A
gay
man
is
trying
to
rally
voters
against
Sen.
Barack
Obama,
seeking
to
damage
the
Democrat’s
presidential
campaign
and
punish
the
party
for
disenfranchising
voters.
Will
Bower,
a
Huffington
Post
columnist,
said
he
helped
establish
the
grassroots
group
Party
Unity,
My
Ass
this
month
to
connect
voters
who
are
angry
that
Obama
is
the
Democratic
presidential
nominee.
“I
feel
that
Barack
Obama
is
an
anti-democratically
chosen
candidate,”
he
said.
“I
think
it’s
the
worst
of
the
system
that
has
put
him
at
the
top
of
the
ticket.”
Obama
crossed
the
Democratic
Party’s
revised,
2,118-delegate
threshold
June
3
to
secure
the
nomination.
At
last
count,
Obama
had
won
2,201
delegates.
Bower,
who
strongly
supported
Sen.
Hillary
Clinton
during
the
primary
and
remains
a
registered
Democrat,
said
his
organization
joins
a
growing
list
of
grassroots
groups
that
are
frustrated
that
the
complex
Democratic
primary
process
did
not
better
represent
voters.
“It’s
very
nuanced
and
intricate,”
he
said.
“That’s
what’s
agitated
me
the
most.”
Among
his
chief
complaints
are
that
Obama’s
campaign
did
not
accept
plans
to
allow
new
primary
votes
in
Florida
and
Michigan
after
the
states
violated
party
rules
and
saw
their
primaries
effectively
nullified,
and
that
the
Democratic
National
Committee
did
not
appropriately
handle
the
delegate
disputes
in
those
states.
Bower’s
message
has
captured
the
attention
of
several
media
outlets,
including
MSNBC
and
Fox
News,
which
have
featured
him
on
the
air.
“The
most
important
issue
to
me
is
the
democratic
principle
itself,”
he
said
on
Fox
News.
“I
see
this
season
as
having
put
forth
an
anti-democratically
elected
candidate.
So
for
me,
that’s
the
biggest
issue
of
all.
And
if
we
go
down
a
path,
where,
you
know,
the
parties
don’t
uphold
democratic
principles,
then
who’s
going
to
uphold
democratic
principles?
So
that’s
my
biggest
issue
of
all
and
that
transcends
Republican
or
Democrat.”
A
spokesperson
for
the
Obama
campaign
did
not
respond
to
requests
for
comment.
Damien
LaVera,
a
DNC
spokesperson,
noted
the
organization
has
explained
its
actions
to
resolve
the
primary
disputes
and
is
focused
now
on
defeating
Sen.
John
McCain,
the
presumed
Republican
presidential
nominee.
“We
are
going
to
work
hard
to
compete
for
every
vote,”
he
said,
“but
we’re
confident
that
the
more
voters
learn
about
John
McCain
the
more
they’ll
see
he’s
the
wrong
choice
for
America’s
future
on
everything
from
LGBT
issues
to
the
war
in
Iraq,
the
economy
and
health
care.”
IMPACT
UNCERTAIN
It’s
unclear
what
effect
party
dissenters,
such
as
Bower,
could
have
on
the
general
election.
One
recent
poll
showed
Obama
has
not
united
Democrats
in
the
same
way
that
McCain
has
rallied
Republicans.
According
to
the
poll,
almost
nine
in
10
Republicans
support
McCain,
while
not
quite
eight
in
10
Democrats
back
Obama.
The
poll
of
1,125
randomly
selected
adults,
conducted
June
12-15
for
the
Washington
Post
and
ABC
News,
also
showed
that
nearly
a
quarter
of
those
who
favored
Clinton
over
Obama
in
the
primary
prefer
McCain
for
the
general
election.
Dan
Pinello,
a
gay
City
University
of
New
York
government
professor,
said
such
unrest
was
to
be
expected.
“It’s
so
early
still
in
the
election
cycle,
and
so
soon
after
this
almost
forever
primary
period,
for
there
to
be
any
hope
of
party
unity,”
he
said.
“So
it
doesn’t
surprise
me
that
there
are
a
lot
of
people
who
are
feeling
abused
politically
and
that
they
are
expressing
that
in
one
way
or
another.”
Pinello
said
as
the
Democratic
National
Convention
nears,
though,
party
loyalists
would
come
around.
Bower
said
Party
Unity,
My
Ass,
which
also
goes
by
the
moniker
People
United
Means
Action
(PUMA),
would
not
instruct
its
undocumented
number
of
members
to
vote
against
Obama
come
November.
“At
this
stage
of
the
game,
I’m
planning
to
vote
for
McCain,”
he
said.
“That’s
me
as
an
individual.
I’m
not
speaking
for
PUMA
or
its
members.”
Bower
said
some
group
members,
however,
are
discussing
how
they
might
disrupt
the
Democratic
National
Convention
through
such
tactics
as
coordinating
a
march
or
asking
delegates
to
walk
out.
No
matter
what
happens,
Bower
said
he
would
keep
working
to
empower
voters
who
feel
disenfranchised.
“I
will
keep
speaking
for
PUMA,”
he
said,
“and
let
other
voters
know
that
we’re
there,
we’re
not
alone
and
you
don’t
have
to
fall
into
the
party
line
and
vote
for
Barack
Obama.”
The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by SOVO. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed.
