PUMA

No, I am not referring to the sneaker or Erykah Badu's daughter.

PUMA stands for Party Unity My Ass, and is more loudly being uttered by Sen. Hillary Clinton supporters who believe the Democratic nomination was stolen from their candidate. Many are asking for a controversial roll-call vote to show their discontent at the end of this month in Denver, site of their party's national convention at which Sen. Barack Obama is expected to be coronated the new Democratic leader.

It appears the PUMA people now have added ammunition to help buttress their claims.

Clinton would be the Democratic presidential nominee if John Edwards had been caught in his lie about an extramarital affair and forced out of the race last year, insists a top Clinton campaign aide, making a charge that could exacerbate previously existing tensions between the camps of Clinton and Obama.

Clinton supporters say the "cover-up" cost their candidate the election. Some Obama supporters quietly, and reluctantly, may agree.

Clinton apparently knew about former senator/vice presidential/presidential candidate Edwards' extra-curricular activities, but kept mum about it. Clinton also rejected advice from her staff to trash Obama, painting him as unpatriotic as Republican operatives are now doing.

These latest revelations debunk claims that the Clintons will try to win at any cost, no matter what or who they have to step on. That's definitely been proven a false narrative by now.

More seriously, however, is the trouble Obama seems to be having among white middle and working class voters, many of whom are among the PUMA people. Realistically, Obama can not win the White House without them.

There is a lot at stake in the upcoming election, including two to three U.S. Supreme Court seats, universal health care, wages, war and more.

For those who want to see Obama win, it seems to me the questions that should be uppermost in black voters' minds - all progressive voters for that matter - is whether the Democratic Party can get its act together to win in November, and if so, how?

Party Unity My Ass... well if it isn't there, Democrats better find it somewhere!