Puerto Rico Results: Clinton Over Obama, Scores/Analysis
The Puerto Rico primary results are in: Clinton overwhelmed Obama 68% to 32%.
************* WRAP ******************************
Today Hillary Clinton predictably and decisively defeated Barack Obama in Puerto Rico’s primary. Clinton gained 38 pledged delegates and Obama added 17, putting him within 48 delegates of clinching the Democratic Party’s 2008 presidential nomination.
This is a bit anti-climactic for the Clinton campaign. Yesterday’s Democratic Party resolution of the Florida and Michigan controversies ended yet another avenue for Clinton to change the outcome. Puerto Rico’s primary gave Clinton a net gain of 21 delegates, but this is much too little, much too late.
In her victory speech, Hillary Clinton ended by promising repeatedly to “keep on fighting”. Obama also gave an interesting speech today at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. Obama’s speech focused on defeating John McCain in November.
Tuesday finally marks the end of the road. Soon “every vote will be counted” and Hillary Clinton loses another “talking point”.
I am happy to see Puerto Rico and all states/territories have a voice in the nomination process.
Hopefully you already know this:
Puerto Ricans are full U.S. citizens. Puerto Rico does not have any electoral votes for the general election because it is not a state. Many Puerto Rican voters are residents throughout the 50 states, especially in New York City, Chicago, and other urban areas.
Obligatory demographic discussion:
Obama needs to continue to improve his standing among Latino voters, but he already has some solid Latino support as a strong base on which to build. Latinos typically vote about 60% Democratic to 40% Republican, and often even higher for Democrats. Of course, Puerto Ricans are a separate demographic box than Mexican-Americans and other Latinos, but the voting patterns are similar inside the bigger Latino box. Puerto Ricans are among the most loyal Democratic Party voters of any demographic group. Obama could easily get overwhelming vote percentages from Latinos in the general election against John McCain.
************* BOX SCORE ************************
Puerto Rico
Delegates: Clinton: 38 | Obama: 17
% of vote: Clinton: 68% | Obama: 32%
vote totals: Clinton: 263,120 | Obama: 121,458
keys to the game: Latino working class voters, lower-middle income, Clinton name recognition.
************* SCHEDULE ************************
2 primaries contests remain (the number of delegates at stake is in parentheses):
- June 3rd: Montana (16) and South Dakota (15)
Also, we are waiting for approximately 200 super delegates to announce their intentions.
The last day is Tuesday!
************* STANDINGS ************************
*Delegate Count: Obama needs 48 more delegates to clinch the nomination.
Obama: 2070 (total), 1741 (pledged), 329 (super delegates)
Clinton: 1915 (total), 1624 (pledged), 291 (super delegates)
Edwards: 13 (total), 13 (pledged), 0 (super delegates)
* Updated June 1, 2008, according to CNN.
2,118 delegates required to win the nomination.
Note on delegate counts: each news agency has its own set of numbers. This is primarily due to the complex rules involved in awarding delegates to the candidates. I’ve been using CNN as a baseline, but this is somewhat arbitrary and not an endorsement of CNN. Their website updates the count frequently and I find it easy to use and informative. See MSNBC and FoxNews for alternative delegate counts.
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