Rebecca Traister has a great piece up on Salon.com about the real reasons Clinton supporters are mad that Obama won. Sour grapes? Yes, but there's more to these voters, some of whom Traister says are calling themselves "'PUMAs' (as in, 'Party Unity My Ass')" than simple sore loserdom.
Among the insights: "They are mad at Mark Penn." (#9) and "They are mad at everyone who believes them to be old, white and racist." (#11)
Especially revealing is Traister's take on their bitterness over all the anti-Hillary slurs the campaign saw.
Traister writes: "Who knew how eager the American public -- and more critically, the American left -- was to wholeheartedly embrace the image of Hillary supporters as sexless, humorless, bitter, hysterical old crones."
Read the whole story here. Basically Hillary supporters are just dealing with disappointment on an epic scale and feel totally taken for granted, which is the reason for their (Traister says empty) threats to vote for John McCain in the fall.
Our takeaway from the article: Hug a disgruntled Hillary supporter today! (Oh, and avoid calling women who make bids for power emasculating harpies.)
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 2)
1. I feel their pain Ada. But people like me, you and Cenk Urguy over there at the Young Turks, who vote the hard line GOP ticket have to look at John MaCai....John MaCai....the senator from Arizona who is the GOP presidential candidate.
So Hillary supporters aren't in to bad a shape. They can vote for John MaCai (whatever) and still have a democrat in the White House.
Willet at 6:05PM on Jun 30th 2008
2. ADA - Our takeaway from the article: Hug a disgruntled Hillary supporter today! (Oh, and avoid calling women who make bids for power emasculating harpies.)
**************
Why do women(Ada Calhoun and Rebecca Traister) degrade other women(Females who supported Hillary)? You don't bash the males that supported Hillary.
anag at 6:23PM on Jun 30th 2008
3. No thanks, Ada. I have no desire to hug these ladies, many of whom only wanted Hillary in office just because she is a woman. Vote for McCain, he needs all the help that he can get.
LisaS at 7:54PM on Jun 30th 2008
4. Reluctant to say it, but those "PUMA's" make me wonder.....
If large groups of women are going to have hissy-fits when they don't get their way, do we want to elect them? What if Hillary became President and she didn't get her way?
Seems to me that the PUMA's are setting the feminist movement back a bit.
BTW, most of the, "PUMA's" that I know aren't very huggable anyway.
"PUMA's" if you must lodge a protest vote, think about voting for Bob Barr. It's a better way to send a message and help defeat McCain at the same time.
Captain Negative at 7:59PM on Jun 30th 2008
5. Cap - First you insult women, then you try and reason with them and ask them to vote for Mr. Personality, Bob Barr. That'll work. Nice strategy.
Dave at 8:33PM on Jun 30th 2008
6. Nice try at understanding the revolt in the Democratic Party. Some of the comments are accurate, but the article realldy does miss the point.
1. Obama is a lying, racist, sexist, bigot. Anyone with any moral values or ethics cannot vote for him.
2. The "elite" in the DNC, ie the looney left, staged a coup d'etat, to ensure the least qualified and the candidate who is guaranteed to lose the election gets the nomination, in order to keep a woman out of the white house. The rules were twisted and broken to broker a win. This is Florida in 2000 all over again. Obama and his supporters are cheats.
3. The Democratic Party "elite" waged a campaign against women. It will never be forgotten or forgiven.
4. The Democratic Party "elite" sneers at working class Americans, while demanding their loyalty. The DNC is not going to get it.
Forget about Puma's, working class Americans and independants supporting Obama. The concept is too sickening for words; no one cares that much any more about abortion, it is a States issue. We'll take 2 new supeme court justices over having having that lying, racist, sexist bigot in the White House.
Bettybb at 10:23PM on Jun 30th 2008
7. i was a hillary support, but as a life long democrat, there's no way in hell i'd EVER vote for mccain. not only is he a flip flopper, his best friends are the idiots who put this country in the mess it's in the first place. yeah, like i'm voting for that. obama has to work at it for me, tho, too. so we'll see. i'll vote in '08, but who knows if i'll tick off the presidential tab while i'm in there.
Devynn at 10:24PM on Jun 30th 2008
8. Don't forget it is the old multi racial women Pumas who lived through the era when women were kept on the plantation. They are the ones who fought for 4 decades to get to the point where woman are now earning 70% of what equally qualified men are earning. They are the ones who were turned down at med schools, laws schools, graduate schools because women were not admitted. The kept fighting ( they are not shrinking violets ) and the doors opened. then they put up with the sexist crap and again fought back and won.
A woman runs for President and what happens? We are back in the 1950's, only the silly little Obamabot girlies are too naive to understand what his going on.. that they are being cut off at the knees.
Sorry, it is not just Dem white women who are livid. It is Repub and Independent women of all colors.
They are going to flex their muscle.
They are educating their daughters about the dangers of Obama's sexist backlash.
They are going to kick the DNC and Obama's sorry A**
The male "elite" is going to be taugh a very painful lesson - discrimination against women will cost you the White House.
Bettybb at 10:59PM on Jun 30th 2008
9. Why did Hillary lose? What kind of campaign did she run? What were her qualifications? What was unique or socially redeeming about what she did or offered? When was she ever politically tested? It doesn't take a political genius to determine that Hillary was betting on Bill's charm to win over our hearts after he dropped trow. Imagine how much better off America would have been if Bill had just resigned? Bill held on to power and he totally disrespected women while in office. He waited to disrespect Black until Hillary got to South Carolina. Hillary just wasn't qualified for higher office because she slept with Bill once upon a time. We don't know who the last person was and I don't want to know. Enough Democrats agreed and she cried.
Cecil Jones at 11:08PM on Jun 30th 2008
10. Enough of this feminist crap!
Equal pay for equal work is the law! If a woman is making 70% less than the man she is working next to, it is probably because of the personal decisions she makes.
If the hubby isn't handling his share of the domestic responsiblitlites, that's a personal/family matter.
Universities are admitting more women than men and have been doing so for a couple of decades.
While the bush-cheney-Iraq recession is killing the job market for most males, females are excelling in new jobs.
One thing Hillary didn't have to face is the number of women who find her disgusting because she stayed with Bill, post Monica.
Whine away, girls. And I say, "girls" because the only people I see saying, "I'll show you! I'll vote for the guy who wants us barefoot and pregnant!" are women.
Go ahead, cut off your noses. Your faces will thank you for it.
Captain Negative at 12:10AM on Jul 1st 2008
11. Thanks for your help, Dave. I'll give your opinion all the weight I give to the rest of your opinions.
Captain Negative at 12:11AM on Jul 1st 2008
12. Instead of twelve reasons Clinton supporters are mad there should be only one reason and that is there have only been white old men (over 40) elected president of the country even though women are the majority of the population. It is better and more honorable to be a feminist than a m-e-n-i-n-i-s-t that is a woman who thinks a man is better than any woman.
Deeg at 2:02AM on Jul 1st 2008
13. Captain Negative at 12:10AM on Jul 1st 2008
Enough of this feminist crap!
.........
Yep, these uppidity kick ass women Pumas sure did demand and demand and demand equality...and have made great inroads. But women still do not get equal pay for equal work, do 3/4 of the housework, and now, once again, have had to put up with blant sexist and discriminatory conduct by the DNC and Obamabots.
All women, except for the Aunt Tominas who grovel at the feet of their oppressors, are outraged by what the DNC, Obama and his supporters have done.
Obama, the DNC, Howard Dean, the media, Olberman,a Chris Matthews all are living in the dark ages. And they waged a highly discriminatory, sexist campaign against Clinton.
Pumas fought the real battle and have won many victories. Silly little Obamabots making stupid comments about "hags" and "hugs" are irrelevant. They have no idea of the decades of discrimination the Pumas have lived through, fought against, and overcome.
The DNC and Obamabots are going to learn that despicable conduct comes with consequences. Any candidate, no matter how awlful his political views, is better than the lying, racist, sexist, bigot Obama. Women are not going back to the kitchen like Obama and his supporters want. Women will continue their march to full equality, including political equality. If it means voting McCain to keep Obama out of office, it is a small price to pay for freedom.
Bettybb at 3:21AM on Jul 1st 2008
14. Captain Negative at 12:10AM on Jul 1st 2008
Enough of this feminist crap!
.........
Yep, these uppidity kick ass women Pumas sure did demand and demand and demand equality...and have made great inroads. But women still do not get equal pay for equal work, do 3/4 of the housework, and now, once again, have had to put up with blant sexist and discriminatory conduct by the DNC and Obamabots.
All women, except for the Aunt Tominas who grovel at the feet of their oppressors, are outraged by what the DNC, Obama and his supporters have done.
Obama, the DNC, Howard Dean, the media, Olberman,a Chris Matthews all are living in the dark ages. And they waged a highly discriminatory, sexist campaign against Clinton.
Pumas fought the real battle and have won many victories. Silly little Obamabots making stupid comments about "hags" and "hugs" are irrelevant. They have no idea of the decades of discrimination the Pumas have lived through, fought against, and overcome.
The DNC and Obamabots are going to learn that despicable conduct comes with consequences. Any candidate, no matter how awlful his political views, is better than the lying, racist, sexist, bigot Obama. Women are not going back to the kitchen like Obama and his supporters want. Women will continue their march to full equality, including political equality. If it means voting McCain to keep Obama out of office, it is a small price to pay for freedom.
cdnbirch at 3:23AM on Jul 1st 2008
15. bettybb AND cdnbrich wrote...
"But women still do not get equal pay for equal work, do 3/4 of the housework, and now, once again, have had to put up with blant sexist and discriminatory conduct by the DNC and Obamabots."
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If a woman does 3/4 of the housework, she has a personal problem - not a cause for opening the national tear ducts.
If you know a woman who is not receiving equal pay, tell her to look for the mandatory posters on the wall of her place of employment. Tell her to call either the state or local agency. I can tell you that she will receive prompt assistance. Better yet, tell her to check her listings for an attorney who practices, "employment law."
All anyone can ask is equality under the law. Feminists have acheived that goal. Congratulations, feminists! I mean that.
I just didn't see all that, sexism. I saw a woman who came across as she always does, an elitist, cold fish. She ran a poor campaign. She had a sense of entitlement. The same sense of entitlement that you have.
I heard women like Helen Thomas say that Hillary was etitled to the nomination just because she is a woman.
You BITTER Hillary die hards are every bit as bad as the racists. In fact, your anti-Obama attacks reek of bias.
Obama hasn't done anything to you. Your heroine LOST. She lost and she wasted a lot of money doing it. Hillary's campaign was run by the party hacks. The party was behind her until she turned traitor to the party.
Whoever you are, how do you justify Hillary saying that McCain was a better choice than Obama? She showed her true colors there.
Hillary lost. Get over it.
Captain Negative at 3:45AM on Jul 1st 2008