Why is Obama losing? In an acronym: PUMA!

Newsweek notes that McCain trails Obama in the polls by a mere 45-42, while Hillary would lead 49-43. Remember, the Reuters/Zogby poll has McCain five points over Obama, and at least one elctoral scoreboard gives McCain more than the winning 270 votes.

So what accounts for Clinton's gains? Simply put, disgruntled Clintonistas. As MSNBC's First Read team reported this morning, "the biggest reason why this race remains close in this Dem-leaning political environment is because of Obama’s inability to close the deal with some of Clinton’s supporters."

And how will the Obots overcome this "inability to close the deal" with the PUMA contingent? The answer is obvious: MORE INSULTS!

From DU:

I don't get why she needed to be consulted?! Is it normal for the presumptive nominee to consult their former opponent about Veep choice?! What utter nonsense, conceit, and arrogance. Ugh!!

This next bit comes from a jokey Kos piece about Obama picking Jesus as a running mate:

But other Democrats had more muted reactions. Senator Hillary Clinton, who finished second to Obama in the Democratic nomination battle, issued a terse statement that simply said that Obama had made an "excellent choice." But many of Clinton’s supporters during the Democratic nomination battle expressed disappointment at the decision to select Jesus. "After Senator Clinton’s historic run," said one supporter, "I’m saddened that Obama couldn’t find any women who were qualified to be Vice-President."

From an O-blog:

Did anyone really believe Obama intended to reward ruthless conniving bitch Hillary with the Vee Pee nom?

Here's Dahlia Lithwick of Slate (brought to you by MSNBC, natch), describing the typical Hillary Harridan:

She's hurt, angry, rejected, and she's willing to take the whole damn place down with her. She is Lady Macbeth. She is Jane Eyre's deranged pyromaniac Bertha Mason. She is Cruella DeVil and the biblical Lilith. She is Snow White's wicked stepmother, Miss Havisham, and Emily Bronte's ghostly Catherine Earnshaw. She is the oldest literary type around—the bitter madwoman, hellbent on revenge and willing to act against her own interest to win some respect. And now, to hear the media tell it, she is a Hillary Holdout; she's a PUMA (Party Unity My Ass); and she belongs to 18 Million Voices.

These disgruntled women—whether they plan to vote for John McCain, sit out the election, or simply gobble up airtime—are tacitly working toward electing McCain...

Lithwick's piece is too clever by half. It attempts to castigate the media for imposing the "harridan" stereotype on the PUMAs, yet it also blames the PUMAs (not the media) for that very stereotype. Talk about blaming the victim and trying to have it both ways...

On this occasion, any attempt to escape one literary stereotypes means running headlong into another. Perhaps Lithwick would prefer that Hillary supporters re-enact the tableau presented at the end of Liliom, which you may know as the musical Carousel:

"I didn't make it up, Mother. Honest, there was a strange man here, and he hit me hard. I heard the sound of it, Mother, but it didn't hurt. It didn't hurt at all. It was just as if he kissed my hand... But is it possible, Mother, for someone to hit you hard like that -- real loud and hard -- and it not hurt you at all?"

"It is possible dear, for someone to hit you, hit you hard, and it not hurt at all."

Hillary supporters have two choices. They must either embody the "Carousel" stereotype -- "Go ahead and hit me; I don't mind" -- or they must stand up to their attackers. If they choose the latter course, some people will refer to them as harridans. So be it. Confrontation still has more honor.

If the Obots want to name-call the PUMAs, let 'em. That's how those damned self-defeating fools got themselves into their present sorry state in the first place.