Filmmaker Brad Mays, director of the upcoming documentary "The Audacity of Democracy," has posted more footage online, this time of a confrontation at PUMAPAC headquarters in Denver. This is the clip that PUMAPAC is using on its website to pimp pre-orders of the film.

For the uninitiated, PUMAPAC is the political wing of PUMA, an umbrella group comprised of former Hillary Clinton supporters who now support the election of John McCain. I've done a lot of reporting on PUMA, both here and at YestoDemocracy.com.

In this video, I go to PUMAPAC headquarters for a prearranged interview with Brad and PUMAPAC founder Darragh Murphy. Of course, in what Darragh Murphy calls a piece of "pure comedy gold," she agreed to the interview knowing full well that her flight out of Denver would have her far away from answering any questions about her smears and questionable Democratic bona fides.

Of course, when I go to the place to which they invited me, they try to throw me out. Brad started rolling a few minutes after I got there, and of course, missed the best part.

Brad will be our guest on Unusable Signal tonight, where we will discuss the film, PUMA, and the goings-on in Denver. Warning: Explicit Language (in the video and on tonight's show)

Tommy Christopher co-hosts "Unusable Signal",on BlogTalkRadio, Tues through Thurs at 10pm, and Fri, and Sat at 11pm. (Eastern) Click here for the Unusable Signal homepage.

Filmmaker Brad Mays has just released a 10 minute preview of the in-production documentary "The Audacity of Democracy" on Youtube. The film chronicles the formation and struggles of PUMAPAC, the political wing of the PUMA Movement. You might recognize the star of the film, a handsome devil I like to call...me.

You might think it's an overstatement to call me the star of the film, because I did, at first. Then, I caught a glimpse of PUMAPAC's newest fundraising tool:

Everyone who pre-orders in September will receive a VERY SPECIAL gift - a Great Puma PAC Moments in Denver memorial DVD! Everything from our protest at MSNBC to Riverdaughter's rousing speech at The Rise rally, from Tommy Christopher's EPIC BATTLE With the Crazed Maniacs at Puma PAC Headquarters (comedy GOLD!) to Lori's moving interviews with dozens of Pumas who traveled from near and far to be together in Denver.

This is quite a thrill for me. As this makes evident, I'm the biggest name in the movie. I've never been the biggest name in anything. Of course, it also looks like I'm the only one using a whole name in the film, so there's that.

All kidding aside, I have found PUMAs, and PUMAPAC in particular, to be an endlessly fascinating subject. Brad Mays, the film's director, seems to share that fascination. I had the chance to get to know Brad a little bit in Denver, and found some of my assumptions about the film challenged. Caution: Strong Language

Tommy Christopher co-hosts "Unusable Signal" , on BlogTalkRadio Tues & Thur at 9pm, and Wed, Fri, & Sat at 11pm. Click here for the Unusable Signal homepage.

Update: My "Unusable Signal" co-host Caleb Howe forwarded this email to me this afternoon. It's from Lloyd J. Schwartz, son of Sherwood Schwartz and a Gilligan's Island producer:

Imagine my dismay to see Thurston and Lovey Howell supposedly endorsing the McCain-Palin ticket. Along with my father, Sherwood Schwartz, we have been producing GILLIGAN'S ISLAND for over forty years. We are both Democrats and are enthusiastic Obama supporters. On the island, the Howells were often outvoted and depicted as not having a clue as to reality. As fictional characters, they are right to support McCain since most of what he is proposing is fiction. Happy to discuss this more. We also did THE BRADY BUNCH...and I imagine just Jan would be for McCain...since she, too, never fit in with the group.

Lloyd will be our guest tonight on Unusable Signal at 11pm EDT. Click here to listen then, or to catch the archived show later.

Elite Former Hillary Supporter to Back McCain

The McCain campaign sent out the following cryptic announcement this morning, via email:

ARLINGTON, VA -- The McCain-Palin campaign announced that a prominent Hillary Clinton supporter who is a member of the Democratic National Committee's Platform Committee will endorse John McCain at a press conference at the Capitol Hill Club today, September 17th.

Apparently, it is a prominent Hillary Clinton supporter with a big mouth, or more accurately, a big hired mouth. A spokesperson for Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild told CNN all about it. She must have cracked under the threat of being caviar-boarded.

Lady de Rothschild used to be a Hillary Clinton supporter, earning the designation "HillRaiser" by helping to raise more than $100,000.00 for Hillary Clinton's historic presidential bid.

Despite Hillary's pleas to supporters to vote for Barack Obama, whose stance on 95% of issues mirrors those that Hillary has spent a lifetime fighting for, and despite McCain's mockery of Hillary (and all that she stands for), a few of her biggest donors just can't bring themselves to vote for Barack Obama.

Earlier today, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, in what many observers see as a disingenuous and showboating maneuver, had the following to say about Senator Hillary Clinton:(From AFP)

"I think he's regretting not picking her now, I do. What, what determination, and grit, and even grace through some tough shots that were fired her way -- she handled those well," Palin told ABC News.

Palin's comments came after polls in battleground states Ohio and Pennsylvania found that she was winning growing support among the crucial demographic of white women voters.

The Obama campaign released a memo this evening with a statement from Debbie Wasserman-Schultz rebuking Palin, and a pair of relevant video links. Via email:

"Sarah Palin should spare us the phony sentiment and respect. Governor Palin accused Senator Clinton of whining and John McCain laughed when a questioner referred to her by using a demeaning expletive. John McCain and Sarah Palin represent no meaningful change, just the same failed policies and same divisive, demeaning politics that has devastated the middle class," said Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Here's the "whining" video, followed by McCain's idea of a funny remark about his colleague:

Major hat tip to Jenny over at YestoDemocracy.com for hipping me to the subject of my next 16-part series, and to Sarah Haskins, my new favorite person. She does a segment called "Target: Women" ( I guess "Kmart: Ladies" was taken ) on Current TV's Infomania.

P.U.M.A.s are for Hillary, Cougars bang young dudes but a P.A.N.T.H.E.R is for Palin. Get your P.A.N.T.H.E.R. pride right here.

Target Women is a recurring segment on Current TV's weekly television show, infoMania. In each episode of Target Women, Sarah Haskins takes a look at the often-ridiculous way the media reaches out to women.

You can even get cool PANTHER swag here. Enjoy, while I go and watch the rest of Sarah's videos.

Tommy Christopher co-hosts "Unusable Signal" on BlogTalkRadio, every Tues and Thurs at 9pm, Wed, Fri, and Sat at 11pm. (Eastern) Click here for the Unusable Signal homepage.

I was at breakfast with some other journalists when I heard about the Sarah Palin pick Friday morning, and the conversations we had quickly encompassed the media narratives that we will soon be seeing, and already are. You can read my from-a-distance take here.

Even though I didn't do a story on PUMAs, they were on the lips of every journalist I ran into, as news of my surreal experiences with them, and their antics, spread by word of mouth.

The first thing I said, though, was that this pick would separate the true Hillary PUMAs from the GOP shills and pure, unadulterated Obama-haters.

It wasn't long before I got several text messages from people telling me that Darragh Murphy was on Hardball talking Palin up. You can see the video here.

I called Will Bower yesterday to get his take, and to ask him about reports from well-placed sources within PUMAPAC that they had paid for his travel to Denver. Here's the audio from that call, followed by my commentary and a great summation by one of our readers.

Update: I finally got the video to upload correctly.

During my interview with New Agenda founder Caren Turner last night, the subject of PUMA and their political wing, PUMAPAC, came up. This is what she had to say:

We are not involved with PUMAPAC. I don't know where they are in terms of raising money, but I think they were, let's say, overly optimistic about the money they raised to retire Hillary's debt, and that put question marks in some people's mind as to whether we should affiliate with them at all.

It looks like she made the right call. Chief Pumas Darragh Murphy and Will Bower have each claimed to have raised $7 to $10 million towards retiring Hillary's debt.

However, an official Clinton spokesperson disputed that in a statement to me last month. Darragh Murphy's response was to wait for the July filings.

Now that July's fundraising figures are in, we can see how close PUMA got to retiring Hillary's campaign debt. From The LA Times, via Yestodemocracy:

Hillary Clinton whittled down her presidential campaign debt by $1.3 million in July, and presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama chipped in to help.

Here's PUMA's claim:

Hillary Clinton's staff, headed by Craig Smith, is forming a 40 member "Whip Team" for the Democratic National Convention in Denver, to keep her most rabid supporters in line during the roll call. From Politico:

"If people get down there on the floor and want to start blowing kazoos and making a scene we want to make sure we've got people who stand in front of them with Obama signs," said a person involved in the planning.

"Is it typical for a losing candidate to have their own whip team? No. But it's also not usual for a losing candidate to get 18 million votes either," said the person.

Convention staffer Myron Kazoos refused to comment.

My first thought was, if they're blowing kazoos, what good are the signs going to do? Are they sound-proof signs? (Actually, my very first thought was, "Whip teams? That sounds hot!")

My second thought was, "Will there be poo cannons?"

My third thought was, "Please, let them start playing kazoos!"

See, the grown-ups in this process have moved on to try and enact the things that Hillary fought for. A little "kazoo-certo" would go a long way towards showing who's serious about change and who isn't.

Update: In case I don't get to post again before Denver, some important notes for readers. I expect I'll be busier than usual, and might not get to the comments like I usually do. Fret not, loyal T-Bots. You can email me at TommyChristopher@comcast.net if it's something you want to make sure I'll see, even if you don't need a reply.

Also, bookmark this link and check it a few times a day if you want to keep track of me. Here's Caleb's, too. I will try my best to stay in touch, and I promise to read all of the emails. Wish me luck!

As I reported Monday, there's a new group of Hillary Clinton supporters making news now by calling for the dismissal, and more, of Chris Matthews. For "The New Agenda," a post-PUMA group of 30 power players, Matthews is just the poster boy for their initiative to shop a slate of women's issues to whichever political party wants their support.

The group had already received overtures from the McCain campaign, but founding member Caren Turner told me that she met with a senior official in the Obama campaign yesterday, with very encouraging results.

"I met with a very high ranking person in the Obama campaign (and presented) a list of asks.

How will your administration deal with the fact that only 17% of the US Congress is made up of women, will you come up with a corrective plan, and what will it be?

Under Federal law, 5% of small business federal contracts should go to woman-owned businesses, but we barely get 3.4%, and we own 30% of the small businesses. What will you do to correct that?

Professor Nancy Hopkins did a study that showed that since the Iraq War started, more women have died at the hands of domestic violence (about 6,400) than soldiers have died in Iraq (4142). What will your administration do to remedy this national disaster?

How will your administration correct the rampant sexism on the airwaves, and society at large?

She also says she would like to see these questions in the Presidential debates.

Some skeptics, myself included, wondered if this new group would give the Obama campaign a fair shot, or align themselves with the more pro-McCain PUMA movement, and their political arm, PUMAPAC.

There's a new group called The New Agenda, and they're coming for you, Chris Matthews. The LA Times reports that the group considers Matthews a good start:

The nonpartisan group, called the New Agenda, held its first meeting this week and established as one of several goals getting Matthews yanked from his long-running show, "Hardball with Chris Matthews."

Amy Siskind of Westchester, N.Y., a founder and Clinton supporter, said the group was urging that Matthews' contract not be renewed because "the kind of language he uses and the kind of behavior he exhibits in the public domain toward women objectifies them and leads to bad things for our society and to domestic violence."

Siskind would not reveal what tactics the group would use to get Matthews off the air. She likened the organization to the Navy Seals, saying their methods would be covert.

The group's press release goes into more detail about The New Agenda's agenda, which is indeed new. The group has a set of issues that they are shopping, but I guess Matthews was the "grabber." I talked with Amy Siskind on Thursday, and she said I should talk to Cynthia Ruccia about The New Agenda, that it's a much more interesting story.

So, I did. It turns out there are lots of "grabbers" to this story.