Hill, Yes! O., No!

Mantouvalos, a self-described independent who grew up in Boston and said she nearly always votes Democratic, believes party leaders are underestimating the seriousness of the opposition movement. Using various metrics -- e-mails to JustSayNoDeal.com (125,000), databases of organizations involved with the effort, registrants to and hits on selected protest Web sites -- Mantouvalos estimates the coalition of more than 100 groups represents at least 10 percent of the 18 million voters who backed Hillary Clinton during the primary battle.

"This is not the usual reaction to an election loss," Mantouvalos said. "I know that is the way it is being spun, but it's not prototypical. Anyone who doesn't take time to analyze it will do so at their own peril."

How to analyze it, is the question.

"I'm not in a position to gauge how large or small it is," said Becky Carroll, national director of Women for Obama. "Our job is to reach out to all supporters of Senator Clinton's." But she adds: "Far more women want to find ways to come together."

Carroll said the Obama campaign's outreach to women has grown through the primary season to now number 30,000 core organizers and surrogates, who actively recruit online, through block parties, phone banks, book clubs and other outreach efforts. Yesterday, Michelle Obama appeared at a conference for working women with former New Hampshire governor and Senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen. In addition, in the coming weeks the campaign will host a number of "unity events" around the country, some specifically aimed at women.

While acknowledging the "raw emotions" that remain from the closest Democratic presidential competition since primaries became the dominant method of picking a nominee, Carroll said Obama already has "a base of support among women."

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe cited five national polls released in June that showed Obama leading McCain by 12 to 24 percentage points among women. A recent Washington Post-ABC News survey put Obama's margin at five points.

According to the Post-ABC poll, 62 percent of women who backed Clinton say they will support Obama, compared with 25 percent who say they will support McCain. The poll, however, did show a residue of bad feelings from the primary battle (40 percent of Clinton supporters described themselves as dissatisfied with the outcome, and 7 percent described themselves as angry). But on the question of which candidate is trusted more to handle "issues of special concern to women," Obama outpointed McCain 56 percent to 29 percent among all women regardless of political affiliation.

The Obama-McCain comparison is what Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) has been trying to emphasize. A prominent Clinton supporter, Wasserman Schultz said for women who care about reproductive rights, the economy and a range other issues, the only choice is Obama. "The opportunity to elect a woman has been missed this time, and that's deeply disappointing," she said. "While I understand the temptation to gravitate towards a Puma attitude, I don't think that is productive. In fact, I think that is counterproductive. It will result in an outcome, if it becomes widespread, that elects John McCain by accident or de facto."

Not a problem for Cristi Adkins, a registered nurse from Reston. She co-founded Clintons4McCain.com, a site that is more anti-Obama than pro-anybody else. "I think he is dangerous. I think he is unvetted and unqualified," said Adkins, an independent who said she voted for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004 and Al Gore in 2000. She is the kind of woman McCain and the GOP are targeting. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina has been a point person in this effort, recently holding sessions with women in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Defining the Just Say No Deal coalition is not simple. The clearest and strongest sentiments seem to be that party leaders tried to force Clinton out of the race prematurely, allowed sexism and misogyny to go unchecked in the media, and made decisions about the Florida and Michigan contests that were designed to favor Obama.

"Their goal was to stop Hillary Clinton by any means necessary," said Robin Murray, an Indianapolis therapist and social worker whose nine-minute YouTube video, " Mad as Hell/Bitch," detailed examples of sexism in the campaign and became a visual anthem for many feminists.

Given that she is a supporter of abortion rights and holds other beliefs that are at odds with McCain's, Murray was asked why she would consider voting against her own interests. "Whether it's appropriate or whether it will work doesn't matter at this time," she said. "The vote is a protest vote -- be it if I vote for McCain, if I don't show up, or if I write in Hillary's name." Added Murray: "I view it in a holistic way. It says, we will not be controlled and manipulated by these singular issues in order to cast a vote that we feel is deceitful, negative, there is just no pretty way to say it -- they cheated."

This kind of talk drives James Roosevelt crazy. As co-chairman of the DNC's rules and bylaws committee, he presided over the meeting that decided the fate of the Florida and Michigan delegations. He calls the notion that Obama got preordained, preferential treatment "just ridiculous." While he understands the disappointment of Clinton supporters -- his daughter and wife backed the New York senator -- he says the party's rules were "followed and interpreted fairly."

Roosevelt mentions that he has heard numerous allegations about violations that occurred during the Texas caucuses, but notes that to date only one challenge has been filed to a Texas delegate. "There's a process for people to express their concerns," he said, "and that's what it's yielded."

But the Pumas soldier on.

"Our Number 1 goal is we are protesting the 2008 election," said Boston area blogger Darragh Murphy, founder of Puma PAC (whose name stands for "People United Means Action"). "It's not an organized effort to leave the Democratic Party, but to get it back, to bring real unity to the party. Millions of voters are still very unhappy. We're going to still be here on November 5."

Every Sunday, Diane Mantouvalos hosts a conference call for the Just Say No Deal coalition. The overall effort is wearing her down, even as it invigorates her.

"It's just like a campaign," she said. "It's a viral movement that is virtual at this point, but it is moving at the grass-roots level to be a counterpoint to MoveOn.org, which no longer speaks for most of the coalition."

She doesn't think these disparate voices of dissent will soften with time, as party leaders anticipate.

"You ask me what's going to happen? I have no idea. I can just tell you we're going to keep going."

Polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.