THOMAS: From PUMAs, barely a growl

By Wendi Thomas, Special to the Rocky

Published August 26, 2008 at 11:32 p.m.
Updated August 27, 2008 at 12:03 a.m.

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Word is, they're out there - female voters still incensed that Sen. Hillary Clinton is not the Democrats' pick for the presidency.

Some call them PUMAs - Party Unity My Ass - but I call them silly and shortsighted. Grown women behaving like toddlers who were told "no" when they expected only to hear " yes."

But at the Democratic National Convention and to the delight of party organizers, these pouters are hard to find.

If they were to be spotted, surely they'd be at Tuesday's morning Democratic Women's Caucus at the Colorado Convention Center. But there were few Hillary shirts, hats or buttons in sight.

The speakers spoke of unity and the crowd of several hundred seemed in agreement.

"I was such a proud supporter of Hillary Clinton," said Ellen Malcolm of the pro-choice EMILY's List organization to a room of hundreds of women (and some men). "But right now, I'm fired up to elect Barack Obama."

The few boos were quickly drowned out by chants of "Obama, Obama!"

Among those who campaigned for Clinton but have made peace with Obama's candidacy are Joyce Lindsay, of Washougal, Wash.

When Clinton suspended her campaign, "I was brokenhearted," Lindsay said. But she never considered switching parties.

"I'm a Democrat," she said simply.

And party unity means more - more than the glib satisfaction that comes from holding grudges, more than the momentary glee of nominating Clinton from the floor today, as some delegates plan to do.

The party comes first, but not to the brief parade of PUMAs who blustered by Tuesday afternoon, leaving in their wake the sour smell of bitterness outside the state convention center.

Clinton supporter Simone DuBois, of Oakland, Calif., is so incensed that in November she's going to vote for Sen. John McCain.

Obama's failure to choose Clinton as a running mate "shows horrific judgment on his part," said DuBois, who was visibly upset. (If I'd had a paper bag, I would have suggested she breathe into it. Deeply.)

McCain has the experience needed, she said - and she said this like she's convinced herself it's true: "It's where we need to take the country."

This from a woman who has never voted Republican in her life - but will now - because she didn't get what she wanted.

Never mind that Clinton and Obama differed little in their overarching vision for the country - expanded health care, improved schools, repaired foreign relations, a withdrawal from Iraq and abortion rights.

And never mind that Clinton herself made it crystal clear what she wants her supporters to do.

"Whether you voted for me or you voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose," Clinton said Tuesday night in a fiery speech at the Pepsi Center.

"We are on the same team and none of us can afford to sit on the sidelines. It's a fight for the future and it's a fight we must win together," she said, appearing more presidential than she ever did on the trail.

"Let's elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden . . . "

DuBois could learn a thing or two from delegate Ernestine Weaver, of Forrest City, Ark., a die-hard Clinton supporter.

"I think Hillary would have been a good (vice presidential) choice, but that's the past," said Weaver, 70.

"The Scripture says, don't let the sun go down on your wrath," reminded Weaver, an evangelist with the Church of God in Christ. "We have to realign ourselves now."

Weaver doesn't make light of the disappointment Clinton supporters feel and felt, but with a shrug, said, "I often don't get my way," recalling her work with union organizing.

In the 1970s, the title of organizing director routinely given to white men was withheld from her when her experience and work would have made it appropriate. Instead, a label was created just for her: organization specialist.

"But because I believed in labor, I worked as hard as if I had that title," said Weaver.

For all of those who are still harboring resentment at Clinton's loss - and plan to vote for McCain, or not at all - Weaver has one question:

"Would you rather destroy America . . . because you didn't get your way?"

thomasw@commercialappeal.com

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