I'm not so sure about the opinion polls . . .

. . . they're all telling us (or, rather, the mainstream media [MSM] is telling us) that Senator Obama has already as good as won the election, and it's merely a question of how great his electoral majority will be.

On the other hand, the supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton are saying something entirely different. The MSM is being very, very quiet about it: suspiciously so. For example, on the PUMA Web site (standing for 'Party Unity My A**'), we read this warning:

PUMAs,

If and when you get polled, remember to let the pollster know that not only do you intend to vote, but that you are strongly committed to voting for Barack Obama.

It is extremely important we keep on doing this. Let Obama and his surrogates keep on being lulled into a false sense of security at having a lead in the national polls.

So far this strategy seems to be working, polls show Obama to be up…

Of course on election day, as PUMAs we all know that no way, no how, we shall not vote for Obama. We might write in Hillary’s name, we might vote for John McCain, heck we might even write in our own names, but to give our vote on Barack Obama is simply not something we shall do.

Rock On,

PUMA Pundit

Interesting! I imagine that Hillary's strong supporters number at least 5% to 10% of likely Democratic Party supporters this election. If they refrain from voting for Senator Obama, even if they don't vote for Senator McCain, that's enough to completely demolish all the opinion polls we're seeing in such profusion right now.

The Confluence, a pro-Hillary blog, has this to say (amongst many other interesting things - worth reading):

Somehow, Masslib, one of our own, has decided that we are supporters of John McCain. She also seems to think that she needs to convert us for our own good. I would like to disabuse Masslib of these two notions.

1.) My candidate is no longer in this race. Therefore, I am confronted by two equally unacceptable alternatives. But there is no rule that says I MUST vote for a name on the top of the ticket. I can skip that section if I choose. OR, I can do a protest vote. I could choose John McCain because I do not wish to reward bad behavior. This is my right. I am quite at ease with ambiguity. What will be will be but I will not contribute to my own demise by throwing my lot in with a corrupt politician even if he is a member of my own party.

2.) I grew up with a religiously fanatical mother. I have seen every form of emotional manipulation there is to get me to crack and become her kind of Christian. It is impossible for me to substitute my own judgment with yours, masslib. I suspect there are a lot of other people on this board who are immune to conversion as well. When our hearts and minds tell us that Obama is bad news, we have to pay attention to them. My heart and mind tell me it would be as wrong to vote for Obama as it is to vote for George W. Bush. I can’t do it to make you happy. I won’t do it just because a Republican will be in office for 4 more years.

There is a certain kind of peer pressure that is annoying to the point of being harrassment. That is where we are now. We have heard every argument for voting for Obama and none of them have proven to be very convincing except that he is not a Republican. And lo and behold, the *Republican* in this case seems to be more amenable to Democratic ideas than the actual Democrat. With Obama, I get a corrupt politician who will scream “RACISM” everytime the media or others criticize something they don’t like. We will be held hostage to accusations of racism used as weapons against us. Obama doesn’t represent the average Democrat. He represents whoever is bankrolling him, emphasis on bank. And if he gets elected, Hillary may never have a crack at the office she deserved.

John McCain is not a saint and he is a Republican but he strikes me as a guy who tries to do the right thing, even if it makes him unpopular. He stuck with his committment to campaign finance reform, he took public campaign funds and he seems to be receptive to ideas that are outside his comfort level. Do I want to vote for him? Heck no. I wanted Hillary and I am profoundly disappointed that she isn’t running. But this is where we are. And I am not voting for Obama to please other people. I have to please myself. I have to live with myself.

Many of us PUMAs are perfectly comfortable in our own skin with our own decisions. We don’t want others pestering us about Obama anymore. We aren’t interested in poll results. Obama supporters who come here to try to depress turnout or convert us are wasting their time. We simply do not care what you think of us. We have been called stupid, old, uneducated, ridiculous females, a shrieking horde of paranoid holdouts, racists, traitors and Republicans. Oddly enough, this has not made us want to vote for Obama.

The world will go on, no matter what we’re called. And if Obama loses on Nov. 4, I will be the first to say, “Good!” You can blame me, scream at me, jump up and down throw a fit, ostracize me, I really don’t give a flying fig. I will live through it and so will the others on the many dozens of blogs like this one.

It is regrettable that we have grown apart but I’m sure we will both survive. And the next time the party tries to pull this $#%^, I hope they will think twice as to whether it was worth it.

Now, masslib and people who gave in to peer pressure can say that Obama is going to win but I have enough emails from the party that suggest that plans to launch a full out attack to pressure us into voting for Obama. If he were doing that well, the upcoming psychological warfare would be unneccesary. So, please stop the annoying pro-Obama blather. We aren’t buying it and we don’t care.

We’re not trying to be mean. We are just being firm.

By now, if I were Senator Obama's campaign manager, and reading this sort of thing, I'd be starting to get worried . . .

It doesn't end there. The Web site Just Say No Deal links literally hundreds (by now, perhaps thousands) of anti-Obama Web sites and groups, many of them Democrats who can't stomach him, or who are still angry at the way Senator Clinton was treated. To those who say that these are 'small fry' who can't influence or affect the election, consider this report in the New York Times yesterday (I've highlighted the important bits in bold print):

October 14, 2008, 6:53 pm

Clinton Supporters Aid Palin

By Michael Luo

Gov. Sarah Palin met with a group of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s former supporters Tuesday evening at a special fund-raising reception organized for them on behalf of the Republican ticket.

The reception, which organizers said brought in more than $500,000, was part of an extended evening of fund-raising for Ms. Palin and Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign at the Grand Hyatt in New York that officials estimated raised more than $8 million.

. . .

The reception for former Clinton supporters, which also was attended by Rick Davis, the McCain campaign manager, was spearheaded by Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a former telecommunications entrepreneur and “Hillraiser” who brought in more than $100,000 for Mrs. Clinton’s campaign; Calvin Fayard, also a former Hillraiser and longtime Democratic donor from Louisiana, and Miguel Lausell, a former senior political adviser to the Clinton campaign from Puerto Rico.

Other prominent former Clinton supporters in attendance included John Coale, a former Hillraiser, Washington lawyer and husband of Fox News television host Greta Van Susteren.

Everyone at the reception contributed $28,500 to McCain-Palin Victory 2008, a joint fund-raising committee for the Republican National Committee and several state Republican parties.

While Mrs. Clinton has implored her former supporters to back Senator Barack Obama, some still harbor ill will towards him, organizers said.

“These people want to give their vote of disapproval,” said Mr. Lausell. “This is a way they’re doing it.”

All this is very interesting: and it raises a honking great question-mark about those MSM-bandied polls purporting to show that Senator Obama has this election in the bag. I think - I dare to hope - that there might be quite a surprise when the votes are tallied!

EDITED TO ADD: This morning (Thursday) I just found this advertisement at The Confluence. Wow! Talk about ZING!!!





Peter