Boriquas for Barack

In a very interesting development, the Governor of Puerto Rico has endorsed Obama.

Normally, this wouldn't be that big of a deal. Puerto Rico doesn't vote until June 7, the last ballot before the August convention. Normally the presidential candidates for each party has been determined long before any ballot is cast on the island. But with the race for the nomination so close, it's likely that this will go to the convention. Even if one of the candidates won every state left, with proportionate representation, they would need large wins in each to tie it up before the convention. Puerto Rico has 63 delegates to the national convention. That's more than Connecticut and more than twice as many as New Hampshire. What's more, Puerto Rico is does not use proportionate representation. So it's potentially a big prize. Also, since Puerto Ricans can't vote in federal elections, they tend to pay less attention to national races and local endorsements carry disproportionate weight (according to Fair Game, don't know if there's a transcript).

Interesting.

Photo from Flickr user Boss Tweed used under a creative commons license.