Stealth PUMAs = Silent Majority

UPDATE:  Recommended by RD:

17 Posted on October 31, 2008 by riverdaughter

There is a post on alegre’s corner that every Democrat should read. It’s written by Pacific John who, along with Michelle Thomas and John West, was one of the forces behind the 300 Delegates petition to get Hillary’s name in nomination at the convention.

Stealth PUMAs are a significant number among undecided voters, as per the latest Associated Press-Yahoo News poll of likely voters released today:

One in seven, or 14 percent, can’t decide, or back a candidate but might switch, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll of likely voters released Friday.

Who are they? They look a lot like the voters who’ve already locked onto a candidate, though they’re more likely to be white and less likely to be liberal. And they disproportionately backed Hillary Rodham Clinton‘s failed run for the Democratic nomination.

For now, their indecision remains intact despite the fortunes that have been spent to tug people toward either McCain, the Republican, or the Democrat Obama. Fueling their uncertainty is a combination of disliking something about both candidates and frustration with this campaign and politics in general.

We’ve estimated that almost 30% of Hillary Clinton supporters (CNN says 4 in 10) will not vote for Obama.  Let’s do some math: 30% of 18 million are 5.4 million Democrats that are voting McCain, McKinney, Nader, etc., but not Obama.  That’s a lot more than “a shrieking band of paranoid holdouts.”

But the survey — which has repeatedly quizzed the same group of 2,000 adults since last November — shows considerable churning below the surface. Of those now changeable, nearly three-quarters said in June their minds were made up, and half said so just last month.

Can anyone guess what happened that month?

Almost four in 10 persuadables lean toward McCain, (there’s that 4 in 10 ratio again!) and about as many are considering backing Obama, while the rest are either undecided or lean toward other candidates. Viewed another way, about one in every 10 supporters of Obama or McCain says he could still change his mind. Even so, persuadable voters could be especially fertile hunting ground for McCain in the closing days of a contest in which most polls show him trailing.

These people trust Obama less than decided voters do to handle the economy, the Iraq war and terrorism. They are less accepting that the Illinois senator has enough experience to be president. And by a 17 percentage-point spread, more see Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin favorably than unfavorably, unlike the narrow majority of voters already backing a candidate who dislike her.

Not the color of Obama’s skin (which is my same cinnamon brown, BTW) – but Obama’s LACK of experience is turning off voters, as it did us waaaaaay back in the primaries.

Persuadable voters don’t differ noticeably from those who have made up their minds by gender, age or education, though more of them report feeling stress from personal debt, according to the poll.

Meaning, anyone in the middle & lower income groups, a.k.a. working class, blue & pink collar, labyrinth cube farm workers, retirees, – i.e. the invisible as Hillary Clinton said (and I’m one of them).

Half are independents, more than double their proportion among decided voters. But, as with decided voters, more persuadables are Democrats than Republicans. Four in 10 supported Clinton’s candidacy this spring.

“She got cheated, I thought,” said Chris Markle, 25, who’s from Schenectady, N.Y., and now leans toward McCain. “I’m kind of upset about that.”

BINGO!!!!!!!!  There’s the smoking gun!  Evidence of a mad-as-hell-and-ain’t-drinking-the-UnitySchmoonity-KoolAid Hillary Clinton supporter who will not support the Democratic ticket!!  We are not alone!  What do we call those people again?  Gee, they had that funny name like  some wild cat and another name for a donkey or something.  Why are they so pissed off again?  Oh yeah!  Caucus voter fraud.  Rampant sexism.  Biased media.  Clinton won the majority of the popular vote.  RBC meeting hijacked delegates and votes which Clinton won to cushion Obama’s delegate pile.  I can go on & on, but let’s get back to the story here.

Numbers like this SWING a state to etiher blue or red.  Why do you think Obama & McCain are in Florida, Ohio and Pensylvannia  almost everyday this week?

Fret not, my PUMA siblings.  Everything that we’ve inherently felt with determined conviction as lifelong Democrats, what brought us here to this blog, what we’ve witnessed fisrthand will come true.  The DNC, the media and incessant wailing of the Oborg Collective will not silence us on November 4th like they did on May 31st, 2008.  We are the silent majority and justice will prevail on election day – IF WE GET OUT AND VOTE.

On that note, I want to end it with Tito the Builder, who’s gave a very memorable interview last night on Hannity & Colmes.  What I love about Tito is that he is a Latino that echoes everything I’ve heard Latinos in Tampa, Orlando and Miami say about Obama’s charismatic yet oppressive tactics live Chavez in Venezuela or Fidel Castro in Cuba throughout the months of the primaries and during the GE (remember last SUSA poll said 52% of Floridian Latinos are voting for McCain).  So grab your tacita of Café Bustelo and enjoy (h/t HillBuzz)

Happy Halloween & ¡que viva los PUMAs!