won’t change anything if we don’t have some direction……
Murphey,please respond.
Lisa
Mr. Dean,
I have voted Democratic straight ticket for 37 years. This year I will not. The resounding silence of the DNC while Senator Hillary Clinton and her supporters were villified, disrespected, and attacked continuously by a biased media and the opponents campaign will not be tolerated. In addition, the travesty of Michigan, in removing legal delegates from one candidate to give to another was unconscionable.
My vote is my voice. I will be using it this year to send a message that is loud and clear. The democratic party is no longer democratic.
Dictator Dean,
Personally, I could list a thousand reasons to protest this election myself, but I will provide a short narrative of the reason why I protest the nomination of Barack Obama. Specifically, the American people have witnessed how the Democratic Party’s National Committee and many so-called super delegates have imposed their will in opposition of the will of the people, namely “Hillary Clinton is the Most Electable Candidate of the Democratic Party and Received the Most Popular Votes!” Yes, MI and FL are people and should be counted. Changing the rules for South Carolina and Nevada is okay, but MI and FL were out of line, Hmmm??? You will be surprised when MI and FL become red states for the next 40 years. That is history you can count on.
Consider … if Obama was the surging candidate, had the status of most electable, had won the discounted and unfairly assigned states of FL and MI, and had won the Popular Vote; then the Black caucus would be organizing riots all across the country for Obama. By discounting FL and MI against Hillary Clinton and adding the SC for the benefit of Obama in January ‘08 – along with injecting the race card whenever this upper hand was needed, the PLEOs along with the Obama campaign started their process of hijacking the election away from Senator Clinton. Unfortunately, the Clinton campaign did not see the deception of their own Party towards them, until it was too late.
Now, the DNC wants us all to come together and unite behind an illegitimate, unqualified, moribund, and unelectable candidate. Obama should be polling at least 10 to 20 points ahead of McCain, due to the state of our nation, but the Presidential race is a statistical tie because of Obama’s weakness as a general election candidate. Obama will lose FL and MI and will not be able to overcome this Electoral College deficit, due to the DNC’s decision to discount our states in the process and super delegate’s decision hand the Obama the nomination. Clearly, the whole process was rigged to get a BHO elected. The funny thing is: Obama is not a true African American, but was raised Muslim by Muslim parents. Therefore, this election is historic.
Evidence shows that the DNC, including members of the RBC, and the Obama campaign collaborated through corrupt financial incentives and associations with the biased left wing media agencies; and, boy are they proud, now that they pulled off the greatest deception of modern election times. Not only were these relationships deliberately intended to physically manipulate the caucus states, these relationships were contrived to suppress voters attitudes and opinions during the primaries. Simultaneously, this shady alliance – the list of names and agencies is too long to list here - denigrated the Clintons from the beginning and in all directions. The Obama campaign perfected the art of manipulation of the main stream media (MSM), where their shotgun press releases were a blatant attempt to further manipulate the public opinion through manufactured stories and exaggerations, especially right before elections. The McCain campaign is cognizant of the Obama campaigns’ misleading campaign methods and will not stand for such deceptive techniques. More importantly, the public is getting to know Barack Obama’s character, his history of dishonest dealings, and corrupt campaign strategies; and trust me the outlook is not good for an Obama Presidency. Mr. Dean, good luck with your new Donna Brazil coalition; we will see how brilliant the Democratic Party looks after November without the support of nearly 20% of the registered Democrats.
Hillary is your only chance to secure the White House. I hope she rejects the invitation to be V.P., after the way she was treated by the UnDemocratic Party.
Signed,
Discounted Voter - Michigan
Puma Democrat
The DNC needs a loud and clear message that we will NOT, under any circumstances, let THEM control the outcome of our nominating process and election. If we allow them to do this now, what do you think they will do in the future??? We mind as well become the “Communist Party” if our decisions are going to be made for us and we are expected to fall in line. Hillary was discriminated against by her own party leaders. It made me sick to my stomach.
Richardson obviously endorsed Obama b/c he thought there might have been something in it for him. In my opinion, James Carville hit the nail on the head…that bastard is a Judas. As for John Edwards, I think he might have been promised something as well (i.e., Poverty position in the Cabinet). After all, his governing policies, health care policies, etc. were more in line w/ Clinton than Obama. This election was stolen from her in so many ways….the media, sexism, bias superdelegates, the Michigan & Florida disenfranchisment, the young voters (many of whom have probably never voted before in their life and know nothing about politics except that Obama is “cool”), and the African American community that voted for Obama by 90% (hmm…and we’re the racists??!!). And those are just the TIP of the ICEBERG!! Clinton was forced out by a combination of elements. I have NEVER in my life seen so much hatred and criticism of someone who ran for President. I wll never forgive the DNC…I will never forgive the idiotic superdelegates….I will never forgive the hateful, sexist media….I will never forgive the Obama campaign for its decietfulness playing the race card and blaming the Clintons…I will never forgive Michelle Obama for the nasty things she said on YouTube about Hillary & Bill’s marriage….I will never forgive the “youth vote” for stealing this nomination from a person who deserves it and giving it to the “cool guy”….I will never forgive 90% of the black community who voted for the “black candidate” instead of giving Hillary at least the benefit of the doubt that the Clintons have FOUGHT their entire adult lives for civil rights!!! And NO, I’m not a racist by any means…but that 90% crap was ridiculous!! Obviously some in the black community FORGOT what the Clintons have done to benefit them over the past 40 years. Its sad more than anything.
In sum, we (her supporters) must not fall weak over the next months. We must send a LOUD message to the Democratic Party leaders that we count…..they NEED us….and we will NOT tolerate in any way, shape or form the discrimination, disenfrancishment, sexism, and biasness that we have seen over this election season. We have to show them that they cannot and will not push OUR CLINTONS around and get away with it! These S.O.B’s have a chip on their shoulder and think they can control the world…push us around and that we’ll all just weakly “fall in line”. We’ve survived 8 years of George W. Bush (essentially the worst President in the history of our Nation)…I’m positive that 4 years of John McCain isn’t going to kill me. He’s really NOT like Bush if you study his record. If you’re looking for proof, look at the rate at which he appeals to Independents. He truly is a Maverick, unlike any Republican we’ve seen yet. I certainly don’t agree with everything he stands for, but then again, I don’t agree with everything Obama stands for either. So, my idea as a loyal Clintonite is….MAKE A STATEMENT! If Clinton is not offered the VP position (which is the least that Mr. Arrogant Obama could do since he limped over the finish line while she was winning the last states by 30-40%)….then I will vote GOP in ‘08. This is about RESPECT folks! We’ll see if Obama has ANY respect for Clinton….if he does, and if he TRULY wants to “unite” the party, then he’ll offer her the spot. If not, I think that speaks volumes about his character….he cannot get over his own ego and his wife’s obvious distaste for Hillary, to bring our party back together as much as possible.
I am just sickened and disheartened by this whole thing….and if anyone out there IS NOT sickened by it , then they do not understand the values behind the Democratic Party and what those values “should” stand for. Whatever happened to Democracy???
Today and everyday going forward, I stand with Hillary (as she stood with us). MAKE A STATEMENT! Don’t let the Democratic “Dictators” determine what you will do!
HILLARY 2012, 2016.
Dear Dr. Dean, I am no longer an Democrat. You and the rest of the DNC let Obama and his campaign push vicious lies about hillary through the media. you let the cliton legacy go down the tubes. you turned a blind eye to sexism. you let people in the media day sexist things. you let the media be openly bias against Hillary and you did nothing but remain silent. HILARY AND obama needed supers to win and they didn’t do there job to pick the stronger nominee. instead you did the opposite. you threw the main core of the party down the tubes for smart rich people and college students. us hard working gun clinging religion bitter people will vote McCain. you caused this to happen cause you didint take charge. and now you will pay. I will donate and campaign for McCain and i hope everyone else do the same. dont write in hillary because they wil through the vote out or count it as an obama vote. Goodbye Howard and Pelosi. I am independent now. its not to late. you can still take it to Denver
Dear Dr. Dean:
I am writing to inform you I am no longer a Democrat, I have switched my party to independent. As has my mother, my husband, and both of my sons. We will in fact vote en masse for John MCain. This isn’t about Clinton or Obama. Not any more. This movement to defeat Obama, has surpassed the competition between two candidates. It has taken on a life of its own. This is now about principle. And the violation of our principles, and the violation of the Democratic Party’s principles, by Donna Brazille, Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, and yourself. This is now about us. This is about our own values, and our own morals.
We have to make the decision for ourselves, country or party? We have to decide how much crap we are willing to put up with for the sake of the Democratic Party. And we have to decide for ourselves whether or not Obama represents our best interests, does he represent our values, our morals. And the answer is no, he doesn’t. I do not recognize Obama as the legitimate nominee of this party. This entire nomination process to me was a complete sham, and I am fed up. I have had enough. I’m not willing to once again throw in the towel and support a man I honestly, right down to my soul, believe is a racist and a bigot and a sexist. I’ve had enough of watching the more qualified woman be thrown over for a less qualified man. I’ve had enough of overlooking outright slander of a former President, demeaning insults and character asassination of a former First Lady and a current sitting United States Senator. I’ve had enough of the juvenile antics of the junior senator including but not limited too, the middle finger scratching his face. I’ve had enough of Obama’s minions calling us racists, illiterate, undeducated. I’ve had enough of voter suppression, voter intimidation and out right vandalism and bodily threats by Obama’s supporters. I’ve had enough of a Democratic Party that usurped the will of the people and awarded this primary to their chosen candidate. Obama has no record and no experience. I don’t like his stance that he would meet with the leaders of Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, or Hamas without preconditions. That is ludicrous and it is dangerous. I have no faith in Obama to do anything he says he can do with domestic policy because the man just doesn’t have the record to prove that he can. Yes, I will vote John McCain. Yes, I respect the man for his character, my husband is a Vietnam Veteran, and I applaud that man’s record and his heroism. Does he pass the Democratic Litmus test? Of course not. But he isn’t such a party ideologue that I fear him either. And as far as the Democratic Litmus test? As far as I am concerned, Barack Obama doesn’t pass it either. This isn’t about Clinton or Obama anymore. This is about what we are willing to tolerate in the name of party unity to a party that ignored our votes, ignored our will and abandoned us a long time ago. And while I respect Hillary Clinton, and I will always support her, Hillary does not own my vote. I will not vote for Obama just because she has asked me too. I will not vote for Obama because he is a Democrat. This has nothing to do with Hillary Clinton, but it has everything to do with my complete and total disgust with the Democratic Party, and those who lead it.
Joyce
Blacksburg, Virginia
PUMA Democrat
evy, you are right on! Murphy has done an incredible job in a very, very short time. We are so fortunate to have this place to come to and organize and express ourselves.
everything in good time!
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am so sorry to say that I can not support the DNC and Mr. Obama. He has been disrespectful to Senator Clinton and the company he keeps scares me to say the least. The fact that he was selected not elected is just something that I can not get over. I am not a Democrat, I am not a Republican….I am an Independent. Free to choose whomever I feel is best suited for our country. The DNC made a huge mistake. Senator Clinton won the popular vote and all the states needed to win the general election. The way she has been treated just for running is just appalling. While the media bashed her no one stood up for her except her family and supporters. Don’t you think maybe it would have been a good idea to step in? Unless this was the plan all along???? You know, I was one of those people before this primary that didn’t vote. I am 34 and I have only voted 3 times. Twice in a general election and this year for a primary. The reason I didn’t vote was because I thought it didn’t matter, the parties will just put in whoever they want anyway. I believed in Senator Clinton so much that I thought…well I will give this politics thing a try. Wow, I was right! Our votes really don’t count and the parties really do put in who they want! How sad.
My support and vote will be going to Senator McCain. You can say he will be a third term Bush, but I have listened to his speeches and I am studying out his issues. So far I find him to be a creditable candidate. He has at least has more experience than Mr. Obama. There is still time to make things right. August is awhile from now. Think about our country for once and what we want. Somebody needs to…oh yeah somebody did think about what we want, but you chose to not let her run.
I am proud to say that I am one of 18,000,000!
Kristi
Cape Girardeau County, Jackson, MO
PUMA Democrat
Everyone please check out this video.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9afuODNDYoQ
My reason. Because Dean and Pelosi turned their back on one candidate, they bias. Everyone was in the bag for BO.
mac,
Thanks for the link to Sen McCaskill. I just gave her a, piece of my mind. Every little act of dissention feels so good:)
Dear Dr Dean, The treatment of S. Hillary Clinton by her own party has been deplorable. She has faced it with the grace that I have come to expect of her but I must tell you that I am saddened and angry that the DNC stole this nomination from her-this was not a “fair” election as claimed by some. You sent me an email a few days ago asking for my support. I cannot in good conscience extend that support-S. Barack Obama is not the right candidate for this terribly important time in our history. And since he was “selected” and not “elected” I and others are going to be forced to make some very hard decisions in November. Believe me when I say this is not “sour grapes”. I know in elections someone loses, someone wins. However, in this case the DNC is making sure that everyone loses.
Respectfully
Mary Pat
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
PUMA Democrat
Dear Dr Dean
I am protesting the 2008 Democratic Nomination because you have shamed our democracy by NOT COUNTING EVERY VOTE.
You have made a sham of the Democratic Party that will set us back for years, by NOT CHOOSING THE STRONGEST CANDIDATE.
You have made a sham of Democracy itself by encouraging other superdelegates to NOT TAKE ACCOUNT OF THE POPULAR VOTE.
You have disenfrancised Florida, which was disenfranchised enough in the election of 2000.
You have stood idly by while SEXISM, and MISOGYNY and RACE BAITING dictacted this election.
You have taken delegates away from the stronger candidate, and given them to the weaker candidate, you did not wait until both candidates had completed their campaigns before declaring a winner.
You have made a hyprocisy of democracy.
Allie
Copy and paste this if you want to, I am not eligable to vote, so I have written this for others to use if they agree with it.
suzy T~
I was agreeing with goanderson on lisanc previous post copy below:
I was just talking with another Hillary/Puma supporter and I believe that the one thing that many men know and most women don’t……
They see that women in the past have not banded together and supported one another. If we could manage somehow to all get on the same page and band together (with our men supporters,too) we can take back our Democratic party. We can stop what the DNC is doing, we can stop the biases of the media and we can put Hillary in the white house where she belongs. But first, we must truly get on the same page and organize. I believe Puma and like web sites can work together. We can’t continue going in separate directions. Lets put together a plan and stick to it and be heard. We need foot soldiers, we need secretaries and we need some leaders. We need a concrete plan.
LisaNC.
Mr. Dean
I too will make it short. You and Donna Brazile seem to be running your own version of the “American Way”. I wonder what other countries think of our voting system. We want freedom in foreign countries during elections but look at our system. We need to take a long and hard look at what we have just done. Shame, Shame, Shame !!!
Don’t count on my vote in Nov. as tomorrow I will register as an Independent after being a Democrat for 40 years. I have always been a loyal Democrat but since 18 million votes don’t seem to matter then I will vote for McCain in Nov.
Oh by the way we are PUMA’s and we are strong in what we believe in.
B.K. Currituck County, North Carolina
I am not the only one in my home that is voting McCain
Hi everyone i have sent Mr Dean 3 letters and have called him. I will be calling him monday morning as a PUMA. I will never vote for Obama and I am sick of the letters sent to me by Howard Dean and now Reid. I already told them even if Hillary is VP i will still not vote for thier boughten boy Obama.1. i am not just doing this for myself but i am doing this for my daughter and my granddaughter and all women who feel raped and beaten and abused by the DNC. 2. I am doing this for the Husbands who stand beside thier wives and our sons who feel as we do. 3. I am doing this because i know this whole race was stolen and handed over to Obama. 4. This is a Democracey not some cheap back stabbing game. 5. We the people want our voices heard and not to be treated like Obama said GUN TOTING,BIBLE THUMPING BITTER Americans. 6. We are the main core of this election so please do not throw us aside. 7.The Democratic Party should be squashed and a new Party to Replce it. 8. If not then i feel that Howard Dean,Nancy Pelosi and Harry Teid should be thrown out of the Democratic Party for all thier wrong unlawful doings.
I understand that some people feel that sending these letters to Dr. Dean is an exercise in redundency , having already written countless letters to him , and the other supers , but please remember that these letters are the FIRST written by PUMAs . It is imperrative that we build a united coalition . We have come here from many different websites , and we are growing in numbers by the second . Think of this letter writing campaign as a new begining for all of us - TOGETHER United as Pumas .
Dear Dr. Dean,
I was a Hillary supporter, but this is why I will not support Obama. Hillary gave a great speech today, but she is a politician, I am an individual and have to make my own choice.
A couple of weeks ago at Trinity Church when all those people in the congregation were clapping and whooping it up at the expense of Hillary as the Priest Pfleger treated her like trash on his shoe you were shown the true character of Obama. There is no way he spent 20 years in that church and was not a part of that. Do you really think all the people that voted for him up front would still vote for him? I doubt it.
Can you imagine if Hillary attended a church where someone got on the pulpit and yelled out, “Oh, damn….There’s a black man stealing my show!” The Black Community would be up in arms; Sharpton, Jackson, and every other black activists would be on all the cable news stations, they would be holding demonstrations in front of the church. They would involve the NAACP and the ACLU, there would be lawsuits filed for discrimination. If the congregant was clapping and urging it on I can’t even imagine, there would probably be riots. In other words, it would not be tolerated, but the blacks expect us to tolerate it. That is not going to go over with voters in a general election. It definitely is not going over with me. I believe Barack Obama is not qualified to be our President at this time and I feel his and his campaigns treatment of Hillary throughout this primary has been horrid, especially the constant pulling of the race card.
If Obama loses in the Fall it is because he is not the Uniter he claims to be, it is not my fault, nor Hillary’s or anyone else’s but Obama’s.
Obama said he would be a different kind of politician, that it would not be about distractions or putting the other opponent down, what a joke that turned out to be:
1. Obama said his campaign would not be about that, but it was, his own campaign was out there trashing her daily. During the debate right after Drudge posted the picture of Obama in Kenyan garb and tried to say Hillary’s campaign had sent it out while he would not offer up the proof. At the next debate Obama said the he didn’t believe that Hillary sent it out and then two to three weeks later at a rally in Mississippi he, Obama himself, told the audience that her campaign had sent it out to discredit him to rally up his base. Obama is a flip flopper, he says one thing and does another. I also don’t want a President that tells me that what I can eat, what I can’t, how warm or cool I can keep my house and where I can drive. I am a grown up now who takes responsibility for my own actions, I don’t need a nanny President to tell me what to do, I remember the Carter years - Obama is just like him.
Obama’s campaign playing the race card, just a few examples:
2. a.The over reaction of the “Fairy Tale” comment as if thought Bill Clinton was talking about Obama’s campaign when he was talking specifically about the Iraq war comments. b. Jesse Jackson, Jr, Obama’s Campaign Co–Chair going on national news saying that Hillary didn’t care about Iraq, Katrina victims or blacks because she didn’t cry over those issues. c. Turning Bill Clinton’s comment about Jesse Jackson winning South Carolina into a slur. d. Obama’s campaign sending out a four page press release to all the press outlets just prior to the SC primary trying to make everything the Clinton’s said into something racial and then denying they sent out the press release until it was put into Obama’s face at a debate at which time he said, “In hindsight, that probably wasn’t a good idea,” while offering no apology or acknowledgement of him and his campaign pushing the race card. After all the Clinton’s did for the African American community in their lifetime to denigrate them so will never be forgiven, Obama can’t apologize or give one of his lofty speeches that say nothing to get past this one. e. Michelle’s “ain’t no black people in Iowa” in January 2007 at the Trumpet Awards to herald black leadership and her comment in SC before a black audience, “It’s our turn now.”
Obama’s lack of experience:
3. He has been a US Senator for exactly three years and in those three years he has been campaigning two of them after lying to his constituents saying he would not be running for President. He hardly did any work in the Senate in the time he was there, never voting on any controversial or politically sensitive issues. His time in the Illinois Senate was a part time position in which he voted present more than just about anything else or pushed the wrong button according to him as Emil Jones turned other people’s legislation over to him. Tell us, what did Obama do besides run for the next office in all his time in public service? How did he improve the South side of Chicago as he supported causes of slum lord Rezko? He also lost every debate and does not have a command of the issues, he can’t talk off the cuff without his prepared speech or teleprompter, we have one of those in the WH that we are trying to rid ourselves of. We have a “uniter” that wanted “change” in the WH too, I didn’t vote for him because I thought he was full of it, I feel the same about Obama.
Not only will I not be supporting Obama, I will be actively working against him in his campaign. I don’t know what his “change” is, he has no record to see what he does. I do not trust him in the Presidency with a Democratic Congress to make the right choices for America, he has not shown us he knows how to do that in his history of perpetual candidacy while trying to play off his life story as one of hardship being a community organizer. The Democrats have lost my vote for this year all because Obama broke the foundation of the Democratic Party.
I am not voting with my feelings, I am voting with intelligence and Hillary is the best candidate. I don’t believe Obama is qualified to be President, especially with a Democratic Congress, he has no real record to know what he would actually do. I am not breaking up the party, Obama did a fine job of that himself. Do you really believe that his supporters will come out in the numbers they did for him for candidates in the future? I doubt it. So, tell us where does that leave the party? I think the divisiveness has come from the Obama campaign and his supporters. The base of the Democratic party has been supporting Hillary, the upstarts have come in and tried to trample over them. Once you break the foundation of a structure the only way for it to go is down, and Obama supporters have already caused it to fracture. Have you been reading the horrible things Obama and his campaign and his supporters have been saying about the only Democratic President elected in the past 40 years who brought the longest period of peace and prosperity to this nation during his campaign? Do you really think that didn’t fracture the party?
You do know the DNC doesn’t have the money they need for the convention, right? Could it be because they have treated Hillary so poorly the base is no longer donating to them while Obama regularly and consistently tried to compare Bill Clinton’s Presidency to the Bush years.. Why aren’t the Obama supporters sending them money? Do you really think Blacks would have come out in the numbers they have if a black man was not running? Or that 17-25 year olds that are supporting him at this point when many of them aren’t even supporting themselves and they have yet to truly decide on their life values are there for good? That is something you should really think about. When you stomp on the foundation for the new flashy stuff that doesn’t last as long you end up hurting only yourself. Do you really think those same people are going to come back to the polls to vote in other Democrats, I doubt it. Who is going to do all the Democratic parties footwork in the future, Obama threw those people out with the bath water as he denigrated Hillary’s supporters and allowed his campaign and supporters to carry the message of denigration on for months in his effort to satisfy his own ambitions. Obama will not be getting my vote, I know many others feel like me, he will not be able to change our minds, and I hope many more feel the same. No Obama in 2008.
On the January 22nd 2006 edition of “Meet the Press,” Tim Russert and Obama had the following exchange:
Russert: “When we talked back in November of ‘04 after your election, I said, ‘There’s been enormous speculation about your political future. Will you serve your six-year term as United States senator from Illinois?’”
Obama: “I will serve out my full six-year term. You know, Tim, if you get asked enough, sooner or later you get weary and you start looking for new ways of saying things. But my thinking has not changed.”
Russert: “So you will not run for president or vice president in 2008?”
Obama: “I will not.”
Dawn
Wake County, NC
ops sorry i put Teid instead of Reid i must be tired lol
I agree, Evy & SusyT. Murphy has done a wonderful in less than a week. This website has boomed in the last three days. The organization will come together.
We have identified things we can continuing doing individually; which, will come together collectively in a unified protest.
We are all here with a common goal … keep nobama out of the white house. That alone puts us on the same page.
I’m still trying to catch up I’ve been off since yesterday and had a huge family event today,just got home~
I got about an hour, I have to get some sleep I work toight~
do we still have the list of names and states going I’d like to be added~
opps tonight
I was in the sun all day and it was 95 lol tomorrow 100 here in Las Vegas
I am in talks with some women from all over the USA and we are trying to put together a coalition together of HRC supporters especially women so our voice becomes POWERFUL come NOV. and then the country especially the DNC can see that they messed with the wrong demographic.
We must NOT be taken for granted!
I need to collect emails of those interested esp. women… we are currently brainstorming on how to make our coalition one of power and millions.
Please if you are interested… please email me at n_otero@verizon.net.
I will then included you in our mailing list once we have an idea of how we are going to proceed.
If you have ideas on how to make this MAJOR please also include that in your email so I can forward this.
Thanks
Murphy, I do agree on one thing that would help considerably with your time … can you provide us with a comment form that will allow us to preview before posting?
Come on….lets start a MOVEMENT! They think the feminist movement was big in the 60’s and 70’s….wait til they get a load of us!
We need organizing. We need a MILLION WOMAN MARCH! I’m sure tons of influential women would take part….Hillary, Gloria Steinem, Geraldine Ferraro, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Sen. Diane Feinstein, Madonna, Ellen, Cher….lets get ‘em all involved. Screw Nancy Pelosi and Oprah….hmph..who needs them anyway!
murphy
can we get a money meter, links and a rolling counter as to how many members we have~
I dont mean to make more work for you but it would be helpful
Please add my name to the list under elliott co, Kentucky
I am so proud to be associated with all of you. I have read all your letters long and short..they are great. I didn’t think I could do it but I will don a gas-mask and vote for McCain, if all of you do it for Hillary so will I.
I strongly protest the Democratic nominee because the party and the pundits changed the political norms of 2008. In previous elections, candidates with marginal delegates and victories campaigned through the convention. Hillary is being held to a different standard by her own party. She was pressured to suspend her campaign and endorse Obama. Tampering with the system undermines the voting rights of the public.
Mr. Dean
I too will make it short. You and Donna Brazile seem to be running your own version of the “American Way”. I wonder what other countries think of our voting system. We want freedom in foreign countries during elections but look at our system. We need to take a long and hard look at what we have just done. Shame, Shame, Shame !!!
Don’t count on my vote in Nov. as tomorrow I will register as an Independent after being a Democrat for 40 years. I have always been a loyal Democrat but since 18 million votes don’t seem to matter then I will vote for McCain in Nov.
Oh by the way we are PUMA’s and we are strong in what we believe in.
Beverly
Currituck County, North Carolina
PUMA Democrat
I am not the only one in my home that is voting McCain
I know that there are powerful financial interests from City of London/Wall St. like George Soros and company who are behind the hijacking of our Democratic party. Their puppet, Barack Obama is being used as toilet paper to keep the Clintons away from the White House as their financial system collapses. They bought off the SDs.
Obama is not that smart of a guy. His supporters are no different than the Kool-Aid drinking Bush supporters.
Go PUMA ! ! !
Just got home, will write my letter in a little while!
I think there have been many good ideas here and for all of us who have written our letters, we now need to start setting up committees so we can get our message out there. There are many HRC contacts on myspace, someone should be contacting them. Can we just discuss the next step. Thanks!
Mr Dean
I will not support now or never the candidate that the Party has handpicked for the following reasons :
1)Hillary Clinton won by popular votes and yet ends up with less delegates. It is a numerical non sense reflecting a flawded primaries process.
2)Florida and Michigan did not break party rules. They followed their own State electoral rules.
3) to inappropriatly disqualify Florida and Michigan for complying with the rules of the State is a mistake of the DNC
4) it was your duty to resolve the issue of the dates of primaries before it became a bargaining tool for a group of people only motivated by their own self interest.
5) voting is a constitutinnal right not a political right. Florida and Michigan delegates need to have their full vote restored. 1/2 a vote is a disgrace and a parody of democracy
6) uncommitted votes stay uncommitted. BO had a choice and choose not to be on the ballot. Some uncommitted votes belongued to J Edwards so the allocation to BO of all the votes is PURELY FRIVOLOUS.
7)Not to count Florida and Michigan affected other primaries in other States . The Clinton campaign as true democrats immedialtly asked for revotes and got labelled as manipulative when they only wanted equal rights for all delegates. The medias misrepresented the situation, altering the perception of voters in the primaries that followed, unfairly portraying Hillary Clinton as trying to gain political advantage when in fact she was only fighting for voting rights. Subsequently Hilary lost some valuable momentum when in fact she would have acquired a more substantial lead. It was factual but instead she was robbed from votes in many States and suddenly became an “underdog”. What an outrage !!!
8)one of your superdelegate Donna Brazille kept distilling her OWN opinion as news when it was nothing short of brain washing and hypocrisy. She twisted every thing about Hillary ’s results, downplaying victories, amplifying losses being the hidden mouthpiece of BO and all his supporters.
She never had the honesty to say that she was not a neutral analyst but that she was actively desinforming the public.
9) Donna Brazil stated that she would leave the party if SD made the final decision. So why is she still a SD ? she should have left if her word meant anything besides bullying innocent news watchers.
10) A majority of people voted for Hillary, men , women,jewish, african american, young ,old . And that’s unity. Selecting BO for some obscure political maneuvering is not uniting but splitting the party.
11) it was an unprecedented event, the primaries of a lifetime and it was managed very poorly. Do you realize that millions voted for Hillary Clinton for very specifics reasons one of them being that we really like her. And at the end we are just supposed to align our positions with BO when he has none and just turn with the political wind with the sole purpose of being elected.
12) As Hillary supporters we don’t want to be patronized and sought out like stupid voting cattle.
We want to vote on issues(some many) not on an empty concept of fake unity.
13) it it not a question of race or gender( God knows the card was played over and over against her) but who is the most qualified for the job. AND SHE IS THE ONE.
14)Hillary Clinton was disrespected and it is a tragedy.
Before any party, any group, any individual makes any claims of power and victory they have to prove to the world that they respected the most fundamental values of democracy not demagogy, to attain the highest echelon of governement , that winning is not everything if done without integrity and you cannot lead without the TRUST of the PEOPLE.
Sincerely
Anne
NEVADA
Independent
I know these letters are important and i will write them all again. We must do whatever we can.
Would someone put me under Kentucky, thanks.
clintonite4ever
thats what my group is trying to do.
Will somebody PLEASE put me on the damn list ?
Texas (Panola County)
We need to do much more…we need to have some of the wonderful people that produced the great U-Tubes to coordinate with ad people and we need to start airing ads that remind the Hillary supporters that they need not follow the forced endorsement by Hillary…that they have choices…and most importantly that they should be voting for COUNTRY NOT PARTY…
Look how fast groups were able to raise money to put out ads for Hillary…just put out a donate for ads link and we will follow…WE MUST PREVENT THE TAKEOVER OF OUR PARTY AND OUR COUNTRY BY THESE THUGS!!!!
Hey Hillocrats! Y’all probably don’t know me too well as my comments never went through on Hillary’s website (Well… one did). The primary race was a travesty and we need to make sure we do all we can to make sure that Barack Obama does NOT become the next President of the US! I know I will be voting for McCain in November. Originally, I wasn’t going to vote, since this is the first time I’ll be able to vote in a Presidential Election. But that crack on CNN about the Hillary supporters who would vote for McCain instead of Obama in November being a “small but significant number” (How does that make any sense?!) changed my mind. It looks like everyone’s left Hillary’s website. Just in time. Those of Hillary’s supporters who are going to go ahead and vote Democrat for the sake of the party and Barack Obama supporters are moving onto it. I just can’t take it anymore. And I know some of the people I’ve come to know and love on Hillary’s blog are coming here so I hope we can stay in touch! Hillary or McCain 08!
DEAR DR.DEAN—-I am a 56 year old woman who was a regesterd Republican all my life–I never paid much attention to politics untill THIS primary. I listened to “ALL” the candidates and came to a “VERY EARLY” decision that Hillary Clinton spoke to me and about the issues that are important to me.When I witnessed the “INSANE” ADULATION of people FAINTING and FAWNING over Barack Hussein Obama over ABSOLUTLY “NOTHING” other than a sweeping speech of “CHANGE”—HOW HE WILL CHANGE “US”!! I RAN to the polls in TEXAS and voted DEMOCRATE and FOR HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON !!! Hillary has ALWAYS been CLEAR and CONCISE regarding her policys,her positions and how thoes would be accomplished. Barack Hussein Obama on the other hand has “NO RECORD” of accomplishments from the past as Senator Clinton does–B.O. NEVER has made ANYTHING CLEAR about how he REALLY wants to “CHANGE” America–Throughout the Primary he PARROTED Hillary’s plans almost verbaitum–Never ANY Ideas of HIS OWN–He constantly FLIP/FLOPS his ideas “NOW” to fit in with what he thinks a particular audiance “WANTS” to hear–then “CHANGE’S” his positions to something eles for another group!! B.O. is a RACIST, SEXIST,ANTIAMERICAN,ANTISEMITE MANIPULATIVE FRAUD and in my opinion his WIFE is every bit as bad!! YOU–DNC. YOU SUPERDELEGATES,YOU TOTALLY BIASED MEDIA,YOU BARAK HUSSEIN OBAMA and WIFE MICHELLE “STOLE” and “ROBBED” the Democratic nomination from Hillary Clinton!! “ALL” of you Think that her voters “18 MILLION” of us will FALL IN LINE to DRINK the B.O. LACED KOOLAID like “GOOD LITTLE CHILDREN” !! WELLLLLL– “YOU” better THINK that one over again!! YOU, not only STOLE and ROBBED Hillary of the nomination–the BEST and definently “most expereanced” candidate who “LOVES HER COUNTRY” and cares about “ALL” Americans, regardless of race, class , religion, or color–but YOU tryed to “DEFAME” President Bill Clinton and plant people in Chelsea’s audiances to embarrass her also!! We are NOT SHEEP–we WILL NOT BE TOLD WHAT TO DO and who we MUST follow–AND “YES” History DOES REPEAT itself–IF the lessons of the PAST were NOT LEARNED as in NAZI GERMANY!!!! Even if Hillary is V.P. I will NOT VOTE for B.H.O.–If she IS V.P. and Obama’s message of “CHANGE” turns out to be the “CHANGE of CHAOS” for the UNITED STATES–”YOU” and HE WILL BLAME HER–or President Bill Clinton or even Chelsea !! I WILL HAVE NO PART IN THAT senario!! I WILL be voting for John MCcain–unless more ‘DASTARDLY” associates of B.O. FINALLY bring him down or more DISGUSTING comments by either B.O. or his WIFE finally bring THEM down and Hillary–THE RIGHTFULL NOMINEE is given her RIGHTFULL PLACE as the DEM. candidate!!SHAME ON “ALL” OF YOU for what you have done to Hillary and “US” !! LINDA–TEXAS
GoKim thanks for the clarification and update. It’s appreciated..I do agree!
I converted my parents today to vote for Mccain if Hillary ends up not being our nominee already had my children, brothers, sisters etc~
but they have been dems for 57 years my Mom & Dad were almost in tears while they discussed the humilliating treatment of Hillary
Dear Dr. Dean,
My decision to protest the November election was not made in haste. The true pride I had for my Democratic Party began to wane the day I voted in Florida’s “doesn’t count” primary. I know that you were fully aware the Republican led Florida Legislature used calculated tactics to corner the Democrats into a “lose lose” situation. So why the “punishment”? The DNC’s blatant disregard for the rights of voters is reprehensible (this half vote thing is a joke) and that sham of a meeting that the bylaws committee constructed was an insult to American democracy not to mention my intelligence.
I was also shocked by the DNC’s relentless demand to “end the race” prematurely, arbitrarily manipulate votes and delegates, and demonstrate an inability to resolve the problems that hounded this year’s primary. The incessant patronizing is really not helping, either.
I am not a politician therefore I will not be strong armed. I will not support your leadership appointed nominee.
Thank you,
Suzanne
Escambia County, Florida
PUMA Democrat
Murphy Here is my edited message. Please delete the previous one.
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am not voting for your candidate in November because he, like you are controlled by George Soros, Felix Rohatyn, and the other parasites on Wall St./City of London. They may value the market condition more than the Human Condition, but that is no excuse for you and your Obama. This Democratic Party is the party of FDR, not the party of ‘Economic Royalists.’
Your financial controllers may have intimidated Edwards as well as many superdelegates into voting for your candidate, but they will not intimidate us. We have until late August to see to it that you, Obama, and your fimancial controllers are exposed for what you are.
Regardless of what the propagandists in the media are saying, the Obama meltdown has already begun.
Dan Roche
Rock Island County
Illinois
Ok… I have gotten 2 emails…. come on peeps!!!
WOMEN LETS GO!!!! Lets MAKE THIS HAPPEN!
I need as many as we can get… if we want the movement to be MAGICAL, POWERFUL WE MUST BE A COALITION THAT IS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH!!!!
Email me n_otero@verizon.net
Please look at my comment #151
I am reading what everyone is writing it’s great. We sure have a lot to do. But we can do a lot in a day. Immagine what we can do in a week.
Afternoon fellow PUMAS:
The remarks to Mr. Dean are focused, to the point, and symmetrical in the “truthful” outcome that is evolving. I will submit my letter once I get my thoughts better organized. Wanted to pass this along to those who had questions about their identity on HRC’s former site/database. Finally, I was able to unsubscribe and was sent a message that my email address was deleted. Time will tell.
Great letters all and i call Howard Deans own office and i am sure he is tired of it as the calls are faster than they can handle. 202-863-8000
Go Kim - I’m one of the old farts who has been voting Dem since 1968. I have seen a lot of bad presidents and corrupt presidents. I have been posting here about my true heart, and what I believe is the crux of what Hillary Stands for. I will say it again, I know I am going against the grain a little, but we can support her and reform the DNC by voting the right people into the congress to get that job Done. But for people who have been voting Dem for 57 years, or in my case 40 years, voting republican is simply not an option.
I know call me what you will, but you really, need to look at McCain’s platform and see if that is what you want to do. To me it looks like we will keep our children in Iraq indefinitely, over-fund our military again, forget decreases at the gas pumps, and watch your saving disappear as you pay $5 for a loaf of bread.
We can help Clinton with a Dem in the white house, and true dems, like your parents - must find it difficult to support a republican, right?
I think we can support Clinton through many, many ways, sending money to alleiviate her debt, sending words of thanks and love, and above all electing dems who will reform the DNC!
For Gods Sake! Why would any self sacrificing democrat ever vote republican?
Dear Dr. Dean:
I will be protesting the 2008 Presidential election in November for the following reasons:
1. The DNC and Party elites selected our nominee instead of we the people electing him.
2. The DNC RBC violating the Party’s Charter and Bylaws because:
a. The RBC’s meetings on May 30, 2008 and May 31, 2008 were held outside of the public forum.
b. The RBC ignored fair reflection, by actually taking earned delegates from Senator Clinton in MI and giving them to Senator Obama.
3. The DNC failed to uphold core Democratic principles of diversity and tolerance when it failed to stand up and defend one of it’s own from blatant disrespect and sexist remarks by members of the media, and other Party members as well as their representatives.
4. The DNC chose for us an unqualified, inexperienced, and unseasoned candidate to the forefront of a presidential race he cannot win. Senator Obama’s lack of judgment in his personal and business relations have contributed damaging fodder for not only the media, but for Republicans, and they will damage his chances of ever winning the Presidency.
This is not the Democratic Party that I’ve known. As a moderate Democrat I will either not vote in November, or I’ll be voting for Senator John McCain.
Regards,
Kris, Dauphin County, PA
P.U.M.A. Democrat
Murphy do you think we need to be seen more and more on the news media???
MURPHY…..WATCHING TO SEE IF THIS GETS POST….
gokimfrommichigan
money meter, links and a rolling counter as to how many members we have~…..THIS IS HONSTY REQUISE….
WE NEED TOOLS PLACE ON THIS SITE ..IF WE ARE GOING TO CONT. GROW…WITH CONCEPTS OF POWER
THAT WILL MAKE A DIFFENANCE………1) FACT
Flineo
on youtube does some really good work~has some anti Nobama video and he gets alot of views
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UAFbMLZm4g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udUBIArW7rk
Maybe i am wrong but i think we would double and tripple faster. People will listen to us more no matter was the news anchors say
Dr Dean,
I am a lifetime Democrate. I mean no disrepect when I say that I have never been so disappointed in my life as I am right now with the Democratic party. What happened to Democracy? What happened to the people picking our nominee? We are reliving the 2000 election all over again. You and some others really must have taken good notes back then, because you learned how to SELECT AND NOT ELECT. When did the DNC decide to start SELECTING who they wanted over the will of the people? I am protesting the election process of the 2008 Presidential election. I will be changing parties until the Democrates return to being Democrates and not dictators. I have a voice, I have a vote, I have the right to pick who I want to vote for. I will not “fall in line” as I have heard in the media. Between the Media and the DNC, you have taken this election and treated the Clintons in the most shameful manner. President Clinton done a lot for our country and HIllary was a fantastic First Lady. She is the most qualified person to represent the Democratic party in this election I cannot understand why you don’t want to regain the White House in 09. Obama cannot do it. Look at who his past company has been. He does not have the expereince to represent us and win in the GE. The Republicans will destroy him. What are you thinking? It’s a sad day when the Democrates say they don’t need us anymore. Now I am a PUMA and we don’t need you either. You and all your “followers” talk about unity, do you really think after you, Nancy Pelsoi, Ted Kennedy, Harry Reid hijacked this election for Obama that we will unite at this time and point?? Not going to happen. I am a PUMA.
Sincerely,
Trina
Elliott Co, Kentucky
PUMA Democrate
Wow Another great site. I just came over from http://www.hcsfjm.com/index.html as some of you posted this site over there and on hillaryclinton.com which is now a DNC or Obama site as I can’t post
But I thought this might ENCOURAGE you peeps.
“In a CNN poll released Friday, 60 percent of Clinton supporters said they would vote for Obama, but 17 percent said they would vote for McCain and 22 percent, said they would not vote at all if Clinton were not the nominee”.
So with 18 million votes. That puts it…
17% = 3,060,000 votes 3 million+ for McCain
22% not voting,= 3,960,000 votes about 4 million Not voting.
added together
3,060,000 + 3,960,000 = 7,020,000 votes NOT going to obama.
That is ENORMOUS!
I personally think it is higher than that but, I will take 100,000 votes even, as alot of the past election where based on 100,000 votes or less.
Ok Murphy would you like me to write another letter??
Ok all i guess my questions are not going through so i will come back later and get ready for evening service.
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am protesting the 2008 Presidential Election because it doesn’t reflect the will of the people. The media has become a propaganda machine and with the collusion of the Democrat party bosses, waged a character assassination campaign against the Clintons that is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
They have taken an unknown, inexperienced person with questionable background and associates- and through media manipulation, packaged and sold him ad nauseum. All in a direct manipulation of the electorate and the elections.
The superdelegates do NOT even the playing field, they corrupt the system, voiding the electoral process. I’m not just protesting the 2008 Presidential Election, but the system that allows party bosses to have so much power to manipulate the outcome, the system of caucuses to be forced upon us and the system that encourages the media to be a propaganda machine to create a star out of an unknown.
That’s why I’m a new Independent, and why I’ll work to get John McCain elected. To send an unmistakable message ‘hands off my rights!’
Pamela, Kitsap County, WA
Can someone put me Democratnomore on the list of Texas Puma’s Please……
Dr. Dean,
I am protesting the 2008 Presidential Election and Democratic Nominating process. I believe that caucuses should not be allowed. They are not a fair representation of voters. Florida and Michigan voters were discriminated against and cost Hillary the momentum she would have had from the beginning. You helped to ruin our Party when you changed the Primary State voting order. The RBC violated the rules of the DNC by taking 4 delegates won (and certified by the State of Michigan) by Hillary Clinton and awarding them to Obama. They violated their own rules by giving uncommitted delegates to Obama, who voluntarily removed his name from the ballot.There was rampant sexism and bullying from the Obama camp that was not addressed by the DNC or by Obama. This election season has been a complete sham. I have lost all faith in the Democratic Party to host honorable Primary elections.
Judith
Independence County
Arkansas
Dr. Dean,
I am protesting the 2008 election. The way the DNC turned against one of it’s own was just appalling. Hillary Clinton was the best thing for the DNC since ….well let me think…..Bill. They have done more to bring people in the the party than any person in its history. Then there was the blatant sexism towards Hillary. You never stood up for her…all you did was call for her to back out. The icing on the cake….FL & MI…giving delegates from Hillary to Obama. Giving 1/2 votes……I can go on and on. It makes me sick to think you all during your so called lunch break made back door deals, and had your decision already planned out when you came back.
You yourself are the only one to blame for this next election. You want UNITY? Where was the UNITY toward Hillary? Where was the unity towards the FL & MI voters? I AM ONE IN 18 MILLION…still standing….still strong….only thing is I AM AN INDEPENDENT …NO LONGER A DEMOCRAT. What has been done this election is far worse than the election of 2000, and we all are living that nightmare. I will go to Denver…I will protest the convention…..I will not vote for your SELECTED CANDIDATE. I WILL NOT GIVE THE DNC, OR YOUR SELECTED CANDIDATE A DIME.
ROBIN
GARY, INDIANA
TexasTigress:
I put your name under TX…it should show up soon…if it gets removed I will add it again. It took 4 tries for mine to take.
zee, go here: http://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/2008/06/05/a-spreading-stain-links-from-around-hillary-land/
and everyone needs to read about how the DNC violated its sunshine laws: http://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/2008/06/06/the-rbc-violation-of-dnc-sunshine-rules/
This information MUST be circulated across the internet, sent to super delegates, sent to the DNC, and to the McCain campaign. Let them make this a talking point against Obama as well.
The fraud of the DNC must not be allowed to stand, and we must not allow the illegitimate presumptive nominee to be shoved down our throats!
Dear Dr. Dean,
In the 2000 election I could not vote because the Florida county in which I live “lost” my registration. I had changed party affiliation…to Democrat.
I stayed with the Democratic Party and tried to be loyal, but the DNC has made that impossible. I watched in horror as the Rules and Bylaws Committee cut Florida’s voters in half.
I try not to make logic out of that decision. There is no logic. It was a deliberate calculated action, and I for one have had enough.
That is why I am leaving the Democratic Party. I am registering as an Independent.
Judith
Escambia County, Florida
PUMA DEMOCRAT
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am so disappointed in the leadership of the DNC. You stood silently by while HILLARY WAS BEING CALLED EVERY FILTHY word in the book. I can’t help but wonder what would have been done if Obama had been called racist names. Somehow I feel the DNC would have responded with a fury. It is your lack of courage that has made me decide to vote for McCain in November.
Sally Mahieu
Peoria County
Illinois
Dear Dr. Dean:
I have been a LOYAL Democrat for almost 50 years, having cast my first vote for JFK in 1960.
You, the DNC and your Good Old Boys have stolen this election from a deserving candidate and have, without mine and 18 million others’ permission, selected someone who is not qualified, is inexperienced and untrustworthy, and who will lose! Moreover, so many had put their hopes and dreams in recovering from the damage the current administrtion has caused this wonderful country of ours to suffer.
It is time for you to resign, as you no longer represent me. As for your cronies, their time is running out as well.
I am no longer a loyal democrat, and will NOT be voting for Obama.
Greta
Fairfield, CT
PUMA Democrat
Some of you are talking about taking a sweeping widespread action to make an impact. Do you know how much money it takes to do that? How many of you have actually hit the contribute button?
Turning this “thing” around will take the fortitude and personal commitment of every person. Looking for direction and someone to do our bidding is what got us to this point. For years, we allowed the DNC to give us direction and do our bidding without questions.
almost 18 million people voted for Hillary Clinton.
I challenge each person on this website –
to get 25 new people here
to get 25 more letters to John Dean
to get 25 more letters/emails to Fox News, Lou Dobbs, or the Guardian (forget mainstream media)
to get 25 more re-registered to Independent
to get 25 people to donate $5
Mr. Dean,
I am from WV where Hillary Clinton won by a landslide and the media swept it under the rug and pretended that WV votes do not matter. They did a pretty good job of it, because our super delegates ignored our votes and hopped on board the Obama boat with the rest of you zombies. I don’t have to remind you or anyone on this board how the people of WV that supported her were portrayed. Not only am I disappointed with you, I am disappointed in my delegates that I have supported and trusted most of my life.
I thought during the voting process, the people elected delegates to represent them and stand up for them concerning matters such as this. Evidently, this is not the case as ours went exactly opposite the voters wishes. So my message is not only to you, but to them as well. I hope someone, anyone, runs against them in the next election because whoever it may be, will stand a good chance of beating them after this. They are not worthy to have the honor of representing the state of WV when they are deaf to our wishes.
You and the Obama lovers may think we are all poor and uneducated, the problem for you is, you can teach even monkeys how to do repetitive tasks such as pushing the levers on voting machines. Myself, my family, and most of Hillary’s supporters will be studying the word “McCain” between now and November, so we will have the knowledge to know which lever to push.
Unfortunately, the fools who boarded the Obama boat may meet the destiny of those on the Titanic in November.
Will in WV
Will someone put me under Indiana Please? Thanks
Dear Dr. Dean;
I have been a lifelong democrat and former committeewoman and will not be voting for Obama. I am withdrawing from the democratic party because it no longer represents my values. The DNC has suppressed votes and opposition. No male candidate would have received that pressure. The DNC pushed and supported a candidate who PREVENTED revotes in Michigan and Florida that would have brought them into compliance with your stupid, biased rules. Why didn’t the DNC pressure Obama to agree to revotes or risk receiving NO delegates at all? Superdelegates in South Dakota, Massachussetts, Florida and many other states voted AGAINST THE EXPRESS WILL OF THE VOTERS. The DNC was complicit in the media bias against Senator Clinton and the voters. Shameful!
I decided NOT to vote for Obama when he stated that “no one had suffered more than the Palestinian people’ and I learned of his close associations with racists, antisemites and terrorists. The media has even begun to explore Obama’s fundraising for Abunimah’s Palestinian friends. He is inexperienced and undeserving of becoming President. Senator Clinton is a brilliant and capable leader and the choice of a majority of Democrats. Any ticket not headed by Senator clinton will not have my support.
I will vote Republican for the first time in my life in order to send a message to the DNC that your behavior has been unacceptable. Your candidate is unacceptable. the process has been undemocratic , unacceptable and tainted. I am a highly educated woman and I see the existing DNC as more dangerous than 4 years of John McCain. The Democratic primary system is flawed. The leadership severely flawed. I will work to oust every superdelegate who violated the sacred will of the voters. I will not be brainwashed by the media bias. I have my vote and I will use it to be heard.
TxPuma , THANK YOU !!!!! I can’t seem to do it myself
democratnomore…what county / city are you? I will add
Dr. Dean,
My reasons for leaving the Democratic party may surprise you.
Being a black woman in my fifties, I am appalled at the racial manipulation used in the campaign to have Senator Obama nominated at all costs.
First of all, the obvious ploy to have a black man running to coincide with the anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech and the assassination of Robert Kennedy is insulting.
Secondly, the tactic of branding all opposition to Senator Obama as “racist” undermines the real problems facing black Americans today.
Such transparent symbolism and manipulation not only do nothing to help move this country forward racially, it threatens to set race relations back for generations.
Therefore, I am no longer a Democrat and have re-registered as an Independent.
As a full American citizen, independence is to me far more precious than false party unity.
Mozella
Clark County,
Nevada
I hope that the webmasters of all these pro Clinton, anti Obama democrats will unite in one site. The sooner we organize under one banner, the more like we are to receive media coverage and attention before it is absolutely too late. 10,000 letters is not enough to change the course of history. Clinton had 18 million voters. We need several million.
I think it would be a good idea to send an email to O’Reilly, Hannity and Colmes, Lou Dobbs, and any others that would listen and tell them about PUMA. That way we would get national attention.
Check out this ad by the RNC.
The sleeping giant that is the extreme right wing is about to wake up.
The Democratic Party had a great woman warrior- battle tested. And what do they do? They send the Jr. Apprentice into the ring. I just don’t get it.
Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2DECDKOFnw&eurl=http://www.hcsfjm.com/
I just have to say how moved I am by all your letters. They are strong and should be heard by many. Not just Howard Dean. These should be sent to the New York Times or the Washington Post.
====
Great idea, mac! Only when sending these letters to the papers maybe we should call them “Dear Howie” letters!
To Sarah Conlon:
I can respect how you feel but my question is different.
Why would any self-respecting person vote for a party that has become so anti-democratic?
“In a CNN poll released Friday, 60 percent of Clinton supporters said they would vote for Obama, but 17 percent said they would vote for McCain and 22 percent, said they would not vote at all if Clinton were not the nominee”.
So with 18 million votes. That puts it…
17% = 3,060,000 votes 3 million+ for McCain
22% not voting,= 3,960,000 votes about 4 million Not voting.
added together
3,060,000 + 3,960,000 = 7,020,000 votes NOT going to obama.
I HOPE THAT ENCOURAGES MOST OF YOU… Your NOT ALONE!
Mayoro1o2, you be so kind to post for me ??? I live in Southern California and I would like to be added to the growing list of supporter’s around the United states..Thank You..I would do it, but not sure how to and I don’t want to screw it up….Thanks Again,Suzanne
Hillgirl,agreed, I will use only clips from them if anything at all….
goanderson, SusyT, and others who suggested we get organized and on the same page. I have been begging for that for a while - time is of the essence.
Naboo, as a PUMA I believe that the collective WE can only be effective if our groups come under one umbrella so that our numbers would be greater and our response more effective through a continum of unity. This would eliminate recreating the wheel over and over. Please think about bringing your posters and your effort and join up here….thanks.
Here is some good reading meantime, on the cultural war brewing…
http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/06/08/the-new-culture-war-part-1/#more-2987
SunnyPA, thank you. your comment is very helpful. Would you mind reposting it in the new post above?
There is an Open Discussion Thread open above. Those who have already posted their letters can move up there to continue the discussion.
Please help try to keep this post on-topic. We need to be able to download and print these letters. Off-topic comments will have to be deleted before this thread will be useful. Feel free to repost your comment from here if you think it should be seen again.
We are getting thousands more visitors all the time. Please help us stay organized. Thanks very much.
I agree ,Carol . I have been posting this site on as many blogs as I can . I think people are coming over . We really do have to have a ‘main page’ .
Dear Dr. Dean
I am a newbie in Politics.. but I have watched and listened to each and every debate and anything I could find about out candidates.
I find it very insulting that not only did the DNC and media made sure the Clinton legacy does not go on, it expects Hillary supporters to just do a switch job and back Obama now that they need Hillary’s supporters votes.
We are not the rural, non college people that media constantly point out Hillary supporters to be. We are savvy, money making, college and non college urban people that refuse to let you tell us who we should vote for.
As an immigrant American citizen, I find it extremely third world - your tactics to put your chosen candidate on the pedestal long before the primaries are finished.
Hillary Clinton is a superb candidate and having ousted her, the DNC and media now wants to court her 18 million voters and have us rally around Obama. We are living, breathing, thinking people… we don’t do Kool Aid. I will not give you or your chosen candidate my vote. I hope the rest of the 18 million voters keep their 18 million votes out of your reach.
Thank you.
C Brown
San Diego, California
Puma
Sarah_Conlon~
I know its hard~I was born and bread a democrat and raised my 2 daughter & 1 son to be also~ITS NOT EASY!
But even my parents agreed after actually looking into mccain that while he is not our HILLARY~
He is by and far league’s ahead of Nobama~Mccain is a last resort to making sure Nobama does NOT get to thw white House~
And with the democrats having the majority in the senate & house he can actually do very little to hurt this great country of ours~
of all repubs he is the most leaning towardsbeing moderate and in the center~
I WILL HAVE TO PLUG MY NOSE TO DO IT~
We are all still trying to get our HILLARY into the White House this year~I for one will NEVER give up~
“HILLARY IS THE PEOPLES PRESIDENT”
Please move upstairs to the open thread for comments and discussion not related to this letter-writing campaign.
feel free to repost your comments from here up there.
Your letters are beautiful and moving. They are perfectly on point and sincere. How could anyone accuse us of being dividers or haters? Lord, Hillary supporters really are the greatest.
Lurkers, newcomers, and shy people — PLEASE JUMP IN. Read some of the other letters for ideas and inspiration. We want to hear from all of our members.
Oh, I forgot to mention California has the marriage act bill on the ballot this year, the last time that happened THERE WAS A HUGE TURN-OUT of ? God fearing voters, (don’t know what to call them) so alot of REPUB”S and DEMS that are for that, which resulted in HUGE REPUB votes… SO experts are watching cali for it to possibly turn into a RED 55 State for McCain this year as all the voters come out of the wood-work to vote for marraige act and they will also vote for McCain… LOOK IT UP! no one is talking about tis but a few so-called expert election type people, and most agree if cali does go RED it really does not matter who the Democrat Candidate is, they will lose. So, I hope Hillary DOES NOT take the VP if asked to, it is going to be a landslide for McCain look deep peeps, there is alot more out there, I will post them, if I see other snot posting them,, CALI is a another major part people are missing.
Mr. Dean,
I am writing in protest of the 2008 general election. All my life, I have always voted democrat because I beleived in what the party stood for. After this primary season I am ashamed to say that I am ( was ) a Democrat. You have sunk to a new low. I think it is disgraceful the way Senator Clinton was treated by the DNC, the Media and her fellow party members. None of you showed any loyalty to her throughout this election process, nor did you show any respect for her supporters and yet you think that those of us who voted for her should fall in line and stand behind Obama ( your selected nominee). I think you underestimate the loyalty of Senator Clinton’s supporters ( since you have no idea what loyalty is ) This year I will be leaving the Democratic party and registering as Independent. I will not be falling in line as you would like. If Senator Clinton is not on the top of the ticket, I will be casting my vote for John McCaine.
Deborah in NY
Puma member for Hillary Clinton
I’m reading back and seeing posts regarding other organizations. We are all free to do as we choose. My choice is to support the growth of PUMA PAC.
We are a new organization, we are in the process of determining ways to accomplish our mission. We will accomplish our mission. We will be focused, organized and methodical. If we are to garner the support of influential persons it will be done through our collective effort to finish the tasks we’ve identified and move forward getting our message out to the public, in a way that clearly states that we are dignified, intelligent people united to pursue truth and positive change. Lets all just take a deep breath. Scattering ourselves about and moving before we are ready could produce results we would not be happy with. Again, Murphy has stated our mission and we are working on our task list. We will do this.
Sorry Murphy, I was off subject I moved to open thread thks for pointing that out, this is for the letter, my error.
Dear Dean 6/08/08
I want a Divorce and I want full coustdy of my vote how many other times have you cheated on me Am I the last one to know are you and your buddies getting a kick out of this I have been faithful for 35 years never once cheating on you I know I am older than the young one you want but I still have more brains go ahead but don’t talk behind my back I cried all day yesterday after you left but I do have a new friend John and you will hear from the ones who have my back my puma friends are going to take care of you. your x Sharon
Dr. Dean:
I am also a lifelong Democrat, and I will not be voting for Barack Obama in November. He lacks the experience, the leadership, diplomatic skills, tact, and is abysmally lacking in Foreign Policy experience. I am aware of his track record in the Illinois senate , the US Senate, and in his capacity as the chair on the subcommittee with responsibility for NATO in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (who is playing a pivotal role on the ground in Afghanistan and where he held not ONE hearing). His past associations are more than questionable and cause for concern. At this point, John McCain is the far wiser, sane choice to guide this country.
The way you and the Rules & ByLaws Committee conducted yourselves in this election to override the will of the people to have your candidate is inexcusable and outrageous. I will be exercising my vote this time around in protest of your undemocratic actions and the Democratic Party as it stands under your leadership, as well as for your detestable silence on the sexism faced by Senator Clinton throughout the campaign.
Mariel, NJ, PUMA Democrat
BO was selected, not elected by a bunch of men and females whom I believe already had BO selected for president since the beginning. The DNC has showed disrespect for women. We didn’t count for them. Now they want our vote? I don’t think so. We aren’t kids. We won’t forget in Nov. I hope most of those 18 millions for Hillary don’t vote for BO. Those who hijacked the party don’t deserve any consideration. I’ll vote independent or maybe for McCain. I vote my conscience. I believe Hillary is the only one to lead the country. The party sabotaged her. The liberla media created an image of him to deceive us. and liberals to the left gave him money to help him win. A lot of money. It’s scary the kind of people that supports him. God help us if he wins.
shoot…I use the form letter from Puma to Dean
Just saw my post here!..Oh I’m confused.
How do you repond or received post from other bloggers…wish I logged in as CJ Florida so you would all know why I’m here too.
CJ
Disgruntle Florida Voter
Dear Dr. Dean
I am protesting the 2008 election for numerous reasons, three of which are:
1) The blatant disregard and arrogance by the DNC to ignore the will of 18 million voters throughout all 50 states plus Puerto Rico. While simultaneously thrusting a less experienced (both homeland- and internationally-speaking) and questionable candidate onto center stage with demands that we must now all “fall in line for the good of the Party”.
This is world history repeating itself and a kin to the political tactics and directions that ran ramped in Europe’s 1930s.
2) The distortion of the truth, the sophisticated manipulation of the facts and the re-configuration of set constitutional Party rules and by-laws, by the DNC and the Democratic Party, to fit their needs sporadically throughout the campaign—whether right or wrong—and with no due process.
3) The obvious sexism, misogyny and abusive behavior exhibited towards Senator Clinton and her supporters by politicians, the “corporate” Media establishment (print, broadcast and online) as well as Obama’s Campaign leaders, strategists and supporters.
These few examples alone are a disgrace and an embarrassment created by the Democratic Party and DNC members and leadership—fueled and manipulated by the Media, and unfortunately, witnessed globally.
I cannot stand silent. My vote is sacred.
As an American, I deserve the ultimate-best for President. Senator Hillary Clinton remains just that.
I will no longer support, or donate to, your Democratic Party.
Independently,
Suzan
Washington County, OR
PUMA Democrat
Dear Gov. Dean:
I am protesting the 2008 election because of the unfairness and indignity suffered by the most qualified candidate, Hillary Clinton. In spite of the insurmountable challenges, she stood up everyday, advocating the core values of the Democratic Party before the American people with courage and compassion; she showed poise, knowledge, experience as she talked about why she is the most qualified candidate and the who offers the solutions.
During months of campaigning she suffered the utmost ridicule and indignity from the media and pundits, yet you stood by and did nothing to preserve the integrity of the democratic process. You called on the superdelegates to pledge their choice long before the primaries were over, disregarding the rights of the citizens who are yet to vote. Your DNC rules committee unfairly split the votes of the Michigan and Florida voters, favoring Hillary’s opponent. These are just a few of the reasons why your long time members have left and are leaving your party.
One real point is the lack of judgment of the DNC leadership on who is the best candidate. The DNC chose the nominee, not the 18 million voters who chose Hillary Clinton. Hillary may have given her speech to support her opponents, but her supporters are not following her lead. We are going to a better qualified candidate, Senator John McCain.
God bless America.
Normita, California
Please use the Open Discussion thread above for comments not related to the letter writing campaign. Thanks.
Dear Dr. Dean,
I was always taught that you protect and stand up for family. As we had to watch why the DNC, you, the Obama Campaign and leaders of our party stood by silently as Hillary Clinton was called names I would never use is one of 1000 reasons why I will not be supporting any candidate except Hillary Clinton.
Roger
Lowndes County, MS
New PUMA Democrat
Dear Dr. Dean:
I would like to introduce myself. I am a post-graduate professional white male. I would regard myself in rank and affluence like you and your peers. I will be participating in this election as a former Democrat and newly registered Independent. My goal is simple and straightforward. I will use my vote, my influence, my voice, and my money in every way to defeat this Democratic Party that has evolved since 2004.
I supported your canidacy before your defeat my John Kerry. In many ways, you symbolized change, new ideas, and a different direction that had failed the Democrats since 1980. That exception, however, was the administration of President Bill Clinton, the first Democrat to successfully serve two complete terms since FDR. This letter is not meant to recant history. It has been recorded.
With that said, the Democratic Party, under your “leadership” and Donna Brazille has been a mockery to Democratic Values and beliefs for a majority of American Citizens. I do know of at least 18,000,000 that are products of your decisions and actions. Mr. Obama was your sole canidate after the re-election of George W. Bush. The American People went through this primary process blinded by your ideals that the outcome would be that decision. The strategy, the organization, and the funding could not have been better orchastrated. The characters of the play were the best and followed every cue to the letter, with one execetion: Hillary Rodham Clinton. That was something you really did not count on, but had a plan to deal with it if necessary.
Mr. Dean, my list could fill this page and I am sure you have read many. But, the blatant decision to keep Michigan and Florida from exercising a re-vote, after Hillary Clinton and Campaign agreed to it and even fund it was nothing more than cheating. It was a sham to the way Americans and the rest of the world are told about how we elect OUR canidates. The caucus system is corrupt and completely unfair. Texas is only one example. How can you explain to someone that a canidate wins the popular vote of a state, but does not get a majority of those delegates? How? Don’t reply with the “rules” bit. That would be insulting me even more.
In summation, the buying out of the media and superdelegates from the suspicious bank roll of Mr. Obama (not proven but suspected), and the offering of roles that would be given to those if they went along with this farce, was so clear. Out they marched, one by one, beginning with Mr. Richardson. We PUMAS are not ignorant or blind to what has happened. Mr. Dean, I will end this with some thoughts for you to reflect: How much do you really care about the majority of America and how much does your canidate really care about you or America?
In conclusion, my various avenues of support will not only be targeted against this Democratic Party, but all those that are an elected part of it. That Mr. Dean, Ms. Brazille, and Mr. Nick Lampson(D-Tx) is a vote(s) you can count on in November.
JHarper
Harris County
Texas
Howard Dean:
I am protesting the flagrant attempts to disenfranchise Florida and Michigan, not to mention the “vote theft” that occurred from the RBC ruling. The DNC should have found an alternate method of punishing the legislatures for early primaries that did not include disenfranchising the voters. Not to mention, as the reason we lost the 2000 and 2004 elections were the result of Florida, the DNC should have ALLOWED them early voting in the primary in the first place.
I am also protesting the use of caucuses, which are full of voter fraud and cheating.
In addition, I am protesting the attempts to force a legitimate candidate out of the race EARLY.
I am protesting the DNC’s selection of a candidate who does not represent the popular vote OR the votes of the swing states. Obama, a candidate who claims to be about change, used dirty old school politics to run unopposed in Chicago and continues to use dirty politics to push Hillary Clinton out of the running.
I see nothing wrong with living for four more years with a Republican president and Democratic Congress. I will not give the DNC permission to walk over its voters by giving in to “party unity”.
Lia
Centre County, PA
PUMA
Dear Dr. Dean
I will not vote for Barak Obama because of his inability to stand up the Big Oil, George Bush and Dick Cheney.
While McCain and Clinton took a stand and voted against the Bush-Cheney energy bill which gave billions of dollars in tax breaks to Big Oil (on top of the billlions already bestowed), Obama voted for it.
We need a president who can reduce our dependence on foriegn oil and promote alternative energy. That person is not Obama.
Dear MR. Dean
Thank You but NO THANKS!
The DNC has left both I and millions of other Democratic voters hanging like a “CHAD”.
Hillary had the majority. She WON!
She is the most experienced and qualified candidate to bring America back to Greatness.
I will vote for the candidate who reveals unsurpassed qualities for the most important job in the world.
I will vote for Hillary; and only Hillary Clinton.
If I can not vote for Hillary I will vote for McCain. He will be the next most qualified person.
BHO’s religion, patriotism, affiliations, and voting record as a part-time senator concern me. I do not trust him.
Hillary will do what she has to do; we all understand that. But the Democratic Party is falling because of it smoke and mirror campaign tactics and fuzzy math.
If Hillary chose to change her party affiliation, I believe many would follow.
Rules of the DNC do not the represent the “Will of the PEOPLE”.
Rules of the DNC have only seated three Democratic terms in 40 years.
The Democratic Party needs change, or people need to change their Party!
I am sorry, I can not, and I will not support BHO.
Pm,
I like that “Hand off my rights”. Can we print T-shirts with that on them?????
To every one else. Your letters are well thought out, concise and well written. I must be in the wrong place since we are supposed to be illiterate fools.
If there are any puma’s on here that are thinking you will not write to Dean after reading these wonderful well written letters let me beg you don’t let this stop you. After reading some of these letters I was seriously considering asking if someone would write a letter for me(LOL) but you know what, I sat down and started my letter and the words started coming faster then I could write, and now I propably have written too much and even though it is not as well written as most of the letters it is from my heart and it is for Our Hillary. So please Everyone write your letter’s.
Dr. Dean:
What a sad comment on what we as a nation have allowed ourselves to become…. a nation led by the media, self-serving Democratic leaders and an empty suit running for President. I am a 63 year old white, educated female, not bitter about guns or clinging to religion who lived through the early years of feminism. The young women of today have no idea what that was like, but when I see Tee shirts that say “Bros before Hos” and hear and read the crude, rude & demeaning remarks about Hillary which reflect on ALL women and are coming from the Obama supporters, it just turns my stomach. I cannot and will not vote for him nor will I continue to vote for the downstream Democrats that drank the koolaid and jumped on the Obama bandwagon. If this destroys the Democratic Party, so be it - the party left me and also left me no choice. I am one of 18 Million………….
Sue
Hennepin County, Minnesota
PUMA
Murphy,
Thank you so much for all of your efforts. I am deeply grateful. You have done a remarkable job in creating this website in such a short period of time. I have watched this site for the past 2 days and witnessed the incoming tidal wave. Holy Toledo! I have to laugh when I think of how I was worried about people not showing up here. Boy, was that a waste of energy. Needless to say, I don’t envy you when I think of the work you have cut out for you. I hope you can get some rest in between all the requests for improvements, etc.. I also hope that others will step on board to carry some of the weight on your shoulders.
Thanks again! You’re doing a great job!
Dear Dr. Dean:
I would like to introduce myself. I am a post-graduate professional white male. I would regard myself in rank and affluence like you and your peers. I will be participating in this election as a former Democrat and newly registered Independent. My goal is simple and straightforward. I will use my vote, my influence, my voice, and my money in every way to defeat this Democratic Party that has evolved since 2004.
I supported your canidacy before your defeat by John Kerry. In many ways, you symbolized change, new ideas, and a different direction that had failed the Democrats since 1980. That exception, however, was the administration of President Bill Clinton, the first Democrat to successfully serve two complete terms since FDR. This letter is not meant to recant history. It has been recorded.
With that said, the Democratic Party, under your “leadership” and Donna Brazille has been a mockery to Democratic Values and beliefs for a majority of American Citizens. I do know of at least 18,000,000 that are products of your decisions and actions. Mr. Obama was your sole canidate after the re-election of George W. Bush. The American People went through this primary process blinded by your ideals that the outcome would be that decision. The strategy, the organization, and the funding could not have been better orchastrated. The characters of the play were the best and followed every cue to the letter, with one execetion: Hillary Rodham Clinton. That was something you really did not count on, but had a plan to deal with it if necessary.
Mr. Dean, my list could fill this page and I am sure you have read many. But, the blatant decision to keep Michigan and Florida from exercising a re-vote, after Hillary Clinton and Campaign agreed to it and even fund it was nothing more than cheating. It was a sham to the way Americans and the rest of the world are told about how we elect OUR canidates. The caucus system is corrupt and completely unfair. Texas is only one example. How can you explain to someone that a canidate wins the popular vote of a state, but does not get a majority of those delegates? How? Don’t reply with the “rules” bit. That would be insulting me even more.
In summation, the buying out of the media and superdelegates from the suspicious bank roll of Mr. Obama (not proven but suspected), and the offering of roles that would be given to those if they went along with this farce, was so clear. Out they marched, one by one, beginning with Mr. Richardson. We PUMAS are not ignorant or blind to what has happened. Mr. Dean, I will end this with some thoughts for you to reflect: How much do you really care about the majority of America and how much does your canidate really care about you or America?
In conclusion, my various avenues of support will not only be targeted against this Democratic Party, but all those that are an elected part of it. That Mr. Dean, Ms. Brazille, and Mr. Nick Lampson(D-Tx) is a vote(s) you can count on in November.
JHarper
PUMA (former Democrat)
Harris County
Texas
I found a few mechanical errors. If anyone more, let me know. Thanks!
If anyone see more—long afternoon
Murphy, do you have a DEAN Letter tally?
If not now, can you give one by end of day/nite?
Thnx for giving us this op.
Dear Mr Dean
I have been a loyal Democrat for 30 years but this time around I will be voting for the Republican for the first time. I was so very saddened to see how the DNC stole this election from the people, to give it to the candidate who is weak in developmental economics and foreign affairs, he’s inexperienced and not traveled widely enough to comprehend the dynamics of international politics. Not to mention his very questionable associates. We the People do not take lightly when we see our fellow democrats basic right to vote away, by their own Party, or the constant trashing of our candidate in the media and by her own party and you just watched in silence.
Please be aware, this is NOT OK.
Yvonne
Bernalillo Co., New Mexico
PUMA DEMOCRAT
Dr, Dean,
The party that I have taken pride in and supported for years has become a mirror image of the hypocrisy, cronyism, and misogyny of the divisive far right.
I am sorry, I truly am, and deeply hurt by the actions of the DNC, RBC, you, Ms. Brazelle, and the entire Obama campaign and superstructure.
I absolutely can not and will not support Mr. Obama. For so very many reasons (Ayers, Chicago corruption, his supporters in my face yelling) the only reason not being that he is black. It is past time that Americans are given the opportunity to vote for a person of color; however you can not create one and you cannot give him legitimacy. he has to earn it.
This election was not legitimate, it was not legal (in my opinion, and it was not democracy!
DellaRae
Benton County, OR
Puma Democrat
Pookie’s comment, #233, is so right. Please, newcomers, add your voice. It will do you good, and it will do good for our party.
Dear Mr. Dean:
As a lifelong Democrat it saddens me to let you know that I’ve now switched to being an Independent and would never vote for Mr. Obama for President. The DNC has stood by while Senator Clinton and her supporters were treated with ridicule and indignity from the media, pundits, and the Democratic Party itself.
The way the Rules & ByLaws Committee conducted themselves in this election to override the will of the people to have your candidate is inexcusable and outrageous. I will voting this time protesting the undemocratic actions if the Democratic Party as it stands under your leadership, as well as to the silence of the Party on the blantant disrespect and sexism faced by Senator Clinton and her many supporters throughout the campaign.
Being from San Francisco I also want to let you know, Mr. Dean, that I will do everything in my power to make sure that Nancy Pelosi is not re-elected.
Douglas, San Francisco, CA
PUMA Democrat
FelineFire, thank you. For me, like so many of us, this really is a labor of love– but love fueled by a determination and a commitment to seeing our party and our leaders do right by us, not do good for themselves.
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am protesting the 2008 Presidential election because:
1.The most qualified candidate, who happened to be a woman, was forced out in favor of an unqualified man.
2.The primary was handed to this unqualified man by the media and the DNC in the form of biased reporting, blatant sexism, voter disenfranchisement, voter suppression, and the stealing of delegates.
3.The DNC, party elders, Obama, his supporters and surrogates all looked the other way from (and sometimes participated in) horrendous sexism and misogyny.
4.The Clintons and their supporters were painted as racists.
To now vote for Obama would rewarding the above actions and giving implicit permission to do it again.
If it isn’t Hillary on the top of the ticket, then for the first time in my life I will be voting Republican.
Dori
Clark County, NV
PUMA Democrat
Murphy, I am not sure what I can do to help you with this site - but am able & willing to carry some weight (and isn’t that exactly what we women do???) Please let me know if there is anything you need that I might be able to help you with.
IF YOU NEED…PUMPED UP WATCH THIS VIDEO
YOU WILL GET ON THAT SIGN UP LIST
MILLON MARCH ON DENVER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIluK7YHgB0&feature=related
START THE LIST PICK ….
SOMEONE IN EACH STATE TO OVER SEE THE SIGN UP
NEW MEXICO….laura_f77@yahoo.com….lets get org.
Star, please repost your comment to the open thread above — this thread is for letters to the DNC only.
Thanks alot..
Dr. Howard Dean,
I remember your campaign to be the Democratic Party’s nominee for President. Your claim to fame was how much support money you were able to gather from the Internet. I never heard much about your integrity, ability, qualifications…just your money machine. How odd that Obama’s campaign hit the streets with so much money…like someone’s ‘money machine’ was working for him. Curious. Funny how, as the campaign went on, it became apparent that even outspending Hillary he could not win. That’s because we were all catching on to Obama so you and Brazile and your despicable cabal had to come out front with all your cheating to take HRC down. Look at what you have accomplished with your ‘money machine’: you have single-handily ruptured the Democratic Party. You’ve used your influence to gather power for yourself and a select few at the expense of those of us to are the backbone of our Party. Rest assured, your name will go down in history - but it will be nothing to be proud of. Oh, by the way, pass the word to Claire and Donna: we’re not gonna ‘get over it’ until you and your kind are no longer in control of MY PARTY.
Cate
San Diego County, California
PUMA Democrat
Dear Dr. Howard Dean:
Sadly I, a life-time Democrat, protest the 2008 Presidential Election because I refuse to support a nominee who was chosen by the leadership rather than elected by voters. The votes of a majority of Democrats were disregarded; the votes of Florida and Michigan were tampered with in a manner that is un-American. I consider the actions of the DNC leadership, including the rules committee, to be a usurpation of the rights of the people. This action, un-American and un-democratic, is akin to a coup. I cannot support this action by the DNC leadership. Because of this, regretfully I am unable to support the present democratic nominee. Additionally, I am appalled, saddened, and mortified by the treatment of Hillary Clinton by the DNC leadership.
Marie, Madison County, Mississippi
Puma Democrat
Murphy. I revised my letter with the County addes and a typo corrected
Jeremy: DEAN LETTER edits as requested:
>candidacy (throughout Ltr)
> Parag-2: “..defeat my John Kerry…” meaning?
>Parag-3: should read as “orchestrated” ; should read as “exception”
Dr. Dean:
I am a 28 year old MALE protesting the 2008 Presidential election because:
I, like millions of Americans living in Florida, voted for the candidate of our choice (Hillary Clinton) only to have the manipulative democratic elders strip me and my neighbors of our most sacred form of democracy. You will not have my vote in November and I like millions (18) will remind you of how democracy works in America! Hillary in 2008!
Christopher
Hillsborough Cty, Florida
PUMA Democrat
To Mr. Dean,
I did not follow politics much until my best friend who is highly interested got me involved. I can say, after listening to her and Hillary Clinton speaking on topics, that as an American I do care about, I was very excited to think that finally we were going to have a president who cared about the people not just “OIL and MONEY” to only have it taken away from our grasp. I listened intensely to what Hillary Clinton was speaking about and I thought our time to become “ONE NATION” again had arrived. The working middle class Americans had a fighting chance to live once again as we did in the early 90″s. Please listen to the 18 million Americans who voted Hillary Clinton for the PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE and amend the wrong that the DNC has caused.
Thanks to the DNC I will now be registered as an Independent.
Sincerely,
Paula
Las Vegas, NV
Thanks Hill4me. Will revise/edit.
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am a middle age white, highly educated female. I was born in WVA, and my family and relatives are not bitter about guns or clinging to religion. When I see Tee shirts that say “Bros before Hos” and hear and read the crude, rude & demeaning remarks about Hillary which reflect on ALL women and are coming from the Obama supporters, it just turns my stomach. When Obama called one reporter “sweetie”, I felt it showed how he really felt about women.
“For the first time in my adult life” I will be voting republican. I can not and will not vote for Obama. I am one of 18 Million and I will be heard.
Wanda
Talbot Co, MD
PUMA Democrat - but will vote for McCain over Obama.
Dr. Dean
BO is simply not qualified to lead our country. His lack of knowledge was very apparent during the debates, where his performances were abysmal. He doesn’t seem to understand the issues and appears to be very immature. Hillary knows the issues backwards and forwards. She has real ideas and solutions. BO thinks he is superior in foreign policy because he spent four years in Indonesia as a child and took a trip to Pakistan while in college. That is scary. Over thirty flag officers support Hillary. That ought to tell you something. BO also has some very unsavory friends like, Rezko, Wright, Pfleger, Auchi, Khalidi, and Ayers. How many times can BO say that he didn’t know what these people were all about? Give me a break. Also, BO has engaged in some very dirty politics and sexism that the msm chose to ignore. Their own bias and sexism was disgraceful, but the lack of support from you and the rest of the dnc and congressional democrats was equally disgraceful. Hillary deserves so much better. She has worked all her life for democratic causes. She is a fighter and a doer. What has BO ever accomplished other than getting elected to the next higher office? Finally, Hillary got more votes. The proportioning of the delegates is not representative of the “will” of the people. It is undemocratic. I will NEVER vote for that fraud, and I will never be a democrat again. I am registering as an Independent, and I will be voting for a republican for the first time in my life, John McCain.
Leigh
Jefferson County, CO
Puma dem
BRAVO, JEREMY!
I wish we could shout it from the mountain tops, so that EVERY ONE could hear not only your words, but their meanings.
AMEN
Dear Dr. Dean,
As one who believes in Democracy, I cannot in good conscience fall in line with the Democratic Party. I believe that Hillary Clinton was pushed out of this race in favor of a less experienced candidate to pacify the desires of party leaders. We should be electing a nominee based upon experience and electibility. We have failed. Correction..the DNC and Democratic Party Leaders have failed. I am saddened by the blatant sexism and favoritism shown by the Party Leaders and the Media. Again, I am one of 18 million voters that will not fall in line.
Lisa
Tarrant County, TX
PUMA Democrat
Dean,
I’m a 22 year old who has all this cold hard cash to throw around without thinking too much about it…too bad the one thought that crosses my mind (CONSTANTLY) is how you screwed me out of a better tomorrow, America out of a GREAT PRESIDENT, and your precious “democratic” party out of a win.
If Hillary isn’t the nominee come August, I’ll be sure to give you a special shout out as I celebrate John Mccain’s win!!
Dean,
I’m a 22 year old who has all this cold hard cash to throw around without thinking too much about it…too bad the one thought that crosses my mind (CONSTANTLY) is how you screwed me out of a better tomorrow, America out of a GREAT PRESIDENT, and your precious “democratic” party out of a win.
If Hillary isn’t the nominee come August, I’ll be sure to give you a special shout out as I celebrate John Mccain’s win!!
Sincerely,
Another Ex Democrat
Dear Dr.Dean,You should go back to Medicine,the Mess you and Donna Brazille have made of the DNC is a disgrace!!!
When you selected the most incompetant,unqualified,UNAMERICAN person to be the nominee of this party you were giving John McCain millions of votes. We know you wanted rid of the Clinton’s but the way you allowed the HORRIBLE things to be said day after day in the media without speaking up against Senator Clinton was breath taking.You seem to encourage all of it and Donna sat on CNN baiting the whole thing.What goes round comes round.Mr. Obama is a fraud and all of you who promoted him will have their day.
I have the greates RESPECT for the Clinton family and pray that the SD’s WAKE up before the convention to Reality.Oh by the way I live in Palm Beach County,Fl tell Obama to stay far away from this state his attitude is not welcome here McCain all the way thanks to you!!!!!WOMEN deserve better in this country and you lost them all.We will not change our minds.The pain for Hillary touches all of our Hearts.You have disgraced AMERICA around the world giving the election to the one with thugs who scared citizens at the caucus sites because they supported Hillary.SHAME on the DNC. Dee Palm Beach,Fl.
Dear Mr. Dean,
I am not a political activist. I have never campaigned for a candidate. I am one of the silent registered Democrats that faithfully pushed that lever whenever Election Day came. I have a college degree. I am the President of a Corporation. I am a P.U.M.A. I am not a gun toting, Bible thumping racist, as some people chose to believe. More importantly, I do not fall in line for anyone….
Based upon the actions taken by the Party regarding this primary election over the past 5 months, I have concluded that the Democratic Party that I support has been overthrown.
I find it reprehensible that a Democrat would deny a fellow Democrat full voting rights.
I find it irresponsible that the Party would try to nominate an inexperienced, politically lacking and more importantly, one of questionable ethics to the highest position of authority, the President of the United States.
I find it unforgivable, that the DNC is trying to force such a nominee down our throats before our due process of selection has occurred, the convention.
Since when did the Democratic Party become a dictatorship?
Therefore, I hereby pledge my November vote to go to the best candidate available on the ballot. I pledge my vote to the person who “I” feel to have the most competency for the position, regardless of party lines. I further pledge that I will use my vote to respond to those individuals who have succumbed to the unethical pressures exerted by the DNC. See you in November!
Sincerely,
K Adams
Suffolk County, NY
A PUMA Democrat
Mr. Dean.
For the last 20 years, I have been a democrat and voting down the line. May 31st marked the day that my allegiance died. I will not be a part of a party that shows the worse kind of hypocrisy by stating it stands by women’s rights while quietly watching Senator Clinton and the female gender get assaulted verbally throughout the past 16 months. I will not be part of a party that justifies underhanded tactics in stealing votes from voters while chanting UNITY.
I came to this country at a young age. Even then, I understood the underlying greatness of this county and its democracy. I never thought in my life I would see the Democrats play in the gutter of politics and turn on one of its own. The sense of injustice is worse than anything I felt in 2000.
I will never fall in line.
Ex-Democrat
Vanessa
Denver, CO
Dr. Dean:
I am an independent voter who has cast ballots for, contributed funds to, and campaigned for all of these Democrats:
Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern, Jimmy Carter, Michael Dukakis, Bill Clinton (twice), Al Gore and John Kerry. I worked for the Kennedy presidential campaign while still in high school.
This year I will not support the presumptive Democratic candidate. My reasons are, in brief:
1) A non-democratic system of superdelegates who often do not represent the voters;
2) Failure of the DNC to actively and loudly denounce both the virulent sexism and racism so often visible in the campaign. If the DNC isn’t troubled enough to get up in arms—unabashedly and publicly—about such affronts to citizens, its preferred candidate cannot have my support.
While Sen. Obama was besmirched by the racism, the persistent and vicious misogyny shown towards Sen. Clinton was even worse. The DNC’s silence compounded the injuries.
3) The fiascoes in Michigan and Florida. Blaming the state legislatures after the fact is not good enough. Voters were denied their rights. That includes both those who cast ballots for any candidate, and those who stayed home on the assumption that their votes would not count. Clearly Sen. Clinton suffered a disproportionate share of the loss by candidates, but the larger concern is the loss of the vote by citizens.
Respectfully,
Donald
Lincoln Country, Maine
(PUMA Independent)
Dear Dr. Dean,
I’m a 51 year old lifetime democratic woman who owns her own small business. I know the struggles that women face everyday. I live it.
I’m honest, hardworking and tend to trust people until they have given me reason not to.
Sir, you and the DNC have failed me. You have failed 17,999,999 other American voters as well. You have also failed a true leader, Hillary Clinton. I do not trust the decision you and the DNC made for me.
I strongly suggest that the nomination for our next President of the United States in August be Hillary Clinton.
Hillary Clinton has shown true leadership, experience and common sense to lead our country.
I believe that she is truly the only one who can bring it back to the stability that we all knew so well and enjoyed eight years ago. Your “present” nominee decision is leading all American’s to “more of the same”.
In my opinion Barack Obama does not have the qualifications to lead our country and therefore, I will not be supporting the democratic party in November.
Debbie
Ashtabula County, Ohio
Hey Everyone! I just donated my first $25.00 to PUMA PAC. I had a renewed sense of purpose just like my prior financial contributions to Hillary. Please everyone - donate - even if it’s a little - we all know how it adds up. Join me!!! FLgayGuy4Hill (Chris)
FLgayGuy, thank you very much. Would you mind reposting this comment upstairs in the Open Discussion thread?
Dear Mr. Dean,
I will not support Barack Obama, but my reasons are not just about gender.
Using a mathematically ingenious strategy for collecting delegates – focusing on caucus states where Obama activists dominated the meetings and on delegate-rich districts in states where he lost – Obama racked up the numbers for a technical knockout called by the refs (a.k.a. superdelegates). But many of us Dems see this contest as a statistical tie. Certainly, Obama doesn’t have a mandate from our party. I doubt he’ll get one in the national election. How does revolution, or even reform, work when half the population doesn’t sign on? Is it revolution, or civil war? How is he going to achieve American unity across party, race, gender, age, economic lines, when he couldn’t even accomplish it within our party after seventeen months of campaigning?
The demographers tell me I should support Barack. I am an affluent, “elite”-college-educated, progressive idealist. But I grew up working class, and I’m looking for a leader with practical solutions and one who engages my intelligence, not just my emotions. I’m old enough (46) to have seen the expression of ideas, exchanges of opinions, crippled by hate from neocons in the 1980’s, felt the sense of being an outsider in my own country in my gut. I became a card-carrying Democrat in reaction to that venom. I don’t need to hear sermons about unity– I’ve been praying for unity, weeping and swearing about the lack of it, since I was 20.
I disagree with Barack’s assertion that dis-unity is our biggest national problem right now. I don’t want to compromise with right-wingers and neocons in the name of unity — I want to repair the mess they’ve left us and clearly differentiate our party’s philosophies from theirs. The country has seen the downside of the right’s extremism — now is time to be proud of Democratic leadership and history, including the Clinton years. I am upset every time Obama positions Hillary as part of the problem in D.C. and says Bill Clinton left no legacy. Barack’s own platform reflects “New Democrat” “third-way” philosophies initiated by Bill Clinton. Why did the DNC leadership allow him to openly lie about that influence?!
Bill Clinton ran as someone who would transcend or unify the left/right divide, as neither/both liberal/conservative. He said a Democrat can support business and middle class families without abandoning the underrepresented. Bill compromised some progressive ideals. But if you run — as he did and as Barack IS — as someone who will serve both left and right concerns, how do you not then compromise? How can Obama speak of Unity without acknowledging the ultimate need to shift to Center? How and where will Obama compromise when the philosophy of One-America butts up against the fundamental ethical differences in this country?
With most of the country unified against George Bush, and with a 40-year swing of the pendulum toward populism and progressivism, the Party needs to position itself to win not just in November but for the next 16 years.
I thought this election would be about re-asserting the validity of Democratic Party ideals that were disdained by Reagan’s coalition and are daily ridiculed by Limbaugh types — ideals that George Bush squashed under his heel. We must demonstrate that they are in fact American ideals — not extremist, fiscally irresponsible, socialist, immoral, or anti-security, but part of our nation’s philosophical foundation. The generational transformation that is occurring within the religious right, along with the Populist wind now blowing, will not help the country (or the Party) in the long term if we simply exploit warm, fuzzy feelings about “change” and establish a cult of personality! We must use this election as a “teachable moment,” communicating substance as well as emotion.
Barack introduced anti-establishment “change” as a Red Herring in this contest, appealing to the far left end of our Party, and to those independents and unregistered citizens who never before considered themselves Democrats. He had the gall to equate our Democratic senators, especially Hillary, with the “problem in Washington.” He did not position himself as a member of our team, but as an outsider who blamed us equally with the Republican hate machine!
Barack insulted the Democrats who have carried the Party’s ideals through a dark period of reactionary conservatism in this country – not the last fifteen years, but the last twenty-eight. That includes me.
Obama tiptoes around issues that are foundational to the Democratic Party. He says he won’t make specific promises, because politicians get caught in a trap that way. OK, how about specific hopes, at least? For some reason, the media and the DNC allowed him to sing the song of unity and remain vague, playing into what is clearly a political strategy. I’ve read comments and blogs from people on the left end of our party who say Barack will be a true liberal reformer, that he won’t make the compromises Bill Clinton made. I’ve also seen notes from Republicans and Independents saying they believe he will not be as partisan as Bill Clinton, but will reach across the aisle and compromise. Given a blank screen, people are projecting upon him what they wish to see. A brilliant construction. David Axelrod helped write the character of the minority President on “West Wing,” and now he’s help write a character for Barack to play. Bravo to them both. Well-played.
I do not believe that character is real, that Barack is sincere. For one thing, he left Bill Clinton twisting in the wind every time comments were taken out of context — as did you. For another, I have to turn Barack off when he gets to the emotional finales of speeches. They give me the creeps. The quasi-religious language and intonation, the accelerating cadence, feel manipulative, as does the phony Southern drawl at the end of lines – clearly an affectation to channel MLK, since Obama’s not Southern. All of it a bit of theatrics intended to distract us from noticing how vague he is about his agenda. I didn’t like Ronald Reagan, but at least he linked his folksy reassuring shining-light-on-the-hill rhetoric with concrete conservative plans. Bill Clinton was able to tie I-feel-your-pain empathy with policy proposals that included simple explanations of complex issues. He spoke to his audience’s hearts AND minds.
I believe the strongest statement we could have made that we will not be influenced by the dehumanizing rhetoric of the Right, the lies and personal attacks, and that we want a government of ideas, competence, and solutions, would have been to nominate Hillary Clinton for president. Or, if she hadn’t run, Al Gore. Or someone who would have acknowledged the success of the Clinton years and put to bed the lies and exaggerations generated by the likes of Ken Starr. We needed the other shoe to drop, a restoration not of the Clintons but of the Democrats who supported the Clintons through those awful years of mud-slinging and who still daily get called amoral and anti-American by the Right because we are Democrats!! After that healing restoration, then maybe I’d have been ready for an Outsider candidate telling me I’m part of the problem. Right now, Barack sounds like the Republicans when he talks about US!!!
Why would you want to let a candidate dismiss Clinton’s years? Are we going to allow Clinton to be caricatured and belittled as Jimmy Carter has been? Are all former Democratic presidents just fodder for right-wing radio?
Hillary Clinton was better prepared, smarter, and a better candidate than Barack. In part due to the undemocratic, unrepresentative caucuses, she lost the nomination. Also due to the failure to re-vote in Michigan: Her supporters offered to pay for a new primary in Michigan, but you allowed Barack to veto that proposal — for no fair or logical reason. And of course, sexism played a role. Please read Robin Morgan’s essay “Goodbye to all that #2″ at the Women’s Media Center.
If he had waited eight years, I’d have voted for Barack — gone door-to-door for him– because he’s smart and articulate, because by then he’d have proven his competence in the Senate, and because he would symbolically move us past centuries of racist evil.
But I believe his campaign to date to have been manipulative and his bring-us-all-together rhetoric to be phony political positioning. His supporters have repeated every hateful Republican myth about Bill and Hillary Clinton– they missed the Unity memo I guess.
I have not left the Democratic Party. You all have left me. I plan to stay home in November. Instead of sending money to the DNC, I’ve joined NOW and PUMA. I realize McCain’s election will hurt the causes I care about, but there is a bigger issue at stake for me that transcends one four-year presidential term.
Sincerely,
Robin Johnson
Covington, Georgia
PUMA-PAC
Dear Dr. Dean:
I will not vote for Obama in November 2008. Here is a baker’s dozen reasons why:
1. He is not qualified
2. He has established not much of a voting or legislative record by which he can be evaluated.
3. He has very many alarming associates and the DNC and the press have failed to do your jobs by adequately vetting him.
4. There are rumors swirling around him and his wife about racial intolerance on their part, and neither the DNC, nor the Obama campaign have been forthright in addressing those rumors. the lack of forthrightness causes me to believe I am being bamboozled, hoodwinked, and snookered.
5. He says he will change the way Washington does business and I believe that is a lie. It is pandering a la George Bush 2000.
6. Obama is out of touch with the majority of America. He is free to make condescending remarks about certain demographics and the DNC is not offended.
7. The DNC and Obama were outraged because Bill Clinton used the phrase, “fairy tale.” I believe your feigned outrage was the beginning of the “fix.” The DNC fixed the outcome of the primaries.
8. The DNC accused the Clintons of racisim, but was silent when Obama made multiple sexist remarks about and vulgar gestures to Senator Clinton.
9. Obama is a coward who has avoided commitments, war zones, and debates. Neither Hillary Clinton, nor John mcCain are cowards.
10. Obama is lazy. He was given a job to do–Chair of a Senate Foreign Affairs Committee. He is so accustomed to being given breaks for doing nothing that he did not know there were actual expectations attendant with this title.
11. Obama’s loyalties to America and to our allies remains in question. He spoke to the Jewish group and, and according to Andrea Mitchell (She hates Clinton.), he used “code words” that actually alarmed some who heard the speech. He also wants to send our money to his cousin, the PM of Kenya. Dangerously unqualifed!!!
12. Obama is inarticulate. He seems to have trouble putting words to thoughts. This is not much improvement over Bush. I need a President from whom inspiring, intelligent words flow naturally and extemporaneously.
13. I need Hillary Clinton. She speaks for me. She inspires me. Because you shoved her aside, I will support and vote for Obama’s Republican rival.
Nancy
AACO, Maryland
PUMA DEM
The vicious sexism, divisive Rovian tactics, inexplicable jettisoning of large swaths of the party’s base, and incompetent vetting of the presumptive nominee are sufficient for me to reject Senator Obama as President.
I am a Democrat from the age of nine onwards. Since 1972 I have written letters, made phone calls, made donations, worked at campaign headquarters, stuffed envelopes, walked precincts in the rain and cold, organized meetings, and took off work to do GOTV. I now find that my party and its media enablers regard women, including former First Lady and twice-elected Senator Clinton, as dumb, abusable, disposable broads. Outrageous and unacceptable. You will not get my vote, money or time this election cycle.
I can see why I got the sweats when I had to write compositions in College. Yikes!
Murphy, see#277. That is my revised letter. Please delete the others. Thanks!
Please add me to the list, Bruce555, Coral Springs, FL
(one of the 1/2 voters)
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am writing to express my protest to the 2008 dem nominee selection process. I have never heard of anything so poorly managed or so skewed as this process. First, I must say that people like Donna Brazile, who sent lots of hate mail to Hillary supporters, did a lot of damage to the party. In addition, I have to say that the chosen one is not ready to be president. This puts so many of us in a choice of 2 evils.. . . . Obama or McCain — how could you do this to us? I am wondering how in the world you expect us to vote for Obama. I can see no compelling accomplishment or record that gives me any reason to even remotely consider this man for President of the USA. You need to screen your applicants more thoroughly before unleashing them onto the electorate — I think some experience and vetting are what dems are looking for. Clinton Dems find it hard to swallow that someone who is so weak would be brought forward as the nominee.
Please realize that many of us, not just white gun owners from rural, but many of us with advanced degrees, are changing to Independent. I will stay home this time around, because there is literally no one on the ballot that I feel I would be willing to vote for.
This is a sad day for America, for Democratic principals, and for the once great Democratic Party. What was something to cherish has been a media circus for months now, thanks to the very stupid way the primaries/caucuses are set up and also with the situation with Florida and Michigan.
Please get it together before 2012.
Dear Dr. Dean:
I would like to introduce myself. I am a post-graduate professional white male. I would regard myself in rank and affluence like you and your peers. I will be participating in this election as a former Democrat and newly registered Independent. My goal is simple and straightforward. I will use my vote, my influence, my voice, and my money in every way to defeat this Democratic Party that has evolved since 2004.
I supported your candidacy in 2004. However, after you were defeated in the primaries by John Kerry, I relunctantly endorsed the Democratic Party Nominee. My reason was to support and endorse any potential nominee in order to defeat George W. Bush. If it was John Kerry, so be it. In many ways your candidacy symbolized change and new ideas. You spoke of a different direction that you visioned and put us to task with a grassroot connection. That was new, alright. Reach out and think out of the box. Don’t be lead by the media. Realistic goals that past and present Party Elders scoffed, yet once again the Democrats lost in 2004. Another defeat ran by the Democratic Party Elites and their ideas going back to 1980. The one exception, however, was the administration of President Bill Clinton, the first Democrat to successfully serve two complete terms since FDR. This letter is not meant to recant history. The record is clear.
With that said, the Democratic Party, under your “leadership” and Donna Brazille has been a mockery to Democratic Values and beliefs for a majority of American Citizens. I do know of at least 18,000,000 that are products of your decisions and actions. Mr. Obama was your sole candidate after the re-election of George W. Bush. The American People went through this primary process blinded by your ideals that the outcome would be that decision. The strategy, the organization, and the funding could not have been better orchestrated. The characters of the play were the best and followed every cue to the letter, with one exception: Hillary Rodham Clinton. That was something you really did not count on, but had a plan to deal with if necessary.
Mr. Dean, my list could fill this page and I am sure you have read many. But, the blatant decision to keep Michigan and Florida from exercising a re-vote, after Hillary Clinton and Campaign agreed to it and even fund it was nothing more than cheating. It was a sham to the way Americans and the rest of the world are told about how we elect OUR candidates. The caucus system is corrupt and completely unfair. Texas is only one example. How can you explain to someone that a candidate wins the popular vote of a state, but does not get a majority of those delegates? How? Don’t reply with the “rules” bit. That would be insulting me even more.
In summation, the buying out of the media and superdelegates from the suspicious bank roll of Mr. Obama (not proven but suspected), and the offering of roles that would be given to those if they went along with this farce, was so clear. Out they marched, one by one, beginning with Mr. Richardson. We PUMAS are not ignorant or blind to what has happened. Mr. Dean, I will end this with some thoughts for you to reflect: How much do you really care about the majority of America and how much does your candidate really care about you or America?
In conclusion, my various avenues of support will not only be targeted against this Democratic Party, but all those that are an elected part of it. That Mr. Dean, Ms. Brazille, and Mr. Nick Lampson(D-Tx) is a vote(s) you can count on in November.
JHarper
PUMA (former Democrat)
Harris County
Texas
Jeremy — done.
Thats mar~v~lus! Youre so cool! We all feel the same! Obama was decided on months ago and Hillary got in their way! Now 18Mill of us have the power and they are scared! They are even taking down her site as we post! Brazille and the others continued to look into CNN cameras and protest that, “When we go to the convention they better never take this nomination away from the the person with the popular vote!” (Oh I heard it with me own ears) “They must support the will of the voters!”
Well! Guess what! Yeppers! Hillary has the popular vote! Oh yes she does! Now what do you say? You big shots thought it would be the other way around! Well! She has the peoples votes! OOps! did this come back around to bite you on the butt?
Dear Dr Dean,
As a registered voter and loyal lifelong democrat, I was appalled at the proceedings of the DNC where legal elections were discounted and American votes and legally elected delegates subverted and given to someone who did not earn them . If someone removed their name from a ballot voluntarily that is their error and they garner the consequences . When this election is lost to the democrats , the actions of the DNC will be one of the largest reasons if not the largest reason . for the first time in my adult life , I will be voting other than democratic , and that is a resolve that will not waver .
I was Hillarysite and what I posted never made it. Well, Mr Dean I will never support BO. McCain is getting my vote at least he has been working for the people unlike Obama that has not had the time to work on helping our soliders in harm’s way in afghanistan. He chairs this committe and has not had the JUDGEMENT to speak up or help our soliders. How then is he going to help the solider’s in IRAQ. He is full of specches and nothing at all. My vote now goes to McCain and 2012 will support Hill again. Please America let’s show the DNC that they behaviour will not be tolerated and ACTUAL CHANGE the direction they (DNC) plan to go. We will not have A candidate in the white house that was SELECTED and not ELECTED!!!
#118 Mac: Great idea!
I’m still updating the list. It’s working great with your county info. Easier than before! Thx.
I’ve been moved by your letters as I update I take a sneak peek!
Dear Dr. Dean,
There have been times over the last forty years that I have been disappointed with our eventual presidential nominee. However, never before have I been mortified and frankly, offended. The decision of the DNC to back a candidate so clearly unprepared to take the highest office in the world has left me both.
I understand your decision to bend to big money, special interests and a vast demographic of uninformed and easily manipulated voters by forcing the inferior candidate upon us, but I can not accept it. The tactics by which this was accomplished are even more alarming.
I am formally protesting Senator Obama and any elected or named officials complicit in this questionable presumptive nomination.
Respectfully,
Melinda
Nevada County, CA
PUMA Democrat
Dr Dean
I can not and will not vote for Obama. I am so disturbed at you and friends hijacking this party and turning it into something not at all the party I have always known. Your man Obama has torn this party and country apart and you helped. Why?I have heard Obama and Donna Brazille have said well he doesnt need us any way. Ok thats fine cause he wont get us. There is no amount of pandering and talk that will change our minds. Hillary was treated like mud from all but still stood tall and kept her word to have everyone vote eveb when Palosi and others wanted to shut it down. She could have gotten us the White House but not Obama. Also wanted you to know I will be contacting someone because I believe we need some investagation into new registrants and hope you have the mind to stop the caucus. It got your man in but is so bias a monkey could see through it .I hope you use your power to stop these abusive things.
Obama is no more ready to run this country than I am . I do and always have loved it though so maybe I have a heads up on him.His wife,pastor,rezko,Farrakhan(he should help you get jewish vote) his plo friends that gave him money. His wife got over 200,000 raise when he became senator??You dont care about any of this ,just apeasement. It isnt over. I believe he will implode. I worry Republicans will wait till after convention than Hillary cannt pull us out. You havent heard end of problems with the golden boy.
He never lived here as a child and not poorly. He has lied about everything and used poorest of judgement. You would pick and shove this through when you had a winner in your hands means it isnt my party now.I will vote McCain. I dont vote for the selected but the elected.
jane-Erie,Pa.
Puma Democrat
Please post off-thread comments on the Open Discussion thread upstairs. Feel free to repost your comments from here to there.
This thread is for letters to the DNC about why you are protesting the 2008 election.
Thanks.
Lurkers, I know you’re out there!
Please add your letter. We want all of our voices heard.
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am a 20, going on 21, year old, Indian American (Not Native American), male. I have been following the primaries very closely and I have been appalled at what I’ve seen. It is very clear that of the two main candidates, Hillary Clinton is far superior and far more electable. Her experience far surpasses Barack Obama’s and I can’t fathom why this has turned out the way it has. Indeed, even in the final primaries just recently, there was a galling level of arrogance on the part of the Democratic Party. I find it horrible that Barack Obama was pushed over the line for necessary delegates BEFORE the polls were closed in South Dakota, where I might add she soundly thrashed Barack Obama. The way the Democratic Primaries are set up, the Super Delegates are in place to ensure that the will of the people is carried out by supporting the candidate who gets the most popular votes. This year, they were used to bolster a weak candidate whom the party officials had selected. I cannot and will not vote for a candidate such as Barack Obama come November. He very clearly lied about his relationship with Rev. Wright. I find it impossible that he knew this man for 20 years and had a close relationship with him and did not know Wright was as racist as he is. I can’t support a candidate who has ties with the Chicago Political Machine which is no better than the mafia. I can’t support a candidate who doesn’t respect his country enough to place his hand over his heart when the National Anthem is played. And I cannot support a candidate who is not qualified enough to sit in the Oval Office! The list of reasons I can’t vote for Barack Obama is much longer than these few reasons I’ve listed. However, if I were to mention all of my reasons, I would probably end up writing a book length letter. This election has not only been stolen from a truly qualified candidate, but from the people as well. This is why my vote will go to John McCain in November. Unfortunately, it is not possible to register as an Independent in Arizona. But I will, nonetheless, be leaving the Democratic Party one way or another if and when Barack Obama is confirmed as the Democratic Nominee. Thank you for your time.
Jackson
Maricopa County
Arizona
TexasTigress
I got you down! I’m behind…doing my best to catch up. I have two windows open. I’ll plubish when I get down the list…Is that possible. Pumas are growing at an exponential rate, that GREAT!!!
I just joined mccain site. First time there, men this is strange for me to be looking at a republican but it is Hillary or McCain for me. Never Obama. I feel that my 14 month son could do a better job than Obama. Maybe he should have entered the race.
Dr Dean,
When your selected (not elected) candidate Obama does not win in November, remember June, 2008. If a miracle happens and he gets elected and the country deteriorates further than with GWB, remember June, 2008. The Democratic Party has betrayed millions of us — and me for the last time. I will not support your selected candidate in November.
Linda
Collin County, TX
PUMA Democrat
Dr. Dean
Trick the American voters once shame on you, trick us twice(which isn’t going to happen) shame on us!You have dishonered the Democratic Party. You disrespected Senator Clinton.You treated her like a second class citizen.Your treatment of Hillary should have told you something about her character if she could handle the abuse that the DNC threw at her she could handle anybody or anything.In the eyes of America Hillary let it roll off her like water off a ducks back,but we were not with her when she was alone and I know she was hurting. I dare say that Donna Brazille, or Nancy Pelosi could have endured the abuse they would have fallen for sure. I have supported the Democratic Party for 46 years and for the “First time in my adult life I am ashamed of my Party.”When there is a lack of honor in goverment,the morals of the whole people are poisoned” (these are not my words) All authority belongs to the people, but the DNC took that authority from us when you hand picked Obama you ignored our votes The people in Fla. are only 1/2 people .Hillary was the only one ready to lead our Country.She is like a great General give her the keys to the door and she will lead.Obama has NO qualifications except “flowery speeches” he is like a traveling evangelist and we all know where he got his training -20 years with Wright as his mentor.He has “friendships” with people that are against every principle our great country was founded on but the DNC overlooked all these .Obama lacks ALL the qualities we need: leadership,experience,diplomatic skills, foreign policy experience, his track record in the senate is evidence of these, he can’t handle criticism ,either constuctive or non.His inexperience showed in the debates he aped everthing Hillary said, I believe that is why the moderators asked Hillary the first questions, so they would’nt embarrass him and when Hillary supporters started complaining to the media and they did ask him the questions he stuttered and stammered until you forgot what he was asked.DNC hi-jacked Hillary’s delegates in Michigan even thou Bo did not need them You knew if you counted all her votes you would not have a leg to stand on.The DNC insulted the intelligence of the voters and thought we would not notice what you were doing. WRONG! You disrespected Hillary everywhere she turned She was forced to concede to BO. You know it and her supporters know it.So how dare you assume Hillarys supporters will unite behind your choice .I will not support the democratic party or Obama even though Hillary has asked us to ,even if she is his VP. I sincerely hope she does not accept that position Hillary is not VP materal and that would be a slap in the face for her and her supporters.We all know if she did when BO screwed up and he WILL Hillary would be blamed.For the first time in my voting life I will vote Republican along with my democratic family. In November I will vote for John McCain, but the DNC is to blame for that .One last thing Hillary supporters are not to be forgotten and WE WILL NOT LET THE DNC OFF THAT EASY! I certainly hope this letter does not fall on deaf ears for our Country’s sake.
Phyllis
Putnam Co.Indiana
P.U.M.A Democrat
Dear Dr. Dean,
First of all, I would like to tell you that you were my choice for President when you were in the race. I even liked your screams. I thought it was very unfair of the Media to bring you down over it.
The unfair and biased way The D.N.C. and the media treated Senator Clinton was so excruciating to watch. You of all people sir should know how that feels.
Sure you paid the media’s treatment of Senator Clinton with some lip service when you were in a room full of her supporters. Such an obvious pander that I actually laughed.
When Michael Pfleger made those horrible remarks about Senator Clinton, Obama was saddened by his backward looking comments. He was only worried about how it reflected on him. I do not recall you or Donna Brazille, or Obama defending Senator Clinton. I do remember who did though. It was John McCain.
Sadly, after 25 years of voting democrat, I am leaving the Party. I will be voting for John McCain.
R. Tierra
PUMA DEM
Woodland Hills, CA
Please be patient. I have put put the kids to bed.
Dr. Dean,
There are so many reasons why I will not be supporting Senator Obama. He hasn’t earned the nomination and frankly your bending of the rules clearly shows me that even you thought he couldn’t win without a bit of help.
Obama is also not qualified for the position; he spent 1 (one) year in the Senate, that does not make one qualified.
Obama was selected by the DNC and not the people. I know you are a very busy man and may not have noticed that Senator Clinton actually won the popular vote.
The very idea of not counting all of the votes in FL & MI goes against every American principle of democracy.
Frankly Dr Dean, I find it hard to vote for any man after the extreme sexism during this primary season. My vote will either be a write-in for Hillary, but then again as some of her votes and delegates where given to Obama I may be better off voting for McKinney.
Rest assured Dr Dean, I will still be very active politically. I will donate, phone bank, and do what ever my party needs me to do. However Dr Dean I no longer consider myself a Democrat. I am a PUMA!
Bjornsdotter
Dear Mr. Dean,
Thank you, Mr. Dean, for your former efforts to make our country strong by actively running for the position of the Presidency of the United States and then leading the National Democratic Party. Neither of these tasks are easy. However, I must inform you that I left the Democratic Party three months ago after forty years of active work within its organization. Why? First, I am passionately upset with the party’s inept handling of the vulgarity and targeting of women who have served long in the party. Second, I am very angry with the party and its obviously decision to overturn the vote of the people (Florida-Michigan and the caucus vs. state primary system). Third, the party no longer represents all groups of people as it has in its history. It is showing by its actions of these passed few months, that it represents only the view of a few powerful people, not the rich tapestry of young, old, women, men, “all” ethnic groups, poor, middle class, and rich, traditionally educated and highly educated. A tapestry falls apart when threads break or are broken. The Democratic Party is a shredded tapestry that sorely needs mending. It does not represent my traditional and moderate views toward life and the operation of this great country.
Karen , Cowlitz County, Washington State
PUMA Democrat
New Users, If you want to comment on the threads, you need to register with Wordpress first. They will email a temporary password to you right away. Look for it in your junk email folder if you don’t see it in your inbox in a few minutes. Once you’ve logged in for the first time you can reset your password to a more personal one. Just click on this link
http://blog.pumapac.org/wp-login.php?action=register
Welcome!
I am protesting the Democratic Party because I am a lifelong Democratic Voter. I feel that this Primary, I learned that Democrats are not Promoting Democracy.
Silly me. If I had known that for certain, I would have been an Independent years ago. Hillary Rodham Clinton was the closest person to being Democratic in modern history. Now, I believe that Geraldine Farraro has the most integrity in the Party. She is the only one who stated the truth about reverse-racism under fire, under threats, until the end and after the end.
I have named the New Democratic Party the Demogratic Party after their abuse of marketing statistics. They only care about who is going to pay them more money. Hispanics are a growing marketing demographic. African Americans have network television and entertainment except for the news media. Between those two demographics, they can be assured of a growing money tree from above and below. They used Hillary Clinton to re-build the roots, the base. Then, they hijacked the bus, threw her under, ran over her and are running to her base for support. NObama - Not Now, Not Ever.
Dr. Dean,
There are so many reasons why I will not be supporting Senator Obama. He hasn’t earned the nomination and frankly your bending of the rules clearly shows me that even you thought he couldn’t win without a bit of help.
Obama is also not qualified for the position; he spent 1 (one) year in the Senate, that does not make one qualified.
Obama was selected by the DNC and not the people. I know you are a very busy man and may not have noticed that Senator Clinton actually won the popular vote.
The very idea of not counting all of the votes in FL & MI goes against every American principle of democracy.
Frankly Dr Dean, I find it hard to vote for any man after the extreme sexism during this primary season. My vote will either be a write-in for Hillary, but then again as some of her votes and delegates where given to Obama I may be better off voting for McKinney.
Rest assured Dr Dean, I will still be very active politically. I will donate, phone bank, and do what ever my party needs me to do. However Dr Dean I no longer consider myself a Democrat. I am a PUMA!
Bjornsdotter
McHenry County, Illinois
PUMA Democrat
Dr. Dean,
Who was it that told you and Sen. Obama and his “people”, and the media, and others, that we will “fall in line”? That we’ll “get over it”? What makes you think that you and they can insult our intelligence?
Did you and they actually think that you could orchestrate this “plan” against Sen. Clinton and get away with it? Has it sunk in your heads yet that you have actually divided the democratic party?
Just as bad as the ugly and horrendous treatment of our Hillary Clinton, is that the party is now divided, a very great number of democrats has switched party affiliation to Independent, and will vote for John McCain (who happens to be a maverick, moderate republican).
You have actually thrown the election. And what’s left will be knocked down completely by the republicans when they really get to work in September and October, doing what they do best. That’s when the sparks will really fly. Then we’ll be watching your “chosen” candidate running to hide behind trees, rocks, maybe behind you yourself!!! Oh, he needs to study the map so he can find his way back when he gets lost.
You blew it Dr. Dean, and pals.
The best and stronger candidate for president presented herself to us and you all decided to trash her.
Another thing, after this is over and Barack Obama starts limping back home, he may not have the face to re-enter presidential politics.
At least Hillary Clinton will be back better and stronger in ‘12.
Betty
Broward County
FLORIDA
Dear Dr. Dean:
I am an Independent that was going to switch to the Democratic Party for Hillary Clinton in November. As I watched the primaries and seen how Senator Clinton had to continuously stand up to demands to step down as she was winning; I went to her site, donated and made phone calls. Now forget my vote in November unless you tell the whole truth and Senator Hillary Clinton becomes the nominee at the DNC.
Each day brings a new revelation and as Americans we are not going to “settle-down” or support a nominee that is not qualified. One is not brain-dead when the press always said, “Obama and Clinton”, which we all know is more controlled by Democrats, it is more than a very divisive practice…it is un-American!! Especially since you know, candidates are always stated alphabetically and you never corrected it.
I have never seen a woman more demeaned nor another candidate, as skeletons were free falling out of his closet, more chosen. This is not the American way but a very Marxist move. A person created to be a savior in sheep’s clothing. It will not work!!
It is clear to me, my family, friends and Republicans that I know that were going to support Hillary Clinton in November that the DNA process is everything but Democratic!! How Dr. Dean do you justify with Hillary Clinton having the popular vote and very close in true certified Delegates until you started your underhanded process with caucuses that should be under investigation for “fraud” and then pressure Super Delegates to choose your “Chosen One”?
What did I hear you say…nothing!! That is why neither I nor any of my family members that are registered Democrats and my Republican friends will not be voting for “your Chosen One”. As people become educated as to who he really is…losing in November will be mild to the answers you will have to face, as investigations will be forthcoming.
Sharon
Orange County, Florida
Puma Democrat
Dear Dean,
My name is Elizabeth and I have always been a democrat, I am 64. However in light of the way you took delagates away from Fl and Mi and the total way you and your fellow members ran this primary and ignored the popular vote and the true winner I am now a PUMA DEMOCRAT and will be protesting the 2008 election.
Elizabeth
Pinellas county Florida
To Howard Dean,
Last October I took a trip overseas to work with fellow company colleagues on social and environmental diversity for a specific agriculture focus in a third world country. I was the only American colleague while the rest were from nine other countries from around the world. The good I have taken from that overall wonderful experience is how all of us can come together and worked to a common goal. However, I carried the hardest battle with this as it was clearly stated to me how the world HATES Americans (to include the current administration, of course). I wasn’t surprised and unfortunately expected such harsh statements to come my way. And being a female over fifty only made it all the more difficult. I did overcome this challenge. It took a little time, patience, hard HONEST work and to include carrying the integrity I hold so very valuable proving myself and successfully achieving the development of MUTUAL respect. And that is how I won their hearts as I refused to play dirty politics.
I understand why the world views us the way they do. They do not see integrity, social responsibility or democratic processes. They see corporate control over our government, a spiraling downturn in our economy, a deficit that China makes payments on, a never ending involvement in Iraq and our lack of good intellectual judgment to correct these wrongs. Our next president needs to address and accomplish so much of this in a manner considering long term positive results as well as respect to our fellow Americans, our environment, our retirement and our health coverage and freedom from foreign energy. These issues are so enormous it’s hard to believe that such a neophyte as BO could even come close to understanding what needs to be done. And the world is not very interested in BO. And I question his values on every issue I stated above. And I question his integrity, his apparent attitude towards racism and lack of any agenda.
The DNC has broken every rule that a democracy stands for. The DNC chooses to emulate the other party’s and the administration’s corrupt practices. We had a chance and the right candidate to rebuild America based on values, leadership, policies and social responsibility that are crucial to our survival as a vital and thriving nation. You as well as the rest of DNC’s private agenda with self serving motives not only turned away from all of this but also proved to the world what buffoons the leaders in the Democratic Party can be as well.
The DNC’s and your degrading and demoralizing actions proving that sexism is definitely a part of your agenda will never, ever bring me to change from my decision to leave the party and not support in any way by vote, money, campaign, etc to the DNC. 35+ years of support will now end and I will register as Independent. I will be curious to see where by November the numbers of new enrollments that the DNC so bragged about during this campaign will be sufficiently offset by us who felt compelled that it was necessary to change affiliation to another party.
Mr. Dean, some have suggested you return to medicine. Please leave politics, you really stink at it. However, please, don’t go back to medicine. If you practice medicine like politics your patients would be in terrible danger as well.
CJV
Schenectady County, NY
PUMA Democrat
Dr. Dean,
Yes, there was sexism and much more corruption in this primary process. Shame on you for acknowledging the sexism after your Anointed One reached the magic number of delegates.
You have done a great disservice to Democrats, the American political process, and WOMEN. (Remember women? The largest demographic in the Dem Party?)
Your selected nominee will lose in November, in a year tailor-made for Dems. Nice going.
Joanne
Cook County, Illinois
PUMA Democrat
Mr. Dean,
I am so disappointed in the treatment of Hillary Clinton and this was allowed. This happening in the Democratic Party which was also known to be the party of the people, then to literally treat one of it’s own this what, what a disgrace. There has been such discrimination, if this was anything else where somebody had been discriminated again to this degree, there would have been such a law suit, and justifably so. Please, Mr. Dean remember we are the people who voted the people who are in in their offices, how can you do this to us? My view on this, and I am a woman, seeing how Hillary has been treated, this is as such a second class citizen. How could you and those who have done this, done this to us. We expected so much more, to start off with Hillary being treated fairly.
Hey DNC,
I accept the fact that Barack Obama will win the Democratic nomination. It’s a legitimate outcome, as long as you accept that the determination of the will of the voters was not the desired product of the primary season.
Superdelegates decided to hand Barack Obama the victory on June 3 so no time would be spent dwelling on the meaning of Hillary Clinton’s victory in South Dakota. How is it possible that Obama could have won all the surrounding states with greater than 60% of the vote, yet lose South Dakota by such a solid margin? It’s the caucuses. They are undemocratic and represent a tiny sliver of the electorate. Had actual democratic elections been held in Minnesota, Colorado, North Dakota, etc., Barack Obama would never have built a significant pledged delegate lead. In all the states where higher turnout primary elections were held in addition to a caucus event, the result was much more favorable to Hillary Clinton. You cannot claim that the results from the caucuses are representative of the electorate of the states in which they were held.
The lowest turnout states in this primary season were all caucus states. In Alaska, Washington, Nebraska, Kansas, etc., fewer than 20% of the number of people who voted for John Kerry in 2004 participated in the 2008 Democratic caucus. There was even a higher rate of participation in Michigan and Florida, which the Democratic party leadership chose to disenfranchise.
So congratulations, your primary process has achieved a result, one obtained by granting 8800 voters in Alaska 1 delegate for every 650 voters and 1.7 million voters in Florida 1 delegate for every 19,000 voters. I however believe that the process should bear some resemblance to the will of the people. Unless the Democratic party makes some effort to overhaul its nomination process and to make amends to the candidate which won more votes than any other candidate in history, I’m out.
David
San Francisco, California
PUMA Democrat
Dr. Dean,
I am protesting and working diligently to make things right that the DNC got wrong for these reasons:
1. Senator Obama was SLECTED not ELECTED
2. Failure of DNC/RBC to follow its own charter/constitution re: fair reflection, uncommitted votes, taking votes from one candidate and giving them to another candidate, and using EXIT POLLS to bolster their own agenda, while all the time repeatedly stating that “Rules are Rules.” The RBC 30 substituting their judgment for 2.3 million voters is - unacceptable!
3. The “Bully pulpit tactics” used on anyone to do with Hillary’s campaign.
4. Hipocracy of DNC failing to count all votes; when that was their mantra in 2000, I am now 1/2 a person, just call me Jane Crow.
5. The sexism and misogyny piled on and piled on Hillary, and through her on us, by pundits, politicians, and Obama supporters - pure hatred that will not be forgotten.
6. Obama does not share my values, is not patriotic, and has used Chicago style politics to steal the nomination - with the entire Democratic Party and DNC aiding and abetting.The only thing Chicago style that I like is my pizza.
7. And make no mistake about it, HILLARY STILL SPEAKS FOR ME. But, Hillary needs to step aside now and let us, the P.U.M.A. Democrats, take it from here. We are many, we are dedicated, we are determined, we are strong.
8. To give just a little liberty to Hillary and in the memory of Susan B. Anthony after working for the Suffragette movement for 60 years, and on her deathbed stated that all she wanted was a little liberty and a say in her goverment and that she will not live to obtain it. Well, 165 years later we are still asking for a little liberty and a say in running our government.
Lisa Davis
Michigan
P.U.M.A. DEMOCRAT
Dear Dr. Dean,
Great Dismay. This is what I am feeling, Great Dismay. My pride in being a Democrat has been burned by molten lava, and the smoldering remains are being gnawed at by Unity. My 37 years as a Democrat are damaged by the 2008 Primary shenanigans.
As a staunch Democrat, I voted for and contributed to this once great party. Now it is overshadowed with shame.
Because of my dissatisfaction with the national party, I have joined a powerful, smart, honest pack. I am now a Puma Democrat. This pack (note the wordplay with the term PAC) now has my loyalty and, perhaps of most concern to you, my contributions. The amounts may not be great, but since I sacrifice to make them, they reflect my whole-hearted determination to support the Puma tribe.
Dr. Dean…I will not vote for Senator Obama. He is not a legitimate nominee, in that he did not get the nomination honestly. The legitimate nominee in Senator Hillary Clinton. She may not speak with the specious speechifying of Senator Obama, but she speaks with sincerity and compassion…and with a brilliant understanding of our national concerns. And…even more importantly, she knows how to tackle and resolve our problems. I trust her implicitly. I do not have even a modest modicum of trust for your nominee. Actually, I have none. I repeat, I have no trust for your nominee.
I add my voice, or maybe it is a howl, to my fellow Pumas. With all my heart, I PROTEST the 2008 Presidential Election that has Senator Obama representing the Democratic Party.
Senator Obama was the recipient of the lop-sided approval of our national media. He was rained upon with their love. I smelt the rain, and the smell was that of sludge. I nearly drowned in the flood of rain, but was pulled to the safe haven of the Pumas.
Dr. Dean, Sir, you were behind the unfair treatment of the voters of the states of Michigan and Florida. You could have let this be a lesson year, you could have given these states a second chance. You, Sir, were unforgiving. Instead of imposing lesser sanctions, you supported the path that lead to the questionable victory of your nominee.
Sir, the Pumas are gathering, the Pumas are watching, the Pumas are tensed for action. Sir, the Pumas are getting ready to battle. With the honor of our tribe, we are giving you forewarning.
We Pumas are getting ready for BATTLE.
JoAnn
York County
Pennsylvania
Puma Democrat
Dear Mr. Dean,
When this primary season began, I was open minded and willing to listen to what BHO had to say even though I had been a Hillary supporter for years. But the more I listened to him, the more I became convinced that he is not who he pretends to be and is not electible.
Here we have a First Lady who has an excelent record of working hard for the middle class and who in my opinion is the only smart choice for the Presidency of the United States. But instead of giving her a fair shot, you have tied her hands behind her back and from the very beginning by not counting Florida and Michigan, two states needed to win the General Election in the fall and two state Hillary Rodham Clinto won back on January 29th of this year. And so, I had been following this campaign season with much interest. That interest was not just because we had our first African American candidate and our first woman… but my interest was with regard to the handling of Florida and Michigan. In other words this constest to me was never about race. It was about equality.
I was actually waiting and *hoping* that the DNC Rules and Bylaws committee would resolve this issue as they had promised. Namely to resolve it in such a way as not to favor one candidate over the other. Well, Mr Dean, you and the other SuperDelegates on that panel did exactly the opposite. You not only bypassed your own rules and bylaws you created a new one just to nominate BHO by awarding him delegate votes he neither won nor earned because he had removed his name from the Michigan ballot; something he did not have to do.
If on one hand the rules are the rules and you penalized FL and MI for moving their dates up, then howbeit you also moved up the IOWA caucuses? What DNC rule was that? And by what rule did you decide to give only 1/2 vote to Michigan and Florida… oh, I know, that was the automatic ruling that you seemed to have misplaced at the very beginning. Yet you seemed to have found it again on May 31st of this year.
Now, I know from reading and surfing the Internet that our Constitution does not allow for Conventions or Primaries, yet their has been a long standing tradition in our country to COUNT EVERY VOTE. This is why the 2000 Al Gore election against George Bush got so much attention because many of us feel as though Gore should have been our President. But to think that the democratic party has done the same thing to itself is a thing that is not forgivable and we who honor the works of Hillary Rodham Clinton will not soon forget. I will not forget. I will not forget that you have become the Katherine Harris of the Democratic Party.
Why?
Because you and the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee have awarded delegates to a man based upon an EXIT POLL. Now that is something that is not in any party rules that I know of. Mr. Dean, I implore you, the DNC has set up a very dangerous president in using an exit poll because it has given media way too much power over our election process. So for me, May 31st was the day American democracy died.
Patriotism is not just in a lapel flag pin… it is in doing what is right and what is just. I did not see this from the DNC as I watched C-Span. To quote your own candidate, patriotism need not be worn on someone’s shoulders; then again, neither should we have to suffer and bare the burden of the error of your ways.
I have heard it said on news media that Mr O intends to seat the FL and MI delegation at full seating. I would imagine so that he may then proclaim to be the party’s unifer but only *after* you made him the party’s nominee. Yet I can tell you we are not blind to what took place on May 31st and we will not be fooled by your involement in it.
Kathleen M
Old Bridge, NJ
A supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Candidacy in 08,
and now, A supporter of PUMA.
Murphy, I have the list from today’s bloggers who wrote to H.Dean including yesterday.
I need to compile from other threads. Where do you want this list-IT’S HUGE!
Dear Dr. Dean
For the first time as a life long Democratic I am ashamed of my Party. The type of treatment that was shown to Hillary Clinton by her “OWN” party leaves me speechless and sickens me not only as an American but disgust me as a women.
Hillary Clinton deserved respect not only as an American, a Human Being, a Women, a sitting DEMOCRATIC Senator of New York, a DEMOCRATIC candidate running for President of the United States and most certainly a Former First Lady.
Hillary Clinton is the ONLY candidate that stood for the same values, issues and concerns that I do. Hillary Clinton is a hard working, passionate, experienced, dedicated, caring, loyal person of extreme character and judgement.
I thought that the President of the United States was ELECTED by the people not SELECTED by the people in “cigar smoke filled back room meetings” who gain personal “perks” for their votes. I hear you are getting to retain your position as Chair of the DNC.
Well Dr. Dean I am tired of being told that I will “get over it, unify and come around come November”. Cause if you think that then you do not know me or the other 17,999,999 of us. THIS “SWEETIE” WILL NEVER EVER IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM VOTE FOR OBAMA.
The only “RIGHT” AND “ELECTABLE” nominee is Hillary Rodham Clinton - so if she is not our nominee than the Democratic Party, DNC, Super D’s along with all the other “IN THE TANK” for Obama supporters just handed the White House to the Republicans.
Deb
PUMA Democratic
Dakota County - MN
Dr. Dean:
I am 52 years old. I have been a lifelong member of the Democratic Party. I have always voted for the Party candidates. No more. I have changed my party affiliation. I am disgusted with the behavior of the DNC and many “Democratic leaders” toward the voters of Michigan and Florida, toward Hillary Clinton, and 18 million voters who believe that Senator Clinton is the Democratic candidate that can win in the general election. Unconscionable!
I have been astonished and sickened by the blind promotion of Senator Obama - the kid-glove treatment and total lack of vetting that have led to his rock star status. He is inexperienced and unqualified and has shown a 20 year history of calculated political pandering and HIGHLY questionable associations to get to this point in his career.
Shame on all those who stood by and allowed this to happen.
If Obama is the nominee, Senator John McCain gets my vote. No hesitation. Senator McCain is an honorable American who has demonstrated a willingness and the heart to work across party lines for the good of all. Senator McCain has walked the walk and not just talked the talk.
Elizabeth G.
Litchfield County, CT
former Democrat
PUMA member
Dear Dr. Dean,
As a lifelong Democratic voter I hereby tender my resignation from the party. I will not vote for “presumptive ” nominee Obama in November.
Presumptuous indeed, of you and the DNC to take it upon yourselves to annoint Obama as the nominee with much help from a biased mainstream media.
The millions of Democrats who have been denigrated by their party hold the votes to determine the next President of the U.S.
The only way the Democratic party will win in November is with Hillary Clinton as the nominee.
M. Taylor
Jackson County, ORegon
Dear Dr. Dean,
When this primary season first started, I was excited and hopeful. I believed that with a good contest among many good candidates, the strongest Presidential Democratic candidate would emerge. Surely, THIS time, with sentiment running so high against the mistakes of the Republican administration, the Democratic party would be finally able to nominate a winner. I was familiar with the strong credentials of Hillary Clinton and John Edwards and I was open and curious to hearing more about Barak Obama even though I felt a little concerned that he is such a brand new Senator.
But long before the primary season even made its way to my state of Oregon, the race had narrowed to two candidates, and it seemed that the media and the DNC had bought into the new charismatic cult of Obama and made up its mind that Hillary Clinton should hurry up and drop out for “the good” of the Party. (I’m sorry, I guess I thought the party leaders were supposed to do the will of the people for the good of the PEOPLE?) By the time Obama got to my state, Oregon, the drumbeat for Clinton’s ouster had gotten so loud, that Obama didn’t even feel the need to acknowledge Clinton’s numerous challenges for a debate in my state, my chance to finally hear the two of them directly engage each other on issues dear to me relevant to my state, and more and more “superdelegates” were jumping on the Obama bandwagon to manipulate the outcome and sense of “inevitability” before my vote was even cast. Sexist comments by Obama (e.g. calling a female reporter “sweetie” — if Clinton had called a black male reporter “hon” would there have been any mercy??) were ignored or downplayed by Democratic party leaders, and women supporters of Clinton were portrayed as unreasonable or sentimental in our loyalty to her even though there was no similar criticism of the 90% loyalty of black voters to Obama. Even as Clinton was winning by huge margins in the majority of the last primaries, Democratic leaders and superdelegates in Washington DC were saying she should get out for “party unity”. Even though there were record numbers of new Democrats being registered in these latter primaries, and the voter turnout was higher than it’s been in years, the ridiculous charge was being made by party leaders that somehow Clinton’s presence in the race was damaging to the Democratic party!?! Let me explain something to the DNC — Clinton’s presence didn’t divide the party; it’s how she and the many of us who supported her were dismissed by the DNC that has divided the party. Yet now the DNC doesn’t dismiss us, now the DNC wants us to join the Obama camp, wants us to forget that the same old politics were played on behalf of someone who claims to practice new politics of unity. Now that Obama has claimed the nomination (not because he won enough to clinch it himself but because “superdelegates” gave him enough votes to win the nomination despite the popular vote and despite the big electoral states Clinton won), now the Democratic party leaders wants Clinton supporters to be loyal and rally around the Democratic candidate. Come on, be good sports, we’re told.
And, I ask you, why? This was not a sports game. This was our future. And, I do not believe that the DNC and the Democratic leaders were loyal to the Democratic process or to the huge group of Democratic voters like me. It was only through Hillary Clinton’s pure grit and determination to stay in the race despite the huge pressure on her to bow out that I felt my vote in Oregon in May meant something, and I bet the voters of West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, and Montana felt the same.
As far as rallying behind your candidate, I don’t even know who Barak Obama really is. He hasn’t earned my vote, and I don’t feel I “owe” it to him because the DNC says I do. Despite what the DNC and Democrat leaders could have done by staying neutral throughout the primary season and seeing which candidate emerged as the strongest, the Democratic party elders in their arrogance took down who was on her way to emerging as their own strongest candidate (Clinton) to promote the “rock star” (Obama) who’s going to get creamed in the general election by the genuinely solid choice of the Republicans, John McCain. I don’t agree with McCain on everything, but the man has integrity and a long track record of consistency on his values. He wasn’t afraid to criticize Rumsfeld and the Iraq war although he also wasn’t afraid to say that the US shouldn’t just abandon the mess we’ve made there. And he wasn’t afraid to keep saying that when it almost cost him the nomination he eventually won. McCain wasn’t afraid to loudly speak up against Bush on torture and to advocate for the Geneva Conventions. He wasn’t afraid to campaign for finance reform and work with someone like Democrat Russ Feingold to try to get it. I don’t agree with McCain on everything, but I do think the Democratic majority in the Senate and House will keep him in check on Supreme Court nominations (the big bugaboo that you all are trotting out) and social issues. McCain is trustworthy, and he definitely played more fair with his opponents during his primary than Barak Obama did with ours. In short, I refuse to reward Obama and the DNC for the shoddy way you’ve mistreated the candidates and their supporters this primary.
So once again, the Democratic party has ensured that we snatch defeat from the mouth of victory, and I hope in the next 4 years, the DNC will re-think caucases and how delegates are divided up when candidates win states. I hope the DNC will reconsider taking sides with one candidate against others before the people in all the primaries have finished speaking/voting, and I hope the DNC reconsiders the whole role of “superdelegates” in trying to manipulate the choice of our candidate. Good luck. If you clean up your act, maybe I’ll be back in 2012. I’ll always be a Democrat at heart, but for the first time since 1976, I won’t vote Democrat for President this time.
Karen
Washington county, Oregon
Puma member
Dear Dr Dean,
I will be protesting the 2008 Democratic Party and Nomination and voting for Senator McCain. I am now an Independent because:
When I vote for the Executive Office, I vote for the most qualified candidate to be our nation’s leader. The one who illustrates a commitment to make the tough decisions our nation needs, not just the party needs. Senator Clinton was and still is my first choice, Senator McCain is my second.
Senator Obama’s limited experience reveals poor judgment and actions that were in his best political interest, not the people he is suppose to represent. His friends and associations are questionable at best, frightening at worst. His personal belief circle promotes hate not unity. His politics are of the worst kind, Chicago-style. I can not support a candidate that actively works against our right to vote and then demands that our votes not be counted as voted.
The Democratic Party nomination process disenfranchises millions of voters through caucuses and party puppets called super-delegates. I will fight for popular voting in primaries in all 50 states.
The DNC intentionally disenfranchised 2.2 million voters in Michigan and Florida, denying them the right to vote. Then when they voted anyway, denied them their right to have their vote count; thus swaying the outcome of the nomination.
The RBC used their precious rules to hijack delegates. Using rules only when they suited their own purpose and throwing them out when they didn’t help their appointed nominee. The proceedings of May 31st resembeled a Kangaroo court.
The DNC leadership and Obama campaign stood idly by while SEXISM, MISOGYNY and RACE BAITING permeated the media and thus biased this nomination.
The DNC leadership and appointed nominee declared the winner repeatedly before every vote was cast and before the delegates have even voted at the convention.
I will spend the next four years fighting for Senator Clinton, fighting for reform within the Democratic Party and/or fighting for a strong Independent party that truly represents the will of the people of America.
Lizben08
Illinois PUMA Democrat
Dr. Dean,
During the last two elections, I was highly upset that the republican party was able to buy the election and that I felt my vote was a royal waste of time. I thought that was a republican trick. Not so. This year, I watched as the DNC stood by and did nothing while Senator Obama was able to buy his nomination. Is that the true and only motivation for any party, to do it’s selection of who is going to run for office? I believe it is. It is not HOW I vote.
You now ask all of us Democrats to unite the party under one banner. In truth, I believe you have been pushing that agenda for the last 16 months.
Many of us 18 million voters for Hillary Clinton invested time, money and our hearts for the one person we felt we could trust, the one person who salutes the flag she wished to support, and the one person we felt worthy to lead this country. You, the DNC chose to invest all of your time, money and hearts for the man you selected a long time ago. You stood by and watched the media consistently berate our choice. You did not stand by the very bylaws and regulations that govern your organization. Yet, you ask us now to unite. That is not how I WILL vote.
I am not a diehard democrat. I am a diehard believer in the American dream, to live free in a democracy where I can trust my government, trust that they will do the right thing for the people, by the people and of the people. That is not how YOU ask me to vote.
Know that I will vote my choice and my concience this November. It is not how you WANT me to vote.
Dawn
Williamson County, Texas
soon to be Independant
PUMA member
Dear Hillary Supporters
I have a few thoughts to share with you today. I am sad and energized, annoyed and amused so it took me some time to read all your emails and gather my thoughts. Trying to figure out how we feel as compared to what the pundits are telling us, the Hillary supporters, how to feel about the speech yesterday. I actually got a few emails this morning saying – “I guess you are for Obama now?”
What happened yesterday in DC?
I was interviewed no less than a dozen times and have not found one live interview of myself yet. Perhaps because they could not get me to say I was going to vote for McCain. I noticed however, they did air all the interviews of my friends who they could force to give them the answer they wanted. They were persistent in forcing that answer.
Let me tell you why I resisted. They would like nothing more that to take our eyes off of Denver. The media has always wanted to take Hillary out of the picture and make this race about Obama and McCain. I say let’s not let them take her out of the picture! Let me remind you that there is no nominee yet. These delegates can change their minds at any time between now and the night of the Convention. Hillary has not released her delegates and they have not abandoned her. She has only suspended her campaign.
Yes we are angry; very angry with the party. We feel that the party had abandoned us. It’s not over until Denver! We will deal with the DNC in good time but for now we need all our energy – we will not change the subject while we still have the opportunity to get our candidate of choice!
I was in DC yesterday – it was filled with supporters in Hillary regalia, however, I will never be convinced they were all true supporters. Based on discussions with the supporters I know and speak to my feeling is that we are not ready to drop the banner that fast and switch gears. In my opinion, that hall was filled with Obama supporters ready to perform for the cameras. I hung around long enough to speak to many of them who could not wait to try to convert me.
Vultures are circling but we are not Carcasses!
Excuse me but have they no sense of decency, no sense of a proper time of mourning ? The Democratic Party is flooding everyone everywhere asking for unity and money before we even got home from DC or turned off our TV sets?
I am getting a copy of everyone’s democratic national and state e-mail requests along with their not so polite replies – some should make the DNC’s faces turn RED pun intended. My readers are insulted, hurt and humiliated at this insensitive behavior which is further alienating those they say they wish to bring home. My dear readers, as this deluge of mail and email arrives begging for money for the party and for support for Senator Obama consider this as an opportunity instead of an affront.
Indeed this is perfect; it fits right into our plans. You see - the fight is not over and each time they reach out to us the party is giving us the ideal opportunity to voice our opposition. We do not have to defect yet nor run to McCain. Standing united we can answer these calls and mails with a resounding NO. We can tell them that we are still hoping they come to their senses and cast their votes in August for the best candidate, Hillary Clinton.
I would like to share a part of Hillary’s speech that I will carry with me as I continue to work toward trying to convince the delegates to vote for the stronger candidate, Hillary Clinton at the Denver Convention in August. We need to stand for the candidate who best represents what we want in a candidate. Indeed we are the force behind the eighteen million cracks in the ceiling and we need to remain together so we still have the power to come crashing down on this Democratic Party. So please let us stay together and see how much strength we have. Only if we stick together at this time can we truly make that difference – I ask that we do not splinter at this time – we stay united until after Denver.
“To those who are disappointed that we couldn’t go all the way – especially the young people who put so much into this campaign – it would break my heart if, in falling short of my goal, I in any way discouraged any of you from pursuing yours. Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. When you stumble, keep faith. When you’re knocked down, get right back up. And never listen to anyone who says you can’t or shouldn’t go on.” Hillary Clinton June 7, 2008 Washington DC
What do Clinton Supporter’s Really Want?
Bettyjean Kling – June 2008
Clinton’s women supporters may have a singular belief that extends far beyond acting out of malevolence. I hope they all believe as I do that when the DNC asked us to put party and Chicago Style politics before honor and true Democracy that they crossed the line which resulted in us banning together against injustice and their selected candidate, Senator Barack Obama.
If we truly are all of one mind then all Clinton supporters will refuse to be invisible any longer. We are not acting out of spite, but are simply affirming our rightful position to support Hillary Clinton for the head of this ticket. For too long women have been subjugated to a subservient position and when told to do the right thing, i.e. get over it, forget it and let the issue rest, keep silent. What is the right thing? In this case we believe the right thing was not done even though the DNC had the opportunity to do the right thing, i.e. nominate the candidate with the most popular vote, the candidate who won the most contests. Near the end of the primaries, when the public had time to digest the Obama revelations, this same public was electing Hillary Clinton by hefty margins of up to 41 % and this same public is picking over and over again Hillary Clinton over Senator McCain in head to head polls.
This is a new age and we will not be silent and take our place as secondary citizens. We have moved forward on race but still remain far behind in regards to gender. And if you believe this is not true, just think about this: it is 2008 and we still have not managed to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. Shirley Chisholm in her run for the Presidency cited gender discrimination as the greater challenge than her race. What has changed today? Not a thing. Change we can believe in is the nomination of Sen. Hillary Clinton. The DNC needs to wake up before they once again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by moving forward with the nomination of Obama.
Unfortunately, Obama limped to a win and only made it over the top by virtue of the pressure on super delegates to vote for him. This pressure came from the media and the good old boys in the party. Too bad he couldn’t win based on the popular vote– he is now the selected just like Bush was. The Stronger Candidate was bypassed and I can not help but think it was because she was a woman.
Curiously no one seems to be focusing much attention on all Senator Clinton’s supporters. We are not just women. We are women and men, young and old, all colors, national origins, natural born and immigrants, from all faiths and creeds and from varied educational levels and occupations. We believe that Senator Clinton can lead us to victory in November; we believe that the walls of gender need to come down but more than that - we are Americans and need to stand for democracy and justice.
To join our email list write us BettyJean_Kling@comcast.net
Dr. Dean:
I am writing to you regarding my protest of the 2008 Presidential Election. I have been a Democrat for 22 years. I registered to vote when I was 18 and I have never in my life voted for a Republican in any capacity. You have managed to alienate a life long Democrat with your mishandling, sexism,stealing of delegates and patronizing attitude towards we the voters. I have never been so disgusted and appalled at anything in my life. I certainly got a wake up call that we haven’t come as far as I thought we had. Well, you can keep your boys’ club and we’ll just see how much you needed us. I will not “fall in line” and I will not be herded into voting for a Democrat. This country means to much to me so you can count me out for this election as I will be giving my vote to John McCain who actually seems to feel it’s worth something.
Sheila
St. Louis County, Missouri
Puma Democrat
Dear Mr Dean,
I have been voting for a Democrat my whole life, whether I liked them or not. This time is different, I have to protest this election …I simply don’t feel that the democratic party represents me any longer. The way this primary was conducted, was blatantly biased, unfair, and undemocratic! One candidate was protected and promoted and the other was crucified, and told to step aside on a weekly basis! The unjustified accusations of racist remarks, brought loud cries, but the sexist comments were allowed and sometimes encouraged! The DNC was silent! The stunt that was pulled by Your Rules and Bylaws committee was totally underhanded and unacceptable. lastly…Your Donna Brazile explained to the world on CNN that there was a NEW Democratic Coalition, and guess what? Your DNC split the party down the middle and I am not part of the winning side.
Joyce Rems
Middlesex County, NJ
Dear Dean,
Even though I was a Democrat (changed status since this primary season), I will not be voting for Obama.
1. He has no experience and bad judgement (just look at his church that he attended for 20 years, and all his associates).
2. There have been many reports of how he won caucus’ and the DNC has done nothing about it.
3. What you have done to Mich and Florida just to benefit Obama is not democratic at all.
4. The RBC was a sham and everyone knows that there was a back room deal done and that is extremely undemacratic.
5. The DNC and the media accused the Clintons of being racist (Donna brazil, Clyburn…).
6. Hillary won the popular vote, Obama is the Winner by superdelagates, I will be expecting Donna brazil to keep her word and quit.
7. Kerry said that Universal Health Care is a non-starter.
8. No one is the Winner until the superdelegates vote at the convention, but you have proclaimed Obama the winner, forcing her out and making sure that the person you wanted is the winner(he was selected not elected), but he hasnt won yet.
9. We will take our party back and we will make sure that the Democratic party will once again be the party of the people.
10. Because of everything un-democrated that has happened this primary season I will never vote for Obama only for Hillary Clinton, if she is not the winner I will vote for Mccain.
Rima, Puma Democrat
Bergan county
NJ
Dr. Dean:
Obama’s inability to craft a workable energy policy makes me compelled to vote for McCain.
Not to mention the vile and vitriolic attack on the best qualified dem canidate ever to grace our lives.
Face it…you blew it. You antagonized your base by vilifying our best hope for change. You embraced the Rock Star to advance your own ambition. You will lose. And I’m gonna help.
I’m embracing McCain…not just because he’s not Obama, but because he can get stuff down.
Your legacy is an embarasssment to the party I once loved
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am protesting the 2008 election because you and the DNC:
Remained silent as the media unleashed an almost constant barrage of misogynistic statements against Hillary Clinton;
Failed to reprimand Donna Brazile when she said, “You’re looking at the old coalition. . . We don’t have to just rely on white blue-collar voters and Hispanics,” implying that my friends, family, and I are no longer welcome in the Democratic Party; and
Allowed the Rules and Bylaws Committee to rule that Barack Obama receive not only 100% of the uncommitted delegates of Michigan, but four delegates earned by Hillary Clinton–even though Obama voluntarily removed his name from the ballot and had surrogates encourage his supporters to vote uncommitted.
I will be voting for a 3rd party candidate for President, and I will continue to vote for 3rd party candidates until you and the DNC demonstrate by ACTIONS, not just words, that the Democratic Party is truly supportive of ALL the people.
Susan
Nueces County, TX
PUMA Democrat
Murphy, Genevieve has been doing “the list”. I, too, have updated it this evening, but I did not put in names from letters if they hadn’t ask to be on “the list”. There were some individuals who requested, but did not put their state. I don’t know how Genevieve is doing her list. I’ll just post what I have on the other thread. Thanks for the great 1000 items “idea” and postcards. They are just superb.
Time for site maintenance Folks. Thank you for all the letters and inspiration. Tomorrow is another day!
Dr. Dean,
I have been a Democrat from the time I was first allowed to vote after my 18th birthday over 40 years ago, I have never voted any other ticket. I am protesting the 2008 election. The way the DNC has treated the Clintons is deplorable. There is no excuse for it at all. For the DNC to work against its own best candidate they have had in years is an outrage. I will no longer be a part of the DNC, nor will I vote for Obama in November. Sadly, for the first time in my life, I will vote for a Republican, John McCain.
Rik
Warrick County, Indiana
PUMA Democrat
Comments will be held for moderation until the morning. Please send your letter. It will appear in the morning.
Thank you Everyone for participating in this effort to get our party back.
Dr. Dean:
I no longer recognize the Democratic Party, and I refuse to be a part of it.
I am more than angry or disappointed. I am deeply wounded by what has happened. I never thought people in the major media outlets and people from my own party would be so vulgar and say such indecent things about a U.S. senator and a former First Lady. And when they did, NO ONE stood up for her, for me. Where were you, Dr. Dean?
You were not there for me, and in November I will not be there for you.
Dr. Howard Dean:
I thought I should let you know that I do believe in Change. However it should be “POSITIVE” change. The changes that the DNC has made under your leadership are appalling.
As a single mother, grandmother of 9 and Veteran of the US Air Force, I have always been proud of my country and to be an American. I also have always been proud to be a Democrat, because I believed that the party stood for “Democracy for ALL”, despite sex, race, economic status, etc.
For the DNC to support a candidate that has little experience, questionable moral judgment (at best), and who perpetrates and has manipulated you and your allies to be selected as the party nominee running for President and leader of our country is very distressing. This is especially so, since you have a very strong and experienced candidate who was Elected by the people, until votes were inappropriately given to your selection. This is sending a signal to our youth and others that you can lie, cheat and steal and then be rewarded for it. These are not my values and not the values I want my grandchildren to have.
You have asked for UNITY. So, I am Uniting with the other over 17 million people who VOTED for the legitimate nominee of the Democratic Party by not supporting your illegitimate nominee. If the legitimate nominee, Hillary Clinton is not on the ballot in November, I will not vote for a Democrat.
Thank you.
Pat
Clark Co., Nevada
P.U.M.A. Democrat
Dr. Dean,
I am not supporting your selected democratic nominee BO. I cannot and will not stand in alignment with what he stands for. I am so ashamed of how Michigan and Florida voters were treated. This is not Democracy. I am no longer a Democrat and I feel great! For the first time in my life I am voting Republican and I owe this all to the Democratic Party and the MSM. I believe Hillary Clinton is the best choice and I will stand by my convictions. She has 18 million voters behind her and you can bet that this one will not fall in line!
Jenn Guerra
San Francisco County, CA
PUMA for Hillary!!
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am protesting the 2008 Democratic Primary process. I have been a Democrat for 30 years and having proudly voted for the Democratic nominee in all Presidential elections. This year I can not. I believe that the DNC had a winning candidate in Hillary Clinton. For the first time in 25 years my husband (lifetime Republican) and I were in agreement on who we would vote for to be our President. I don’t think that Barak Obama was even qualified to have the backing of the DNC as a primary candidate. Granted, after hearing him speak at the beginning of the primary season, I thought he was eloquent and that I might be happy with either candidate. But, I knew nothing about the man. After reading his books, listening to debates, checking voting records, checking background history, etc. It was clear that Senator Clinton was by far the most qualified to lead our Country. Did you not check his experience at leading anything? Was there never a clue that maybe his judgement was that of a teenager? Frankly, I wondered that of all the Democratic politicians, could we not find one other that had not been a drug user???
The DNC’s ridiculous resolution of FL and MI voters is disenfranchising. The DNC’s silence over Media bias was a disgrace. The DNC’s acceptance of sexist, personal attacks against a former first lady and leading Democratic Senator with a lifetime commitment to the principles of the party….Well that is unconscionable.
Hillary Clinton was a gift to the Democratic Party. I can not believe you threw that away.
Stacey, PUMA Democrat
Pima County
AZ
Howard Dean
I wanted you to know why im not voting Barack Hussein Obama ,ts because of the way he stole this election by having his people stealing the caucas and his rude supporters intemidating Hillarys voters !!
Im protesting the 2008 election because the Democrat party has throw us under the bus! The way you and others including your chosen one and his supporters have treated Sen. Clinton the only smart one for our country and the strongest candidate is unforgivable and we will not fall in line and forget!! We know you have hijacked this election and Obama just dosent have the right values and know how to run our Country. We feel he is a national security threat to our Country !!!!!!Mostly he dosent have the judgement it takes just look at his shady friends , mentors !!!
For the 1st time in over 25 years i will and all other 15 members of my family will vote for a Rep.
We are 18 million strong and we are not backing down unless there is fair treatment for Sen. Clinton and have a place on the ticket for her !
Teri
California
PUMA DEMOCRAT
To all pumas, please read post #274. Add great insights . I read all of you and I am proud, touched, impressed by the quality, intelligence of your letters. No wonder we support Hillary.
I am a proud Puma. I will donate to PUMA, One of my friend will contribute too. The blog is convincing me that we are a force to be reckoned with and I will be delighted to contribute.
My faith is being restored as I read all of you. And I thank you for that.Please again go and review the perspective of #274
A Puma
Dear Dr Dean
I have been with the Democratic party for nearly fourty years… I am very disapointed with your dictatorial performance as the head of the Party.
Originally from the Caribbean I am very aware of the politician’s crooked dealings and favorism when it comes to saveguard their interest .
What kind of message are you sending to the Kenyan American candidate who is sweet talking his way to the presidency using CHANGE as an hypnotic mantra to con people into falling gaga for him like a Guru.
According to rumors you had forbid BHO to have any political debate with Sen. Hillary, and the reason was that you did not want to expose your nominee’s lack of political sense to the public…
You have cause America to loose for now…the plaisure of listening to the voice of the most brilliant mind we ever known in politic.
Dr Dean why did you silenced the greatest politician woman of our era.
18 million of us are going to leave your party and we also hope that the Clinton would follow us, our patriotic values have been compromised by you…
I will boycott your Democratic Party and vote Republican in November 2008.
Fransoise
Keystone Heights Florida
Hello Murphy…. Could you add
Puma Democrat… next to my name please….Fr
Dear Mr. Dean
The supper delegates that supported Senator Obama giving him the numbers needed to claim the nomation should be stripped of any power. When two candidates required the delegates to reach the magic number two things should have been the decieding factor. The candiate with the most votes, and the stronger candidate. The decideing democrats took it upon themselves to use thier own bias view points and ignore the will of the people.
An article writen by Maureen Dowd on June 8th in the San Antonio Express titled ” So you think you’ve gotten rid of Hillary? ” comments that one of Hillary advisers name Barry claims the decideing democrates having had enough of the rapacious Clinton decided that they would rather loose with Obama then win with Hillary.
This is outrages, it was the responsiblity of the party to hear the will of the people. Nearly 18 million people voted for Senator Clinton and we were ingored by those that had enough of her. As a result I protest OBAMA selection. The process was unfair, bias and sexiest.
Until you restore the fundemental principlas of the Democratic party that has been torn apart by self serving democrats. In the words of Joe Lieberman, I will vote for my country not the party.
Lupe Montalvo
San Antonio, Texas
Dear Dr. Dean,
I supported your election as DNC Chair several years ago because I thought that you would make the party more ‘Democratic.’ Unfortunately, the party has now taken steps towards becoming undemocratic. While much of this was beyond your control, you choose to swim with the tide rather than to stand up for the ideals of the party. Too many of the party leaders, motivated by their own self-interest instead of the country’s interests, stood by and laughed when prominent media personalities hurled sexist insults at Senator Clinton. Too many of the party leaders bet that many Clinton supporters would stick with the party as you threw her under the bus to secure the votes of newly registered voters.
Well, guess what. Many of us are not going to remain silent and take the abuse. We are used to fighting. We have marched in the streets to protect abortion rights. We have fought in our workplaces to be treated as equals. And now we will fight by walking away from the undemocratic, women-hating party that the Democratic party has become. You may win the fall election without us, it is too early to tell. But in the future, it may even be this fall, the party will lose a key election and people will ask, why? No doubt, some of you, calling on your inner voices of self-interest and misogyny will blame those “Clinton women” referring to us as a group of people who were not quite thinking clearly. I suggest at that point, maybe all of you should look in the mirror and ask what you, yourselves have done.
You and many of your self-interested super delegates chose to throw your support behind an unqualified candidate for President. At that point, many people decided that they would not stay with a party that chose to become a shell of its former self.
Sincerely,
Erin, PUMA Democrat
Dane County
WI
I live in Pennsylvania, a state that only Hillary Clinton can win in November. I cannot vote for Barack Obama. I have very uneasy feelings towards him and people he associates with including his wife. Obama has not spoke to me during this whole process. I am a white, working class woman who DOES not cling to my religion because I am bitter.
Mr Dean:
I am no longer a member of the Democratic party after the hijacking of its’ core values by yourself and others in leadership roles which showed the world that the US is not really a democracy (even though we try to bomb others into believing we are).
Shameful, self-serving, and corrupt is all that remains to be said about the Democratic Party. Twenty years of voting democratic gone down the drain. Those down-ticket dems on the ballot this year will suffer, too.
There is no Unity.
There is no legitimacy to BHO.
There is no win for democracy in 2008.
But perhaps you all never cared about that anyway since you aren’t interested in the only candidate worthy of being the President, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. You just wanted money for the DNC.
Sarah Singh
NYC
Dear Dr. Dean,
You and your cohorts on the DNC have stated that you are building a New Democratic Party and that you will no longer need the voters who have previously made up your core constituencies. That means you will no longer need the likes of me for one or the likes of 17, 999,999 others of us who have voted to make Hillary Clinton our nominee for President of the United States. Not only have you stated that you do not want or need our votes in November, you have insured that you will not get those votes by your promotion of the unqualified and substantially less electable candidate.
The New Democratic Party as envisioned by you is not our Democratic Party.
Nancy
Onondaga New York
PumaDemocrat
Murphy can I repost with out my last name. I am number 334 LMSATX
Dr. Dean,
I am protesting the charade that the Democratic National Committee has tried to pass off as a national primary. I will use my vote to make sure your selected nominee loses. I am voting Country before party, I am voting for McCain in November.
In over 30 years I never dreamed I would be embarrassed or ashamed to say I was a Democrat. That has changed. The Democratic Party no longer represents middle-class people like me or our beliefs.
I am one of those 18 million voices you don’t want to hear. We will not be silenced and we will not fall in line.
Donna
Clark County, NV
Puma Democrat
Dear Dr. Dean,
I worked to secure the Democratic nomination for President for you in 2004. I have met and spoken to you at fund-raisers in Houston TX. I used to be a member of Democracy for America. But I cannot condone what you have done to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Through manipulation, you have willfully eliminated one of the most brilliant and dedicated women in the history of the Democratic Party from being the Presidential nominee in 2008. Are you angry that you were not the nominee in 2004 and are you projecting your feelings on Senator Clinton? I cannot figure out your actions. Hillary wins against McCain in most polls; Obama loses. Do you not understand mathematics? I cannot understand your actions. Are you on the take for monetary remunerations? Have you been black-mailed? What is the justification for promoting a junior, marginally qualified candidate for the nominee? Do you think new young Democrats are going to fill the coffers of the DNC? I am honestly perplexed. However, let me assure you of some things. I believe that your association with Democracy for America (DFA), now headed up by your brother, and it’s blatant support for Obama, implicates you as a shill for Obama and is a conflict of interest with your position as head of the DNC. Another thing I can assure you is that I will not support Obama in any way and I will not vote for him. How a Captain can sink his own ship requires some explanation. The Democratic Party is fractured and you are skippering the sinking ship. Why?
Linda
Harris County
TX
PUMA Democrat
Dr. Dean
I am a proud veteran of Desert Storm/Desert Shield. I joined the Navy at 18 to serve my country, willing to fight and if needed die for the rights I hold dear. Now I find myself ready to fight for my country again, but this time the threat is not from a foreign power. The threat is from within. You and your blatantly biased co-conspirators have willfully and maliciously forced Senator Obama on the Democratic party knowing he is unfit to hold any office let alone the White House. You flagrantly violated the rules of our Party to do it by assigning votes from uncommitted to Barack Obama. That is in direct violation of the rules, and those of us who took the time to read them know it. Obama supporters and volunteers have lied, misdirected, insulted and threatened those who do not follow them, and you have said nothing. Even when an Obama supporter edited a clip from Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign impugning those in the clip as racists. No one from the Obama campaign or the DLC stood up and said it was wrong. A blatant lie claiming Hillary Clinton’s pastor was a convicted child molester was left on the Obama campaigns official website for 3 weeks after it was proven to be a lie. They only took it down after other websites began reporting on their knowing spreading the lie. The sexism, and race baiting by the Obama campaign has been completely unconscionable, and I will not have our party stolen by people of so low moral character. I shall vote against Barack Obama as well as actively campaign against those in the DNC who forced this corrupt Chicago politician whith no history but 20 years of corrupt, racist and radical ties upon us!
Tim
Madison County
Indiana
Murphy Dr.Lynette Long is a writer and would be a asset to us as a polition writer as well. She has written letters and columns on this rigged race against Hillary. She sent me two more and her phone number. I hope you will contact her. These are the two latest letters i got from her and her phone number.
THE CAUCUS FACTOR
On March 4, 2008, Texas held its Democratic Primary, affectionately called the Texas-Two Step. After the polls closed at 7 pm, primary voters could participate in a caucus. Sixty-five percent of the pledged delegates were awarded based on the primary results and the other 35% based on the caucus results. According to CNN, 2,867,454 votes were cast in the primary - 51% (1,458,814) for Senator Hillary Clinton and 47% (1,358,785) for Senator Barack Obama, and a smattering of votes (49,855) for John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden, and Chris Dodd combined. In the Texas caucus 42,538 votes were reported. Obama got 56% (23,918) and Clinton got 44% (18,620) of these votes. Caucus voters were required to have voted in their precinct. Consequently, caucus voters were a statistical subset of primary voters, but they did not vote the same way.
Comparing the Texas primary to the Texas caucus has some unique challenges. During the primary other candidates besides Clinton and Obama were on the ballot. To equalize the percentages, the ballots cast for Edwards, Richardson, Biden, and Dodd were eliminated and Clinton’s and Obama’s percentages recomputed assuming the eliminated voters would split their votes in the same proportion as the rest of the electorate. The recomputed percentages are Clinton 52% and Obama 48%.
Clinton’s adjusted percentage of 52% of the primary vote is 8% points higher than her 44% in the caucus vote. Clinton moved from a four point win to a twelve point loss, a sixteen point shift. Obama gained these eight percentage points moving from 48% in the primary to 56% in the caucuses. This statistically significant sixteen point difference is “the caucus factor,” a major factor in the Democratic presidential primary. The existence of a caucus factor poses three important questions. What accounts for the dramatic difference between the two results? Was the “caucus factor” present in the other caucus states? What do these results imply regarding the validity of other caucus results?
No one doubts the accuracy of the almost three million Texas voters who selected Hillary Clinton as their choice for the Democratic nominee— but then why wouldn’t the caucus voters, a sample of the primary voters, make the same selection. The simplest explanation is that caucus voters are a sample of primary voters but not a random sample of primary voters. Caucuses are held in the evening and take several hours. Senator Clintons core voting groups, (senior citizens, shift workers, women, and women with children) are less likely to attend caucuses. Senior citizens are less likely to go out at night, have difficulty driving in the dark, and go to bed earlier. Mothers with young children are too busy in the evenings to spend several hours at a caucus. And some people don’t go to caucuses because of the public nature of the declaration. Voting is a private event, only you and God know who you voted for. At a caucus a voter must publically declare for their candidate and resist influencing by the opponents supporters.
Another factor that contributed to the Texas caucus factor was the less regulated nature of the caucuses. Participants in the Texas caucus complained about the lack of validation of identity, undo influencing, and individuals signing several names on the caucus sheets. How much these violations occurred and how much these violations impacted the results and in which direction is impossible to determine.
Finally, Democratic insiders will say that success at a caucus depends on organization. Did the Obama Campaign just out organize the Clinton campaign which contributed to their success in the Texas Caucus?
On February 9, Washington State caucused to determine the distribution of the pledged delegates. Obama won 21,629 to 9,992 votes or 68% to 31% and received 53 of the 78 pledged delegates. Ten days later Washington State had a primary election in which no delegates were awarded yet 669,856 people chose to vote in this beauty contest. Obama won this contest by 51% (354,112 votes) to 46% (315,744 votes). How could Obama win by 37 points in a caucus and only 5 points in the primary, a 32-point difference? The caucus factor is at work again. Which result accurately reflects the will of the voters? Over twenty times the number of people participated in primary, should we trust the masses or the sanctioned election?
Further proof of the caucus factor can be shown by contrasting the difference between the results of the caucuses and the primaries collectively. Fourteen states had caucuses — Senator Obama won thirteen of these caucuses. The probability of that occurring in hotly contested race where popular vote is a statistical tie, is a statistical impossibility if the caucuses were a true representation of the voters. In the states where primary elections were held, Senator Clinton has won 19 primaries and Senator Obama has won 17 primaries, reflecting the close nature of the Democratic Primary race.
The difference between the margin of victory during caucuses and primaries again illustrates the inaccurate nature of the caucuses. The average point spread in the 13 caucuses Obama won is 32 points. The average of the point spread in the 17 primaries Obama won, is 21 points. This eleven point difference is the caucus factor.
The results in Texas, Washington, the number of caucuses won by Obama, and difference between the average margin of victory in the caucuses and primaries, all point to the existence of the caucus factor. The variability of the results of the caucus returns also points to the unreliability of the caucus results. Senator Clinton won two primaries in demographically similar states, Ohio and Pennsylvania, by the same ten point margin. Yet when caucus results in similar states are compared, the disparity of the results is profound. Obama won Idaho by 62 points and the demographically similar Wyoming by 23 points. If the caucus results were reliable, the results of these two similar states would not be so disparate.
Voters who participated in the caucuses had more influence in the election than voters in primaries. In California, 4,677,788 votes were cast and 363 delegates were awarded. In New York, 232 delegates were pledged in a primary that had 1,748,833 votes cast. In Alaska a total of 405 persons “caucused” for 13 pledged delegates. A person who participated in the Alaska Caucus had 242 times more influence in the Democratic Primary than a voter in the New York primary and 415 times more influence than a voter in the California primary. With so few voters accounting for delegate selection in caucus states, results and delegate totals can be easily influenced and manipulated.
The caucus factor is a real statistical event which inflated Obama’s lead over Clinton and misrepresented the will of the people. If all the caucus states had primaries, Obama’s margin of victory in those caucus states would have been smaller and most likely Clinton would have won some of the caucus states. The Democratic Primary was extremely close and questions should be raised regarding the validity and reliability of the caucus results. Unfortunately, a win in a caucus state was given the same weight as a win in a state with a primary election, allowing Obama supporters to claim, “He’s won more states,” even though Clinton won more primaries. Even more disturbing is the fact that of the 14 Caucus States, eight are Dark Red states. The Democrats have let the Red States like Wyoming, Nebraska, Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, North Dakota, Colorado and Nevada select their Democratic Nominee. The will result in certain disaster in the fall.
Lynette Long
Bethesda, MD
301-325-6976
Dr. Lynette Long is a licensed psychologist practicing in Bethesda, Maryland. She is the author of twenty books including fourteen math books. Dr. Long has appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs and was the host of One on One with Dr. Lynette Long. She recently published Op-Ed’s in both USA Today and the Baltimore Sun about the current election cycle.
next Letter
An Open Letter to President Bill Clinton
People say you have a temper, but from where I stand you have been incredibly patient. You have said little compared to the indignities you, as a former President, a citizen, a husband and a father have suffered over the course of this momentous campaign.
You have watched your legacy tarnished. You watched an America you left at peace, be at war. You have watched an America you left with a budget surplus, become the greatest debtor in history. You have watched an economy that was strong, plunge into a recession. You have had the blame for all these ills and others placed at your feet. But you stayed silent.
You have watched your political allies, desert you. Bill Richardson, your Secretary of Energy, the current Governor of New Mexico, came out in support of Obama. When questioned how he could defy his own edit, that superdelegates should vote with their constituency Richardson responded, “She only won by a small margin.” Janet Napolitano, the Governor of Arizona, whose career you propelled forward by helping her become Attorney General of Arizona, is another Obama supporter. David Wilhelm, your campaign chair in 1992, and who became head of the DNC with your support also showed no loyality. There are the countless others, who you have advised, campaigned for, promoted, and raised money for, who have turned their back on you. But you stayed silent.
You have been deserted by the African Community you stood loyally beside. You were called the first black president by Toni Morrison, and have arguably done more for the African American community than any President since Abraham Lincoln. You’ve been publically labeled a racist even though your most staunch critics say there is not a more racially blind person in America. And you have watched the African American community, vote as a bloc for Obama even though you and your wife have spent your entire lives fighting for racial justice. But you stayed silent.
You have watched your wife called a bitch, Hitlery, Billary, and treated as the devil incarnate. You watched people wear t-shirts that read, “Iron My Shirt” or “Bro’s before Ho’s.” You’ve watched pundits and self-proscribed journalists, spin data to intentionally undermine your wife’s campaign. You have watched your wife vilified, mocked, dissected and eviscerated on national television. And although you are not without your sins, no man wants to stand silently by as others abuse his wife and the mother of his children. But until now, you’ve stayed silent.
You have been accused of pimping out your daughter, because you allowed her to campaign on her mother’s behalf, a mother she is justifiably proud of. In addition, you have watched your daughter, your only progeny, asked questions about your indiscretions, questions no young woman should be asked about her father, under any circumstance let alone on national television. And you’ve heard pundits say, since she’s a surrogate, she’s fair game.
I, for one, would have told them all to go to hell. I would have told them look at their own cynicism rather than my mistakes. I would have told them to stay away from my daughter, or step outside and go toe-to-toe with me. I would have told them only cowards throw stones from afar. Not one was man or woman enough to call your wife names to her face or challenge her to a debate. I would have told the white men of the Democratic Party, that were so quick to push her out of the race, to meet me out back behind the woodshed, where one cowardly pundit wanted to take your wife. But you have more patience than I. I lack the patience of a saint.
I hope through all of this you have learned these painful lessons- that sexism is real and something every woman in America confronts daily, that loyalty is hard to find except in a dog, that power corrupts the incorruptible, that gratitude has no memory, and that envy will tempt a student to defeat his/her mentor. Also remember that the woman you married is brilliant, gracious and strong. She can take a punch and shed a tear. She is “woman” at her best. Hillary is the best candidate for President this nation has ever known. Her supporters will stand behind her in whatever journey she chooses to take. She has launched a new wave of feminism and given all women new hope for equality. And finally, whatever your shortcomings, feel proud that you have raised a beautiful daughter who has conducted herself even in the most difficult of circumstances with poise and grace. And she and her children, and her children’s children, will carry you and your wife’s legacy, into the future. What more could any president want? What more could any parent want?
Lynette Long
Bethesda, MD
301-325-6976
Please Murphy we can sure use her.
I will write her back and see what I can do.But she would be great for us.Sleep tight Murphy:)
Dear Dr. Dean:
Please let me introduce myself in terms you can understand per your presumptuous nominee. I am a typical bitter old woman clinging to principles that I foolishly thought had always been those of the Democratic Party for whom I have (now I feel foolishly) given my time, money and loyalty for more than 30 years. I am now protesting the 2008 Presidential Election as it is apparent that the Democratic Party has abandoned all democratic and formerly Democratic principles of respecting voters.
Every single time Barack Obama, his rude supporters, the media, and then finally the DNC have slapped Senator Clinton, many of her voters have felt it. I am one of them and I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all. The DNC did nothing but encourage the attacks on Senator Clinton and former President Bill Clinton as your silence became complicity in the effort. You yourself were encouraging the superdelegates to come out at the same time you knew that Senator Obama’s campaign was either bribing or blackmailing them or both. And then came the absolute final straw for me: The appalling performance of the DNC Rules Committee on public display (except for the 3 hour lunch break where the dirtier business I assume took place). The committee actually tried to take the totally ridiculous position (which, by the way, no adult thinking person bought) that it must consider the poor people who didn’t take the time to vote and so MIGHT HAVE voted for Senator Obama who deliberately removed his name from the ballot so as to pander to Iowa? Your efforts to consider non-voters resulted in stealing for Senator Obama delegates representing ACTUAL voters who did take their time to cast their sacred votes for Senator Clinton. Why should Senator Clinton’s voters pay for Senator Obama’s campaign ploy? Well, you apparently have your reasons to have selected your presumptive candidate rather than relying upon Democratic voters in a Democratic primary election to do so. The fact that your arbitrary rules caused the initial problem (aided and abetted by Ms. Brazile’s insistence upon 100% rather than 50% penalty so that it could be reduced at the appropriate time) and that Senator Obama’s campaign did everything possible to prevent a revote was not lost on people like me. We know the truth and truth is another principle upon which the DNC has turned its back. Eighteen million voters have cast a vote for the first woman in American history to win ANY presidential primary and your apparent pact with your selected nominee dishonors every single one of them. I am only one of those 18 million, but I am one who will not shake the hand that has administered the last slap. I must infer from Ms. Brazile’s public comments that The New Democratic Party, consisting of African Americans, youthful voters (if there isn’t an exam, a concert or a good movie on election day), and the Blogger Boyz, neither needs nor wants my vote. So be it.
Oh, and speaking of principles, please remind the DNC Rules Committee, and particularly Co-Chairman James Roosevelt, Jr., that “Rules are not necessarily sacred, principles are.” – FDR. And that is why I am protesting the 2008 Presidential Election, Dr. Dean. That, and this: “No self respecting woman should wish or work for the success of a party that ignores her.” – Susan B. Anthony, 1872. Yeah, it’s about principles and I’m clinging to them, Sweetie.
Sincerely,
Adele
Essex County, New Jersey
Puma Democrat
Dear Dr. Dean,
For over 30 years I have voted for Democrats, I have knocked on doors and made phone calls for Democrats, and I have sent money to Democrats. No more. How did you fail to get the message of Florida 2000? It was simple — count all the votes, and the person with the most wins. Hillary Clinton got the most votes, she should be our nominee. It really is that simple.
The main reason I am leaving the party, though, is even simpler than that. The DNC stole votes and gave them to Barack Obama. The votes of 600,000 Michigan voters were cast, and were certified by the Michigan Secretary of State. Those votes awarded delegates to Hillary Clinton, other delegates to uncommitted, and none to Barack Obama. Yet, the DNC recast and recounted those votes, giving many to Senator Obama, and he accepted them.
Best of luck with a vote stealer as your standard bearer in November against a man, who no matter what else you think of him, has virtually trademarked the word “honor.” I won’t be voting for the vote stealer, I assure you.
Kyle
Stillwater County, MT
PUMA Democrat
You know, I read an article that Obama has ensured Howard Dean sty as Chairman of the DNC. Why am I not surprised, Sounds like a sweet deal to me.
Considering that in 2004 Obama himself stated He would not run for POTUS in 2008 because he lacked the experience and qualifictions for the office,and could never aqquire those qualifications in such a short amont of time, makes me wonder what he did for 2 years to suddenly become so qualified.
My opinion is he was “Selected” by certain members of the DNC .. Considering the “Historical” element of his campaign he would have the best (And only) chance to uproot and shake up the loyal base in order to defeat Hillary, who was considred and almost garanteed win for the position. These Men I think planned for those 2 years how best to keep a Woman(mainly Hillary) out of the WhiteHouse. Even if it meant putting an unqualified person on the ticket.
Im sure that deals have been struck (in addition to “Dean”) to make sure they keep him in line.
Most insulting of all is the implication that we are brainless sheep who will simply fall into line and transfer our loyalty to him because he has a (D) by his name.
Im pleased to Join this group of independant, and Free “Antelope”..
Let the mindless Sheep follow behind Obama, Hell, he is one himself in my opinion. I have no intention of joining the herd.
Im an Antelope, and a Puma.
Dear Dr. Dean,
We had two amazing candidates this year. Both of them had virtually the same policies. Unprecedented number of people came out to vote for Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama in every primary and caucus. However, Sen. Clinton received more votes than Sen. Obama, BUT Sen. Obama received more delegates than Sen. Clinton.
I am protesting this election because you did everything you, Speaker Pelosi, Congressman Reid and other leaders of the Democratic Party possibly could to make sure that Sen. Obama was the nominee.
Shortly after the Super Tuesday in February you said in one of your interviews that you were afraid that if Sen. Obama will not get the nomination then we will loose African-American votes, and if Sen. Clinton doesn’t get the nomination, the Democratic Party will loose female voters.
You went further to say that we would be able to get the nominee without having to count Florida and Michigan votes and EVEN CANCELLED HOTEL REGISTRATION FOR DELEGATES FROM FLORIDA.
Later on you started encouraging Sen. Clinton to drop out of the race. When that didn’t work you SET A DEADLINE for Super Delegates to declare whom they will support. According to the rules of the Democratic Party Super Delegates are voting at the convention. You FORCED Super Delegates to vote early.
After Sen. Clinton won states, the next day Super Delegates came out and supported Sen. Obama. It was crystal clear that you and other Super Delegates were afraid that Sen. Obama will not get the nomination.
Just before the last primaries Speaker Pelosi said that if the nomination is not settled after Montana and South Dakota have voted, then SHE WILL STEP IN and settle the fight.
I am voting for Sen. McCain this year because I feel that you used YOUR powers to take away the nomination from Sen. Clinton and give it to Sen. Obama who will loose in November to Sen. McCain.
As an immigrant from former USSR I was always very excited that voting here will make a difference in who will be the President–my leader. Back in USSR there was only one candidate on the ballot and the elections were only held when the former leader had to be replaced by the new leader because he was sick or some how unable to rule the country.
I came here to explore different opportunities and to find freedom to share my opinions with other people without being afraid that I would be in jail for saying something that I didn’t like about the Government.
We are living in a democratic country and this year, you have shown that our Presidential candidate is Sen. Obama ignoring what we as voters want. It is outrageous. You decided for us because you were afraid that the Democratic Party will loose African-American voters.
During the Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting Mrs. Donna Brazile and other members of the panel decided that votes from both states should be counted as 1/2 vote each, but then one week later, on Saturday June 7, 2008 Mrs. Brazile said on CNN shortly before Sen. Clinton addressed us that now when Sen. Obama is the nominee you will reinstate FULL VOTE to all of the delegates from both states. THIS IS VERY UNDEMOCRATIC, UNFAIR, AND UNACCEPTABLE!!! There are 18,000,000 of us, and if you will not take back your actions and give the nomination fairly to Sen. Clinton–the candidate who we, the people of this great nation CHOSE, then you will loose to Sen. McCain in November. I AM 1 OF THE 18,000,000 who will vote for Sen. McCain, but my family members and many friends WILL NOT vote for Sen. Obama because of your actions. According to the polls at least 30% of us will vote for Sen. McCain. Therefore you will loose 5,400,000 votes or even more. Elections have to be fair and should be about PEOPLE’S choice, not what you, the party leaders have decided.
Good luck, and I hope that between now and convention in Denver you will pick our ELECTED leader Sen. Clinton
Best regards,
Anonymous
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am very unhappy about the outcome of the recent Democratic Primary season. I have been a strong Clinton supporter since the ’90’s. I believe Bill Clinton is the best Democratic President of my lifetime.
I participated in a caucus and believe the entire caucus process is un-democratic.
I truly believe Hillary Clinton is the strongest General Election candidate. I am angered and bitter regarding the biased sexist treatment she received from the media, voters and from the opposing candidate (ex. her claws are out, iron my shirt, bros before hoes, sweetie, etc.) I believe this treatment was at best passively accepted by the Democratic Party.
I understand that the new strategy Senator Obama is utilizing - according to his campaign staff, Roland Martin and Donna Brazille - does not necessitate “Reagan/Clinton Democrats to vote with the Democratic Party.
That is good after the unconscionable treatment of Mrs. Clinton in this election process. I for one will cast my vote for Senator McCain in the General Election if Mrs. Clinton is not on the ballot as a Presidential candidate.
I feel 18 million votes makes Mrs. Clinton the people’s choice which in my opinion is purpose of democracy - to reflect the will of the people.
I am very disappointed that the Democratic Party did not choose the stronger candidate and reflect the will of the people when endorsing their General Election candidate.
I do hope you choose to reorganize for 2012 ridding the process of caucuses and redistribute delegates in an equitable fashion allowing you to choose the best candidate so that you may have a chance to win in the future.
Sincerely,
Susan Hendrix , PUMA Democrat
Bourbon County
Kansas
The responsibility of choosing a political Party was my own from the time I turned 18. The decision to be Democrat was mainly based on the importance the Party placed on people and hard work.
Funny those are two top reasons I also supported Hillary Clinton in the Primary. (I was originally for Barrack - until I researched the experience and character of each candidate) Hillary Clinton understood what struggles the people were facing, knew her Party in the White House could re-energize the economy, and she worked hard to get every vote, never taking one for granted. Her rallies were issue thick and Democrat strong, like they used to be. Everyone walked away being a more involved, more informed voter. Not one vote was bought; all votes were earned.
The more rules you make, the more you change them, the easier it is to cheat. That is exactly what the leaders of the Party did, they cheated a candidate of the highest caliber to place the less-qualified candidate they desire to have. You excluded the people of the Party. You excluded the rural vote COMPLETELY, denied the elderly, spit on the middle class, and turned your back on those who had been faithful to you through the years. Eight of those years were with Bill Clinton. You may depend on the new voters, and not need us anymore and although that hurts … hey it’s politics- we’ll get over it. It isn’t what you do to us , it’s what you do to the Party. You have weakened the Party and aim to present the least of all candidates a title not deserved. When you remove the people; you lose the heartbeat. Mr. Dean you killed your own campaign, now you strive to kill your own Party. I am looking in to changing my Party affiliation. Whether and when I do it, will be determined by what you do over the next few months.
- a Concerned Life-long Democrat in PA-
Dear Mr.Dean,
I’m protesting the 2008 elections because my own Democratic party is behaving worst than the Republican party of 2000. I live in Florida, and my vote was not counted then-that hurt- but it hurts sooooo much more now, because it’s my own party taking away my rights.
We fought for 589 votes then, screamed and shouted that the popular vote should determine who our president is yet, the DNC seems to have forgotten our struggles.
The DNC is now too willing to break the rules, not count votes, pressure superdelegates into making a rush decision, try to kick Hillary out before the process we have in place to select a nominee has run it’s course, and soooooooooooo much more all for the joy of picking the weaker, less experience, less knowledgable, less likely to win (but let’s not forget he is more arrogant) nominee.
So, I thank you because if not for all your bad planning, and bad decision making I would had never known the joy of voting Republican this November, because believe me it will be the only thing that brings me joy this election.
Sofia, Puma Democrat
Dade County
FL
Dear Dr. Dean,
The following is a copy of a letter already sent by me to the DNC in Washington.
“Dear Governor Dean,
As a registered Independent in Massachusetts who has voted Democrat all these many years, I will not be voting for the nominee chosen by the DNC. Why? There are many reasons, but mostly because I feel the process has been a sham. I will not vote for Senator Kerry or the person Senator Kennedy endorses as his replacement, either. Massachusetts was 56% for Hillary Clinton, but no one heard. If Democrats don’t hear us, then what’s the point.
John McCain will get my vote in November.”
While I might soften on the McCain vote and go Green, I’ll never go BHO. This campaign has been so horrid to women that I don’t know if the memory of it will ever leave me.
Marjorie
Bristol, MA
Puma Democrat
Dear Mr Dean
I have been voting Dem since Jimmy Carter in 1976. I have held my nose and voted for some poor quality candidates over the years, but always thought they were still superior to the Republican alternative. Not this year. I have left the Democratic Party.
Perhaps the Democratic Party has long been so incredibly corrupt, and I just never saw it before this year when it became so obvious. The Party had to rig the whole primary nomination process, lie, cheat and steal votes, bribe and threaten, in order to gift the nomination to Senator Obama. You all stood by silently while a high-profile US DEMOCRAT Senator and former First Lady was villified by hate-speech and branded a racist.
I cannot vote for a Party which stooped to such low-blows in order to rig a candidacy for someone so poorly qualified. I cannot vote for Obama, because:
. Obama cynically played the race-card, not once but several times;
. Obama’s political record, (thin as it is), is too close to right-wing for my taste, especially on economics, and health care;
. Obama did not win the nomination fairly, and what happened with Michigan and Florida was the final straw of final straws;
. Obama scares me more than Bush ever did.
Julie
former Democrat-(now Independent)-Abroad.
last registered in Bangor, Maine.
Comments are back up. Please wait a few minutes for your comment to appear.
POd vet — Perfect letter.
Everyone, the letters are really moving and strong. They speak to our good faith and determination.
Let’s reach our goal of 1,000 letters before noon today!
Newcomers — come on in! Please add your voice.
Dear Dr. Dean:
I am protesting the 2008 Democratic Primary and Election
With great sadness I must remove my support from the democratic party.
I was with great joy and pride that we had 2 marvelous candidates to run and support our party. Now that the season has ended, as I watched in horror as Senator Clinton was continually deserted by the party leaders and Super Delegates. The media was absolutely no help to her. For the most part they championed her every falter and made it the news of the day while allowing Obama to float on without any negativity towards him.
The reason for not seating the delegates from Michigan and Florida was only to support Obama. I cannot support this candidate for the Democrat Party.
If he was to offer Senator Clinton the Vice Presidency, I will have a hard time supporting the ticket still. Though with her on the ticket I may be able to.
*Was this not the party who in 2000 said, “All votes must count. Every single one of them.” Be it hanging chad, dimpled chad and oh yes, pregnant chads! I guess these words and the fight that ensued are only for a chosen few. *
Bob
South Carolina
Puma Democrat
my husband is giving me so much grief-he says I am a poor loser-he supports BO and said that he had the lead in elected delegates-and we are arrogant to thing that the SG’s would over turn that..what do I say to him?
I am so torn about McCain–he is against everything Hill stands for-and he is anti women and pro war—yikes!!!
Dr. Dean,
I was raised to have pride in my Country and respect for myself and others by a loyal Democratic family.
What you have overseen and contibuted to in this “election process” is a total disgrace to the values in which I believe ,to say nothing of the blatant disregard for the laws of this land.
And they say we are not fighting the enemy on our own soil!
Would your Mother be proud of you!!
Beverly
Baltimore County, Maryland
PUMA Member
the letter is great!!! only one flaw–even if Michigan and FL. were seated fully—Hillary would still be behind in delegates—looking for feedback!!!! Need to convince my husband why we are not sore losers!
Here’s a reason to protest the 2008 election:
In using sexist belittling, thin accusations of racism parsed from ambiguous Clinton statements and other divisive, gender-and-race themed attacks on Clinton, the Obama camp has demonstrated a remarkable inconsistency with the platform of unity, racial transcendence and anti-partisanship of Barack Obama. Obama’s campaign in the primary against a fellow Democrat belies the political theme of his platform and he has no credibility on the “new politics” issue. As a newly hatched and unproven politician, he has undermined himself already. This is not leadership to follow.
AsperGirl, great letter. Will you repost it as a letter to Howard Dean and signed with your first name, county and state, and write Puma Democrat underneath?
The letters are great! Keep them coming.
Here’s another reason to protest the 2008 election:
He’s channeling Carter now. Nuff said.
Dear Dr. Dean,
I’m protesting the 2008 election and here’s why:
In using sexist belittling, thin accusations of racism parsed from ambiguous Clinton statements and other divisive, gender-and-race themed attacks on Clinton, the Obama camp has demonstrated a remarkable inconsistency with the platform of unity, racial transcendence and anti-partisanship of Barack Obama. Obama’s campaign in the primary against a fellow Democrat belies the political theme of his platform and he has no credibility on the “new politics” issue. As a newly hatched and unproven politician, he has undermined himself already. This is not leadership I want to follow.
Aspergirl — thanks.
Dear Dr. Dean,
I CANNOT and WILL NOT support BHO, who was SELECTED not ELECTED in November. Senator Clinton, who WON the popular vote and was cheated out of her delagates from FLORIDA and MICHIGAN.
So many from the party, including the super delegates have NOT listened to the WILL OF THE PEOPLE and chose to support BHO. This is NOT DEMOCRACY!
Unless SENATOR CLINTON is the Democratic Nominee for President (NOT VP but Presidential Nominee) I will proudly cast my vote for SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN in November. NObama for me.
1 of 18 Million,
Cindy
Naples, FL
Puma Democrat
Send links to this page to your friends. Ask them to write a letter here.
The message of our movement really is coalescing today — our priority is to let the DNC know that we are withdrawing our support from the DNC leadership and the reasons why.
It is a powerful message and it will be heard. Please keep the letters coming.
Dr. Dean
I’m one of the 18 million who voted for Hillary Clinton because I believe she has the experience, intelligence and strength to lead our country in these most difficult times. I am not one of those who are easily swayed by a few catchy phrases. If she had lost the nomination fairly, I would not be writing this message, but it has become evident to me while watching this primary unfold that she was wrongfully defeated by the powers that be in the Democratic party and by the disgustingly biased media.
It seems like a no-brainer that the most important job in America should go to the one who has the most experience, but the DNC insists on shoving down our throats a community organizer most of whose term in the senate has been spent running for president. This indicates to me that the Democratic party is not democratic at all; this primary has made a mockery out of the concept of democracy. It also indicates to me that its leaders lack a great deal of judgment. For these reasons, I am now going to vote for John McCain in November, and will do everything I can to get others who voted for Hillary to vote for John McCain, who at least has the integrity of a real Hero, and the experience to lead.
(Susan),
Windsor Cty, Vermont
PUMA Democrat
Dr. Dean,
I am writing to let you know that I am protesting the 2008 primary election. Senator Hillary Clinton won and you stole her nomination. It is unforgivable that the RBC thinks they have the right to decide who wins instead of listening to the American peoples’ voices.
I will, in every way and by every means possible, protest the shameful treatment of Senator Clinton by the media and the DNC. The DNC seems to have its own agenda (PELOSI and BRAZILE in particular). So I will now vote against everyone who orchestrated the recent reprehensible events and my financial contributions will go to those who oppose them on the ballet…especially against the Superdelegates who went against the votes of the people and instead chose to further their own ambitions.
And the way the media and the DNC has insinuated that President Bill Clinton is a senile old man with a bad temper is ridiculous!
I will continue to fight for the nomination of Senator Clinton! One of the 18 million for Hillary!
Pat
Oklahoma County, OK
Puma member for Hillary
Dear Dr. Dean,
Well you have succeeded in dividing the party. You will never get me to vote for someone that you chose. I am one of the 18 million who think Senator Clinton is by far the best canidate. I am baffled and amazed that the DNC would select a canidate who is bound to fail over a canidate who is a sure winner. I am now an independent because of you Dr. Dean after 20 years as a democrat. John McCain is not my first choice but at least I know he is a hero and that he truly loves America. I can’t say the same for Mr. Obama. I have been deeply wounded by the DNC. I can’t imagine how Senator Clinton must feel. Shame on you.
Teresa L.
Blackwood, NJ
Puma Democrat
Dear Dr. Dean
I am one of the 18 million voters Donna Brazille stated you don’t need…I cannot support a party or candidate that expresses, and condones, sexism,misogyny,and race biating:voter disenfranchisement;vote stealing and personal and professional associations with racists,terrorists, and thugs. I ,too, have walked away from you and your “selected” candidate. I will not return in November. I will vote a straight Republican ticket this year for the first time in my life.
Pam
AlbemarleCounty, Virginia
PUMA Member
I will NOT VOTE for Obama. Am now an INDEPENDENT because of the way the DNC has treated Hillary:
· Punished Mich and Fla, but not the other states that jumped the gun .
· Pressured Superdelegates to vote prematurely
· Did not defend her against media trashing (but joined in)
· Mishandled just about everything connected to this compaign
Dr Dean,
Seen historically, both major parties have a nasty habit of making “Back Room Deals”. It would be very pleasant to be able to deny it, or to say that the Democratic
Party was above that sort of thing, but the fact that Samuel J Tilden (DNY) didn’t become President, or that at an earlier date Abraham Lincoln (RIll) did, would prove that wrong. The Democratic Party also has a terrible record of choosing the least electable candidate by said deals. It is, and always has been, more important to the Democratic Party to secure the Congress than the White House, this is after all why
you, Dr Dean, Ms Pelosi, Ms Brazille and others loathe William Jefferson Clinton. It doesn’t matter that for all his many faults President Clinton was the most loved
President since FDR, and in the World outside the USA, probably the most genuinely popular and respected President the USA has had since WWII. (Be honest, JFK was nothing but hype and had every fault Clinton had in greater measure, plus several Clinton didn’t have. Outside the USA this is widely known and publicized.) No, to the DNC William Jefferson Clinton is the man who cost the Democratic Party control of Congress and nothing more. In November the Democratic Party should gain a solid grip on the Congress, and who is sitting in the Oval Office isn’t significant from your perspective. You believe you can control whoever becomes POTUS, if you have enough seats in Congress. If John McCain is sitting at that desk I agree with you, if Mitt Romney was I’d have more doubts, but if Barack Hussein Obama is you are wrong, horribly wrong. The Republicans couldn’t control Bush and you couldn’t control him. Senator Clinton would probably dismantle the apparatus of
oppression “President” Bush put in place, Senator Obama would use it.
Oddly enough, it does matter to “We the People” who sits in the Oval Office, actually it matters a lot, not only who it is but how they got there. Why should people who opposed the Electoral corruption of 2000 accept an equally corrupt decision by the DNC in 2008? The Internet, Senator Obama’s, and your, greatest
advantage is also the downfall of this scheme of yours because it means that it is easy to see how wrong this decision of the DNC is. It is also easy to see exactly
how antiquated and subject to manipulation the Caucus System is. It should be abolished, consigned to the garbage bin of history along with public hanging,
Indentured Servitude (and try looking up the history of that noble institution, it wasn’t only African-Americans who suffered!) and Prohibition.
Senator Obama wrote in “Dreams from My Father”:
“I ceased to advertise my mother’s race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites,”
and that he would:
“never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn’t speak to my own. It was into my father’s image, the black man, son of Africa, that I’d packed all the
attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.”
and:
“certain whites could be excluded from the general category of our distrust.”
Aside from the fact that idolizing a serial polygamist alcoholic with an unenviable police record displays terrible judgment (I am referring to Barack Hussein Obama, Snr) such sentiments are Racist, unreasonable and examples of batch-bigotry and thus utter disqualifications for the position of POTUS. One might also ask why anyone would idolize the father who abandoned them and why someone with such a strong attachment to Africa isn’t trying to become President of Kenya rather than of the USA. There are many Naturalized Americans who show greater belief in, and
understanding of, the USA than Senator Obama and yet they are excluded from the Office of President, simply by virtue of an accident of birth and an arbitrary
decision by those who Drafted the Constitution. Governor Schwarzenegger is a Republican, but I would sooner, a thousand times, see him in the Oval Office than Senator Obama. At least he believes in America and in Americans, regardless of ethnicity or creed.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has her faults, but she would not only be a much better candidate and President, she secured the votes of more actual members of the Democratic Party in the Primaries. You have no excuse for your decision and I have no need to give one for mine.
G.
Onondaga County, NY
Puma PAC (former) Democrat
I will NOT VOTE for Obama. Am now an INDEPENDENT because of the way the DNC has treated Hillary:
1) Punished Mich and Fla, but not the other states that jumped the gun 2)Pressured Superdelegates to vote prematurely 3) Did not defend her against media trashing (but joined in) 4) Took delegates away from Hillary 5) Treated voters as “half People” 6) Allowed Obama to campaign in states where he said he wouldn’t (Fla) 7) Has done nothing about the illegal voting (IND) 8)Mishandled just about everything connected to this compaign (incompetents)
I am a woman first, an American second, and only then does party affiliation come into play. As a woman, I cannot vote for Sen. Obama because to do so would be to sanction the vile sexism from his camp, from the DNC itself and from the media. And yes, Sen. Obama’s camp actively participated in the sexism (”when she’s feeling down,” “the claws come out” and “if you can’t run your own house, you can’t run the white house”) as well as the DNC (Rep. Cohen (D-TN) “Hillary is like Glenn Close’s character in “Fatal Attraction” — she should have stayed in the bathtub”). As an American, I cannot vote for Sen. Obama because to do so would sanction the vote stealing by the RBC and the dismissal of the complaints of voter intimidation from caucuses by the DNC. If the RBC had done the right thing and counted every vote, Obama’s pledged delegate lead would be 85. As it is now, it is 140 — still insignificant given that Sen. Clinton has the popular vote lead, the momentum at the end (winning 9 of the last 15 primaries) and won the swing-states. This shows me that the primary votes meant nothing — the DNC had pre-chosen Sen. Obama as its nominee. This manipulation of the system is as anti-American as it gets — I do not even believe the GOP would act in such a craven manner, and that is saying something. Finally, as much as I respect and admire Sen. Clinton, she does not tell me what to do — I think for myself and vote my conscience. My conscience tells me that the words of Susan B. Anthony are as true today as they were in the 1800s — “No self-respecting woman should work or wish for the success of a party that ignores her self.” After 20 years, I am no longer a Democrat, and will not support the party nor its illegitimate nominee.
Moderators: if you can fix my comment to add my signature as follows, I would greatly appreciate it:
Angela H.
Charlotte, NC
I will NOT vote for Obama. I am now and Independent. I am ashamed of this party and it fraulent, sexist, mysognist, and incompetent. Part of the reason the DNC favored Obama was it was afraid that blacks would riot if HRC got the nomination (What eunuchs you are!) Well, now you’re going to get a rebellion from the women. I don’t know of any way to make the DNC hurt (as it as hurt women), but to refuse to vote for Obama. He has no actual experience, and you want him to run the most complicated and fractured country in the world. What is wrong with you people.
I wil NOT fall in line, something women are always expected to do.
Dr. Dean:
I am a woman first, an American second, and only then does party affiliation come into play. As a woman, I cannot vote for Sen. Obama because to do so would be to sanction the vile sexism from his camp, from the DNC itself and from the media. And yes, Sen. Obama’s camp actively participated in the sexism (”when she’s feeling down,” “the claws come out” and “if you can’t run your own house, you can’t run the white house”) as well as the DNC (Rep. Cohen (D-TN) “Hillary is like Glenn Close’s character in “Fatal Attraction” — she should have stayed in the bathtub”). As an American, I cannot vote for Sen. Obama because to do so would sanction the vote stealing by the RBC and the dismissal of the complaints of voter intimidation from caucuses by the DNC. If the RBC had done the right thing and counted every vote, Obama’s pledged delegate lead would be 85. As it is now, it is 140 — still insignificant given that Sen. Clinton has the popular vote lead, the momentum at the end (winning 9 of the last 15 primaries) and won the swing-states. This shows me that the primary votes meant nothing — the DNC had pre-chosen Sen. Obama as its nominee. This manipulation of the system is as anti-American as it gets — I do not even believe the GOP would act in such a craven manner, and that is saying something. Finally, as much as I respect and admire Sen. Clinton, she does not tell me what to do — I think for myself and vote my conscience. My conscience tells me that the words of Susan B. Anthony are as true today as they were in the 1800s — “No self-respecting woman should work or wish for the success of a party that ignores her self.” After 20 years, I am no longer a Democrat, and will not support the party nor its chosen nominee.
Angela H.
Charlotte, NC
PUMA
Dear Howard Dean
I am writing this letter to let the DNC know how strongly I feel about this years Primary Election.
You have given us a candidate that was selected by you, not elected by us. I will not stand for that!
You have taken the votes from the great state of MI and divided them in a way that suits your purpose, not in the way they were cast. I won’t stand for that!
You have counted votes that were never cast in the great state of MI, and given them to the candidate of your choice. I will not stand for that.
You have chosen to let one campaign break every law concerning voter fraud in the caucus states, and did nothing about it. I won’t stand for that.
What I will stand for, is the full and complete removal of anyone involved in this sham you called a primary election. I will vote against your chosen candidate this year, and I will vote against anyone involved, for as many years as it takes to get them removed from office.
Our Government is supposed to be “By the People, For the People”, You have made it by and for the DNC. I won’t stand for that.
Theresa
USA
GA
PUMA Member
Moderators: I reposted my letter with the signature above. Please delete my first two posts. (and this one). Thanks!
I couldn’t agree with you more. I have never voted along the Party line. I vote according to the character of the candidate, the issues, and lastly, the person that is most qualified to run our great Nation. Obama lost on all conditions.
As you, as much as I respect Senator Clinton, I will not vote against my conscience; voting for Obama would be akin to voting for the destruction of our great nation.
Dear Dr Dean,
For the last 21 years it has been my pleasure to cast my vote as a democrat. As my parents and their parents before them had. It saddens, and even sickens me, to think that after the last 2 horrid democratic presidential losses that the DNC has again set its sites on a second place finish. Never in my voting life have I been so utterly trashed and denegrated by people from my own party. As a man, I expected some flack for supporting a female candidate, but this cycle has been rediculous. I had always felt the DNC has the people’s best intentions at heart. Sadly those days appear to be gone. I cannot continue to vote for any Democratic candidates as long as fellow democrats votes are reduced to partial votes. I cannot support a system where a small majority of party elites chose the candidate over the will of the voters. I will hold my nose in november and vote for McCain! The democratic party has lost another long term democrat, but I am sure all those “new” democrats will make up our protests.
Thank You,
James
Pulsaki county MO
A PUMA Democrat
Your letters are beautiful. Please keep them coming.
Hello,
Are you doing link exchanges?
lol, I have a few and can reverse link if you like.
http://www.Hillary-Wins.com
http://www.Florida-Michigan.com
http://www.CaucusCheating.com
http://www.Fair-Reflection.com
http://www.CaucusConfession.com
-Alessandro Machi
Dear Dr. Dean,
Ir was with tremendous pride that i joined the Democratic Party to support my candidate, Hillary Clinton. My disapointment in the party in beyond what I come have imagined. Where should I start…A broken caucus systen, Florida/Michigan, Extreme Bias of the Media, Sexism and most of all, the silence of the party during all of this.
How can the party even begin to speak about democratic ideals and issues, when the party itself is broken. In my view, you should resign and have someone else take the reigns before the party really dies.
In the meantime, I will not support a candidate that did not get the majority vote. I will not fall in line. My vote is what this makes this country a democracy, like the party.
Kathy
Bridgeport, CT
PUMA and Independent
Dear Dr. Dean,
I received your e-mail calling for Unity and a donation. I unsubscribed.
I believe we, as Americans need to strive for the unity of our country. All this bogus babble about “party” unity serves only to divide us further.
I’ll vote for the the person that has an actual voting record . John McCain has been a friend of the Democratic party for much of his career , reached across the proverbial isle and voted his mind in spite of his “Party”. He may have had to brown nose the current Administration in order to win the nomination but he is who he is and he has proven time and time again that he is not afraid to stand up for what he believes in.
Senator Obama, on the other hand , barely has a voting record to compare with. He has not proven to be a man that stands by his convictions. He threw his Pastor and Church under the bus because they were making him look bad! That doesn’t say much for his integrity. Twenty years in the same church, listening to the same man preach the same divisive drivel and he needed public opinion to make him realize that this is not a great man. That doesn’t say much for his common sense.
It will be a shame to watch the Democratic Party, along with the media tear apart a man who has fought for our country abroad, endured tortured years of being a POW,, and returned to continue the fight as a well liked, bi-partisan member of Congress.
For what? Someone we barely know, with questionable common sense as to his affiliations ( Wright, Rezko, Farrakhan, Kahlid ). Hardly a voting record to look at and totally inexperienced in economic and world affairs. I honestly do not understand why the Democratic Party was pushing this candidate in the first place when Senator Clinton was Always in a better position to beat any Republican that won the nomination.
It’s funny, Senator Obama’s message is about change. Being black doesn’t change the fact that Obama is a man. If the American people truly want “change” what better way than to vote for a woman?
Dictator Dean.
I will NOT VOTE for Obama. Am now an INDEPENDENT because of the way the DNC has treated Hillary:
1) Punished Mich and Fla, but not the other states that jumped the gun 2)Pressured Superdelegates to vote prematurely 3) Did not defend HRC against media trashing (but joined in) 4) Took delegates away from Hillary 5) Treated voters as “half people” 6) Allowed Obama to campaign in states where he promised he wouldn’t and HRC didn’t (kept her word) (Fla) 7) Has done nothing about the illegal voting (IND) 8)Mishandled just about everything connected to this compaign (incompetents). I have been upset for some time now with the Democratic Party’s inability to get much done, but this is the last straw.
Connie
Cobb County
Marietta, GA
18 million hands - send them to the DNC!
1. Trace your hands on an 8×11 sheet of paper. Make it colorful to grab attention.
2. Write your name and city/state in the center of your hands and the words “I am one of 18 million.”
3. Above the hands, write: “These hands are on the front lines of democracy. I pledge I will not vote for Obama.”
4. Below the hands, write a line or two about your reasons you won’t vote for BO, why you are upset with the DNC, or whatever stirs your soul. We suggest you keep it fairly brief for maximum impact. [note from Heidi Li: brief and polite as possible; people throw away profane messages from strangers]
5. Put it in an envelope and send it off to the DNC.
Democratic National Committee
430 S. Capitol St. SE
Washington, DC 20003
Dr. Dean,
I find it hard to believe that I have been put in this position. Until 2 weeks ago, I was a life-long Democrat, one who has waited 8 years to get America back on the right track. I thought the Democratic Party was perfectly positioned to do this with Hillary Clinton as its candidate; now I find that I have been betrayed by my own party and by a national media that is supposed to be neutral, fair, and even-handed. I will not vote for Barack Obama and, trust me, I will never “come around.” Some reasons:
1. The DNC disenfranchised me as a Florida voter. Donna Brazile said that FL and MI broke the rules and had to be punished. I did not break any rules; I just wanted to exercise my right to vote like any other American. The Democratic Party denied me that right; it is thus not the Party for me.
2. The DNC’s laughable “solution” to the MI and FL primaries: giving Obama several of Hillary’s delegates; giving FL delegates a one-half vote.
3. The conscious but nuanced attempt by the DNC to undermine Hillary Clinton’s campaign at every turn.
4. The disrespect shown to Hillary Clinton by the DNC and the fact that they are now treating her like a second-class political citizen, assigning her the role of “Obama’s little helper.”
5. The fact that the DNC has never recognized the meaning of Hillary’s 18 million votes in the primaries or the fact that she won the big and swing states.
6. The media’s outright unfair distortion of Bill and Hillary’s public comments and the misogyny of both its male and female representatives in reporting on Hillary; I have never in my life witnessed such a blatant attempt to systematically denigrate a candidate, except by Karl Rove – to me the media as a whole is no better than him. I am convinced that the way the media presented the candidates is in large part responsible for Obama’s victories.
7. The playing of the “race card” by the media and the Obama camp – this to me is the most disgusting aspect of the whole campaign.
8. The fact that Obama is completely inexperienced and untested. This man has no business holding the most powerful position in the world, period. Experience, love of country, the ability to reach bipartisan decisions, and a healthy dose of humility matter to me in a President – I see no evidence whatsoever of any of these qualities in Obama. Thus my vote goes to McCain.
9. The fact that the DNC is treating Hillary supporters either as a bunch of old hysterical women whose vote doesn’t matter much anyway or as a bunch of sheep who will blindly follow the Democratic leadership. Wrong: we are a diverse group of people of both sexes and a variety of races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, and political backgrounds; some of us have advanced degrees and all of us are intelligent enough not to blindly follow a biased media or a misguided Democratic Party leadership.
10. Hillary Clinton is so clearly the best candidate based on her experience, her specific policies, the fact that she has all the military generals behind her, her ability to reach across the aisle in the Senate, and her ability to attract not only Democrats but also moderate Republicans and Independents. It is a travesty that she has been pushed out of this race.
The Democratic Party has become its own worst enemy. And because I cannot sit by and watch yet another incompetent man become President of the United States, I am jumping ship. The only way you’ll get me on board again is if Hillary is the nominee come November.
M. Beck, Ph.D.
Dear Dr Dean
I am writing this letter to let the DNC know how strongly I feel about this years Primary Election.
You have given us a candidate that was selected by you, not elected by us. I will not stand for that!
You have taken the votes from the great state of MI and divided them in a way that suits your purpose, not in the way they were cast. I won’t stand for that!
You have counted votes that were never cast in the great state of MI, and given them to the candidate of your choice. I will not stand for that.
You have chosen to let one campaign break every law concerning voter fraud in the caucus states, and did nothing about it. I won’t stand for that.
What I will stand for, is the full and complete removal of anyone involved in this sham you called a primary election. I will vote against your chosen candidate this year, and I will vote against anyone involved, for as many years as it takes to get them removed from office.
Our Government is supposed to be “By the People, For the People”, You have made it by and for the DNC. I won’t stand for that.
Theresa
Lowndes County, GA
PUMA Member
I re-posted my letter. I think I have everything right this time. If not, feel free to change it.
Theresa
i just joined this morning and have no idea what i should be saying so i will just say…..i sent a letter to dean and the dnc and told them i was not voting for obama ..am so sorry that hillary got treated the way she did..
This was a Great Message from
http://heidilipotpourri.blogspot.com/
“While attending Senator Clinton’s speech on Saturday at the National Building Museum, I had the opportunity to meet Queenie, the eight year old girl in the picture with me. Queenie has been working as volunteer for Senator Clinton this primary season. The area where I was standing when I met her was packed because it was close to the podium. I helped make sure Queenie got to the rope, so she could see. I made sure Terry McAuliffe shook her hand, and not only did he do that! At her mother’s request, Terry signed Queenie’s shirt, after telling her that she might very well be President of the United States. And she very well might!
My relentless insistence that we RETIRE THE DEBT, that is, that we contribute to Senator Clinton stems in part from my belief that Queenie, and millions of girls like her, must grow up knowing that no woman has to depend on a man for financial support if that woman has earned the confidence of 18 million voters. The press speculates that Senator Obama will “help” Senator Clinton pay off the primary debt. Maybe he will, maybe he won’t. My point is that I do not want Senator Clinton to need that help. I want her debt paid down by the people who never treated her dismissively, who never acted well toward her simply when it was convenient for them.
Seeing is believing. I want Queenie, and the world, to see that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is perfectly capable of raising her own money to pay her own expenses. Let’s show ‘em.
According to current federal law, no candidate committee (e.g. Hillary Clinton for President) may contribute more than $1000 to any other candidate’s committee. (This is why Senator Obama can only “help” Senator Clinton eliminate debt by issuing a fundraising appeal on her behalf - just as her campaign cannot contribute more than $1000 to Senator Obama’s, his campaign cannot donate more than that to hers.)
Since Senator Clinton must pay down her campaign debt to ensure financial credibility with vendors, it would not make sense for her to donate even $1000 to Senator Obama’s campaign OR to donate any funds to the D.N.C.
Creditors come first. Do not just take my word for this. Look at this information.
Donate: TO RETIRE CLINTON’S DEBT - for Queenie’s sake”
Posted by Heidi Li Feldman, J.D., Ph.D. (on her blog)http://heidilipotpourri.blogspot.com/
here is a new Open Action Thread posted. Please read it and start taking the actions outlined.
Please pass the word about the new post, and please pass the word to your friends and families about what we are doing.
Dear Dr. Dean,
The Democratic leadership may have thought that losing the presidency this year was alright if it kept Hillary Clinton out of the White House and provided that you got “new” voters and “new” donors from Obama.
Well…
I will not vote for Obama in Nov. not even with Hillary as VP. (You knew he never had a chance anyway didn’t you?)
I will not vote downticket for Dems. (You have lost a long-time voter)
I will not give any money to the DNC. (You have lost a long-time donor)
You better hope that your “new” voters and donors come through for you or else the Democrats will lose seats in Congress this year.
“No self respecting woman should wish or work for the success of
a party that ignores her self.”
Susan B. Anthony
Susan
Cobb County, GA
PUMA Democrat
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am so disgraced by our democratic party this year. I cannot believe that this party would endorse someone that went to a church for 20 years that spewed anti American and racist ideals. Obama also has friends that are anti American/anti Jewish not to mention ties to Rezko. My gosh, he can’t even put his hand over his heart to say the Pledge of Alligience!! This is who the DNC and the super delegates endorsed! If this was anyone else, you would be telling them to get out of this race. (And, how convenient for him to quit his church because it was a hardship on HIS CHURCH the same day the DNC made Florida and Michigan 2nd class voters.) And made sure Obama got some of her delegates.
At the same time, you let the vulgar,sexist rantings insult Hillary and all women in this country to the entire world. No one stood up, no one got fired, I guess it is okay to call a women candidate a “ho” a ” white bitch” and to demean a qualified women of stature who gave her heart and soul to this party to be treated with such disrespect that you disrespect all women.
I am glad that Obama brought in young and first time voters…but I don’t want the 18-30 crowd running this country….they are very naive if they believe Obama’s every word. He is a snake oil salesman to better himself, he will tell you whatever you want to hear. He will make a eloquent speech and that is all.
This party and the super delegates did this party an injustice. You have split this party…You might have well just endorsed Obama and told South Dakota and Montana to not bother voting because the super delegates were not going to endorse her following their states popular vote should have. This election was not an election, it was a dog and pony show and rigged to elect Obama because you were afraid of the black people rioting in the streets if he lost….so the SD had to come to the rescue.
Obama’s church, his affiliations with anti American colleges and friends are not what I want for America. I think you did this country a disservice by forcing this man on us. I will not ever vote for a man like this if he is black, white or purple.
You probably won’t respect my views, because after all, I am a woman, and you probably think I should go iron some one’s shirt and be a sweety. But if you think that I am going to “come around” by November, you are wrong. Obama’s Anti-American, culture is not what I want in my White House. Period.
Thanks for picking someone that I cannot with good conscience vote for in November…I guess it will be McCain for me or I will write in Hillary.
Pam
A life long Democrat from Florida
Now a PUMA Democrat
dear dr. dean and dnc…
shame on you for what you have done to the democratic party..i have been a democrat for years and years and now i have to say i will be voting against the party for the first time..your actions are shameful…not only will i vote republican this time around for president i will also vote against anyone that is running for any office as a democrat…shame shame shame on you all….
Dear Dr. Dean,
I have privately emailed you in response to your mass email about backing Barack Obama. I believe that the biggest problem for the Dem. Party is this: you have lost touch with your base constituents. By blatantly ignoring the abuse/misogyny/sexist/bias against Hillary Rodham CLinton you have alienated a LOT of folks who thought the Dem.Party stood up for justice. I guess that fact that you haven’t done a thing to move forward to impeach/censure/something the Bush/Cheney dictatorship should help me to form my thoughts about what to do in November. I want a party platform that is MORE than words alone, I want the emperor to be called out for not having any clothes on, for sanity’s sake!! Do something that makes a difference, be bold and take a stand for what is right!
thank you for understanding our dilemna…
signed,
donna s
las vegas
clark county
puma democrat
mayor0102:
I included the name of bloggers who have their names and State listed and most of whom have written PUMA supporter or such. Their names are already on the blog. We started this list several days ago in the event that some bloggers wanted to start regional meetings or get together to distribute materials and to monitor the number of people whi signed up (This I believe is info Murphy can provide given we gave him our STATS.)
SandiPuma:
This info. is real and very disturbing. However, I am not surprised. Murphy can we exposed this?
Dear Mr. Dean,
I protest the DNC’s anointing of Mr. Obama as their candidate, whether the American people liked it or not.
I protest that this election was not on a level playing field due to media slander and DNC neglect.
There is a chance that another candidate/party might not uphold our causes. I protest that the DNC trusts our principles to keep us in line. Please remember the most sacred right to all Americans is that the PEOPLE choose presidents, that each vote counts as presented, that women voters are important and respected.
I protest the inexperience and arrogance of your favored candidate. I like the old fashioned idea that presidents are civil servants. The presidents who exhibited those qualities are found among the greats, and are revered in monuments where you walk each day.
I will hereafter join the Republicans in their reference to the “Democrat” Party, as I sadly no longer believe it is entitled to be called “Democratic.”
I am a woman, a patriot, DNC member of 50 years, and supporter of John McCain, the better man.
To Howard Dean:
For many years, the Democratic Party has been the hope of this nation - the promise of more humane and enlightened leadership. That was reflected in principles of the party of fair reflection and equal rights. That has now all changed.
When the RBC met, you and many of the 30 members of that committee threw the party and women under the bus. It was inexcusable that the committee did not challenge the insistence of the Obama campaign that Florida votes count at 50% when asked their opinion about full reinstatement. It was unacceptable to punish the people for something beyond their control. That’s like blaming the people of New orleans for Katrina.
I have also never heard more nonsense about rules. There are many rules. States have them. Localities have them. Families have them. Companies have them. We are drowning in rules. They often conflict. Those conflicts are a test of leadership which the Democratic Party failed miserably and one candidate took advantage of to the detriment of the party and the people of the country.
Michigan’s issue was resolved in an even more egregious manner. Never in the history of the party has one candidate been stripped of earned delegates.
It is inexcusabloe to game the primary by removing your name from the ballot and then play the victim and act deprived. And you went along with it. What about the harm to other candidate?
I have heard members of the RBC on news programs state that there will be full restoration of the FL and MI delegations at the convention. So I gather you deliberately set out to suppress the required delegates and inflate Obama’s earned delegates. Did you think no one would notice? Did you think that because we do not like Bush that you can do whatever you want and we will go along?
You have taken the voters and women for granted. Worse you have allowed one of the best people in government in our history be viciously attacked. Obama was more than happy to capitalize both on racism and sexism. His dismissive arrogance and ignorance are so bad I do not want him anywhere near the White House. I cannot see a way to vote for him.
I hope you get the picture soon, that it is not just the election that is at risk. The Democratic Party is at risk. Fix the problem; you may not survive it.
Maria Hill
PUMA Democrat
Howie,
Who will play you in the new movie, “Democratic Primary Recount 2008” to be released in November 2012?
Pat
Oklahoma County, OK
PUMA Democrat
Dr. Dean
The lack of leadership from “YOU” and the DNC this year has left me feeling Bewildered. I cast my LAST democratic votes for Hillary Clinton..I was able to cast my support to her thee times first in the Texas Primary , second when I participated in the Texas Two Step, then I was priveledged to be elected to cast my support at our Senate Caucus as an Elected Delegate.
There is so much media bias , hate speach, sexism coming from pundits and the Obama Camp..that I also participated in the Media Protest in NY…Still no Democratic Leader stood against this assault on one of our National Democratic Leaders..
What was one of the worst campaign efforts against Hillary in my opinion, was when on Hannity & Colms, Dick Morris promoted the electioneery propanganda film made by Citizens United called “Hillary The Movie”…he stated he would be at Obama’s Rally to distribute this slanderous movie ….I heard nothing form the DNC condeming this movie or it’s distribution at Obama Rallies. The Obama Campagin did nothing to stop this Movie from being distriputed and his bloggers went wild, calling Hillary everyting form a Monster to a Serial Killer…still nothing from the DNC..
When whole states were ignored and called , uneducated Racists…Still nothing from the DNC.
By your silence I’ve heard your message LOUD and CLEAR, you WANTED HILLARY OUT…by any means …but there was one problem in your plan…THE PEOPLE DID NOT!!!
So you went to plan B…ignore thier VOTES, and the strenght of thier agruement and SELECTED YOUR CHOICE!!! .
To keep this short and sweet.. I don’t want my beautiful grandaughter to grow up in a country where this is injustice is tolerated by any party so I will do whatever is neccesary to have my VOICE, one of 18 MILLION heard. The voice that Hillary Clnton gave us with her strength, courage and leadership in staying in the race until every vote was cast…The DNC has made a Big Mistake this time!!!!
Respectfully,
Terri, Harris County ,Texas
PUMA DEMOCRAT
Dr. Dean,
I think Hillary Clinton can be a great president of the USA. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being near-perfection, I think she’d be a 7 to a 9, depending on circumstances and the mistakes we are all prone to make. I think Barack Obama could be a 1 to a 5. I think Bush has been a 3 and McCain could be a 4.
During the primary season, the press had fun anointing Barack and dissing Hillary (and her supporters, despite our numbers). The DNC went along with the press, all but disowning Hillary.
What a shame, because, now that the primaries are over, the press is going to have fun trashing Obama. It’s already widely known that Obama saw his racist minister as his “spiritual mentor,” someone he associated with for some 20 years. Hillary rose greatly in the primaries after that revelation. Right now, Obama may still register to many as only naive, or as a Pied Piper, but Americans will know by Election Day that he may be a Trojan horse. Also in this time period, the Republicans will gleefully join in the press’s fun and win yet another election.
I agree with the Democratic platform. I bemusedly agree with what Will Rogers said decades ago, “I am not a member of an organized political party. I am a Democrat.” But I will not follow or contribute to a campaign I know will fail (and should fail).
Suzanne
Denver County, Colorado
PUMA Democrat
Dr. Howard Dean,
I am a 55 year old woman; I am married; I am a Systems Analyst with a Software Development Company; I am a Christian.
I started voting Democratic many years ago feeling that I had found the Party that represented my ideas, my desires for this great nation, my values and principles; a Party that listened to what ‘we the people’ said and acted accordingly; a Party that wanted what I wanted for this Country; a Party that didn’t discriminate against voters regardless of their race, creed, social/financial position or gender. As I watched this primary season unfold, I came to the accurate conclusion that the Democratic Party is only the right Party for me as long as I don’t care who the DNC selects; as long as I don’t care that my vote does not matter; as long as I am ready to give up my rights as an White American Female.
The nomination was signed, sealed and delivered even before the race began. Deals were made and it didn’t matter what had to be done, as long as your man was nominated. You would rather select a man where little is known about him except for his radical associations; a man with little experience; a man that used the race card to garner attention and votes.
This is no longer the Party for me. As much as a admire and support Senator Clinton, I will not be able to follow her in support of Senator Obama. I have always voted for the candidate based upon their character, experience and who, I feel, would best govern our nation; therefore, since Senator Clinton was not your choice, Senator McCain will be mine.
Sincerely,
Pam
Bradley County, TN
PUMA Democrat
Dictator Dean.
I will NOT VOTE for Obama. Am now an INDEPENDENT because of the way the DNC has treated Hillary:
1) Punished Mich and Fla, but not the other states that jumped the gun 2)Pressured Superdelegates to vote prematurely 3) Did not defend HRC against media trashing (but joined in) 4) Took delegates away from Hillary 5) Treated voters as “half people” 6) Allowed Obama to campaign in states where he promised he wouldn’t and HRC didn’t (kept her word) (Fla) 7) Has done nothing about the illegal voting (IND) 8)Mishandled just about everything connected to this compaign (incompetents). I have been upset for some time now with the Democratic Party’s inability to get much done, but this is the last straw.
Connie
Cobb County
Marietta, GA
Proud PUMA Person
MURPHY, WOULD YOU PLEASE REMOVE MY LAST NAME MONTALVO
LMSATX # 338 OR CAN I REPOST.
THANK YOU,
Dr. Dean,
I am protesting and working diligently to make things right that the DNC got wrong for these reasons:
1. Senator Obama was SLECTED not ELECTED
2. Failure of DNC/RBC to follow its own charter/constitution re: fair reflection, uncommitted votes, taking votes from one candidate and giving them to another candidate, and using EXIT POLLS to bolster their own agenda, while all the time repeatedly stating that “Rules are Rules.” The RBC 30 substituting their judgment for 2.3 million voters is - unacceptable!
3. The “Bully pulpit tactics” used on anyone to do with Hillary’s campaign.
4. Hypocrisy of DNC failing to count all votes; when that was their mantra in 2000, I am now 1/2 a person, just call me Jane Crow.
5. The sexism and misogyny piled on and piled on Hillary and through her on us, by pundits, politicians, and Obama supporters - pure hatred that will not be forgotten.
6. Obama does not share my values, is not patriotic, and has used Chicago style politics to steal the nomination - with the entire Democratic Party and DNC aiding and abetting. The only thing Chicago style that I like is my pizza.
7. And make no mistake about it, HILLARY STILL SPEAKS FOR ME. But, Hillary needs to step aside now and let us, the P.U.M.A. Democrats, take it from here. We are many, we are dedicated, we are determined, and we are strong.
8. To give just a little liberty to Hillary and in the memory of Susan B. Anthony after working for the Suffragette movement for 60 years, and on her deathbed stated that all she wanted was a little liberty and a say in her government and that she will not live to obtain it. Well, 165 years later we are still asking for a little liberty and a say in running our government.
And furthermore, Hillary is not responsible for anything connected with the election, or failure of election, of Obama; don’t even go there; don’t even let the MSM and pundits go there; don’t even let the New coalition go there; for if you do, there will be a blowback that you can not even imagine by the New Coalition - or better stated, now the Hillary Republicans. Dr. Dean, I tried over and over and over and over again to inform you and all others of the results of the DNC/Dean/Pelosi/Reid/Brazile/Old Coalition/Obama/Obamanationalists attempt to overthrow the will of the voters - 18 million voters and growing - that you could count a tsunami and you ignored me at your own peril. The only prayer you stand to get us back in the general election is to put Hillary Clinton as the nominee without any equivocation; and then work on reform of the undemocratic Democratic Party.
Carolyn Greer, 1 OF OVER 18 MILLION!!!!!
aka ShortTermer
Registered Independent Voter from Florida
P.U.M.A. DEMOCRAT
Dear Moderator, I noticed that we have much of the contact information for Superdelegates and Howard Dean and Polosi all scattered, is there a way to condense all of the contact information and put it all in one area? Just wondering?
Dear Dr. Dean,
I am a first-time voter during this year’s election cycle. I cannot adequately explain the depth of admiration and love I developed for Senator Hillary Clinton. Nor can I adequately explain my outrage over the manner in which she has been treated by the DNC.
Hillary won the popular vote. She earned nearly 18 million votes, around 300,000 more than Senator Obama. More people voted for her than any other candidate for a major party nomination in American history. Yet the nomination, decided by superdelegates and not the American people, was given to the man with more pledged delegates - whose process of allocation is grossly flawed.
In addition to the naturally flawed process for pledged delegates, the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee decided on May 31 that its own judgment was superior to the certified results of the Michigan primary. I could not believe my ears when the Committee stole four delegates from Hillary and gave them (and an additional 55 uncomitted ones) to Obama.
Senator Obama has not fairly won this nomination. He has won it through superdelegates, a flawyed system of pledged delegates, and the favored treatment of the Rules and Bylaws Committee. Moreover, during this race, he and his campaign have engaged in a most unacceptable form of character assassination against Senator Clinton and her family and supporters, claiming that such respected figures as President Bill Clinton and Vice-Presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro are racists. Senator Obama has failed to protest the media’s sexist, biased, misogynistic, and overall rude treatment of Hillary.
Therefore, I cannot in good conscience throw my support behind Barack Obama and the Democratic Party this year. I will be voting for John McCain in November, because I trust him much more than a freshman senator and former community organizer to run this country. Senator McCain is a moderate, and hardly the surrogate of a third Bush term (as you claim). So, I shall place my country above my party, and vote for him. Remember, Dr. Dean, that I am an American first and a party loyalist last.
Taj
Bryn Mawr, PA
PUMA Democrat
Well,well, well… It’s all finally in here! Sometime in February I had begun some research on Obama, his policies and his advisors. I had come across this info which will appear in this magazine.
http://w3.newsmax.com/a/jun08/?s=al&promo_code=63E4-1
I had spoken to my collegues back in Feb. b/c one was/still is a core OBAMA supporter & who chose not to listen to the facts I brought to the table and shooing me away, and then bashing Hillary with no arguments to defent his points.
Not only did I cancel my subscription to “The Nation” when they endorsed Obama in February, but now I can’t wait to buy Newsmax Magazine! The info. on in the magazine is exactly what I read from his economic advisor & Obama’s fiscal policy.
DAMN IT!-I didn’t leave CANADA 17 years ago to find myself in a socialist county all over again. This is why my husband and I left! We were just engaged with two decent jobs and were taxed to the wazoo. At the end of the year we had to borrow money to pay taxes!
Call the plumber, buy a sweater, buy a snack at the cornerstore and woosh, there goes 15% sales tax.
Sorry, PUMAs I just had to vent. Thx for listening.