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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: Puerto Ricans cannot vote for
president in US general elections, but their Caribbean archipelago
has a starring role on Sunday in White House hopeful Hillary
Clinton’s long-odds comeback bid.
Some 2.4 million electors have a
rare chance in the Democratic primary to make their voices heard in
top-level US politics, despite having little sway over the federal
government that rules them and no seats in Congress.
The former first lady, bidding to
be the first female president of the United States, is hoping for a
thumping turnout to boost her hopes of beating rival Barack Obama in
the nationwide popular vote.
“We are depending on the voters
of Puerto Rico in our fight to secure the nomination,” Clinton
said in an e-mail to supporters. “We have the opportunity to make
history in the Puerto Rico primary.”
Ahead of a fresh campaign swing
through the main island this weekend, Clinton Thursday sprinkled a
little showbiz stardust, announcing the endorsement of Puerto Rican
Grammy award-winning singer Ricky Martin.
“These elections will have
historic repercussions both in the United States and the world.
Senator Clinton has always been consistent in her commitment with
the needs of the Latino community,” Martin said in a statement.
Polling has been sparse and
political sentiment is difficult to gauge on the mainly
Spanish-speaking island, but Clinton is tipped to use her hold among
Latino voters to take a victory.
Obama has an eye on slicing into
the island’s 55 elected delegates to the Democratic national
convention in August and has history on his mind in sight of his
goal of being the first black party nominee.
The Illinois senator leads in
every key metric of the epic Democratic battle—pledged delegates,
top party officials, or superdelegates, and nominating contests won.
But Clinton hopes to emerge from
Puerto Rico and the last two contests in Montana and South Dakota on
Tuesday leading the popular vote, to convince her party that she is
the most viable nominee to take on Republican John McCain.
Obama was only 46 delegates short
on Thursday of the winning post of 2,026 delegates, according to
independent website RealClearPolitics.
The Clinton camp however says
that the number needed to grab the nomination is actually 2,210,
including delegates stripped from Michigan and Florida, punished for
moving their primaries forward into January.
The primary and the unusual
presence of big-time American politicians have sparked some debate
about the island’s political future. One major party in Puerto
Rico advocates retaining the current relationship with the United
States, while another is pushing to become the 51st state. A third,
smaller party favors independence.
Both Clinton, and Obama
campaigned on the island and have walked a fine line on
constitutional issues, saying that it is up to Puerto Ricans
themselves to decide their status.
Puerto Rico is a self-governing
commonwealth of the United States under the authority of an elected
governor, though its head of state is the US president. The
archipelago lies west of the US and British Virgin islands.
--AFP
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