Hillary Clinton's letter to Bernie thanking him for his help in 2016.

[Sloumeau]

67. Here's what people need to keep in mind about the 2008 Presidential Primary

The Democratic Presidential Convention took place Aug 25, 2008 – Aug 28, 2008

( Internet link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Democratic_National_Convention )

When did it become pretty clear that Obama was the nominee?: June 3, 2008

When did Hillary Clinton's aides let reporters know that Hillary Clinton was ready to concede?: June 4, 2008

( reference: The Wikipedia.com entitled, "Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential primary campaign" in the section entitled, "Obama becomes the presumptive presidential nominee"

Internet link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Clinton_2008_presidential_primary_campaign#Obama_becomes_the_presumptive_presidential_nominee )

While it is true that Hillary waited to make her concession speech, she allowed her aides to tell reporters that she was ready to concede the day after it became clear that she had no chance to win, so everyone in the Obama camp and a lot of the members of the Democratic Party breathed a collective sigh of relief. However, some Hillary fans took longer to adjust to the idea of Hillary losing than others.

In the Vox.com article entitled, "Bernie-or-Busters are nothing like PUMAs" (Internet link: https://www.vox.com/mischiefs-of-faction/2016/7/28/12302406/bernie-or-busters-nothing-like-pumas ) we learn that there were Hillary fans in 2008 that did not want to give up just like there were Bernie fans in 2016 that did not want to give up. However, there were some important differences:

The yardstick that I and many other political observers have been using is the example of Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential bid. The contest between Clinton and Barack Obama was considerably closer than this year's Clinton/Sanders contest, with Clinton having enjoyed an early advantage in national public opinion polls and endorsements. The 2008 contest was also far more negative than this year's was, with the candidates frequently questioning each other's likability and fitness for office.

It was obvious by spring of 2008 that that math was against Clinton. By the beginning of June, when the last of the primaries were held, she had come up short, and Barack Obama was the presumptive nominee.

But it was still nearly three months until the convention, and many of her ardent supporters were not prepared to give up. They were angry with Obama and his team. They felt he hadn't treated Clinton respectfully, that he'd won unfairly due to a number of disputed delegate counts in Michigan and elsewhere, and that Clinton was the true choice of the party's voters. Several of them created an organization called PUMA (officially, People United Means Action; unofficially, Party Unity My Ass) and threatened to vote for John McCain in the fall.

Judging from public opinion polls and my own observations on the convention floor, Clinton's most ardent backers overwhelmingly followed her enthusiastic endorsement of Obama. PUMA's threats never materialized. No Clinton delegates led a walkout during the convention or tried to shout over speakers.

Because Hillary had allowed her aides to tell reporters back on June 4 that she was ready to concede, she gave her supporters time to be mentally prepared to switch to Obama by the time the convention happened more than 2 months later. When Hillary gave a concession speech to Obama during that convention in August 2008 that was downright glowing, all of the Hillary supporting PUMAs fell in line. The Vox article thinks that the Bernie supporters were different because they were more activists than Democrats. However, I think the Hillary supporters falling in line by convention time was more because of the aides telling reporters so early that she was ready to concede. This gave Hillary's supporters time to accept the fact that Obama had won and to be ready to switch by convention time. Hardcore advocates need time to adjust, and Hillary's leak through reporters gave people the time that they needed.