Is The Democratic Suicide Train Running Out Of Steam?

Quick Question:
Which one of these trains is the PUMA Express and which one belongs to the Democratic National Party?

Wouldn’t all of you really like to know just how much MONEY Barack Obama and the DNC have lost by pissing off 18 million+ voters to the point of PUMA and Just Say No Deal emerging, growing, and thriving? I know I would. I have been searching for those exact numbers for some time now and all I have been able to come up with is this.

Is the Democratic Suicide Train starting to run out of steam; or in layman’s terms, is the DNC running out of money? Oh yeah…yes..they..are. I know that their train hasn’t completely derailed yet, but I am thinking that we are watching the train wreck happen in slow motion right before out eyes; only difference is, and I can only speak for myself, I’m eating popcorn, drinking cola, and trying really, really, really hard not to quote Cusco from The Emperor’s New Groove…. uh-huh, uh-huh….uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh!

We all knew that the money fountain was going to dry up when Michigan, Florida, and Clinton were disrespected at that meeting. I really don’t think that the DNC thought there would be such an outcrying from the American public about their breaking their own rules about fair reflection. Then add the last four weeks of flip-flops of the presumptive court jester, Barack Obama; NAFTA, FISA, Faith Based Initiatives, Abortion…I am wondering what will tomorrow bring. Barkety-bark declaring that he really is a Republican instead of just playing one on TV?

My commitment to burying the DNC in their own fascist garbage began with the very undemocratic closed door meeting and secret votes at the RBC on May 31st concerning Michigan and Florida’s disenfranchised voters. I have said before that watching that death of democracy was like hearing about the Challenger Space Shuttle crash in ’86. At that point, I watched PUMA/Just Say No Deal explode onto the scene due in part to the halving of votes and the theft of delegates, among numerous other issues.

How could anyone forget our heroine, Harriet Christian, whose YouTube video has 1,537,734 hits as of today? The MSM would like for Americans to think that Puma voters are all old, white, women who are angry and in the throes of grieving. Not Likely….I’m hearing from more and more PUMA Men, (a number of them former military), who take the Constitution, their military oath, and “one person, one vote” more seriously than the 2nd Amendment. According to a very close friend and one of these former military men, “the right to bear arms is not about hunting and fishing”….”the DNC is not representing their own people; they are only representing the elite, big business, big corporations and they are promoting the republicans more than their own party….and what is all that superdelegate sh** about?” To say they are not happy would be an understatement of gigantic proportions, but grieving….out of the question.

Here is the timeline on such matters.

Back on March 21st, the LA Times had this say:

As the host city, Denver must raise $40.6 million by June 16 for the party’s Aug. 25-28 convention. This week, the host committee missed its second fundraising deadline, and Mayor John W. Hickenlooper said he believed the drawn-out battle between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois had distracted potential donors.Denver’s host committee fell $5 million short of its goal to raise $28 million by March 17. Committee officials declined to comment, but said in a written statement that they had commitments for $28 million.

And then we have the Denver Post weighing in on June 18th,

No wonder taxpayers are getting antsy about exactly who might be stuck footing the bill for the Democrats’ four-day party here in August.

The host committee for the Democratic National Convention fell $11 million short of its total fund-raising goal, collecting just $29 million as of this week’s final deadline.

Right now, the only back-up plan is to continue raising money. And considering how difficult it’s already been, that gives us pause.

City Auditor Dennis Gallagher sent a letter to Mayor Hickenlooper last week saying that rumors are “swirling” that taxpayers could be on the hook if the host committee doesn’t raise the needed cash.

Hickenlooper has said no taxpayer money will be used to hold the event, and that’s good. His spokeswoman, Sue Cobb, reiterated that this week, saying the city wouldn’t loan money to the convention, either.

The host committee has begun combining parties and recently canceled a media walk-through of Pepsi Center to cut expenses. So be it.

It’s OK that Denver wants to put on its best face for the DNC but, as Hickenlooper has said, taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for it.

Also on June 18th, we read this in the Washington Post:

DENVER — The committee that will host the Democratic National Convention announced this week that it is $10 million short of the $40.6 million it promised to raise by mid-June.

According to the NY Times today:

For all Senator Barack Obama’s success at raising money and generating excitement among voters, he faces a daunting challenge as he prepares to claim the nomination in August: a Democratic convention effort marred by costly setbacks and embarrassing delays. For the Democratic Party, the danger is that a poorly run convention, or one that misses the mark financially, will reflect badly on the party and raise questions about Democratic management skills. And more worrisome for the Obama campaign is that it will be left with the bill for overruns or fund-raising shortfalls, and that the candidate will have to compete in raising money against a convention effort desperate for cash. (Emphasis: mine)

What hasn’t reflected badly on the Democratic Party and their management skills? That they want this to be a “green” convention?

Also, I read about the Invesco Field fiasco, but Shtuey over at Oh…My Valve! has a great story about that. Check him out on the Blogroll column on the left.

PUMAs, I will keep you updated as I search for the answer to that pesky money question.

UPDATE:  July 9, 2008

Here is a video from CNN titled Clinton Donors Balk at Obama that might help confused Americans understand why Pumas exist.   We Don’t Like Him, We Don’t Trust Him!

UPDATE: July 15, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/us/politics/06convention.html?ref=politics
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/mar/21/nation/na-denverdems21
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/17/AR2008061702282.html
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_9616627

Bullet train photo courtesy of Uwe Zimmer

Locomotive photo courtesy of Ribbon Rail