Clinton Emerges Victorious in Puerto Rico, But Win Likely Won’t Propel Candidac

Fox News and AP ^ | June 1, 2008 | Major Garrett

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Sunday: Hillary Clinton waves to a supporter at the
Kasalta Bakery in San Juan, as she campaigns on
primary day in Puerto Rico. (AP Photo)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hillary Clinton won the Democratic presidential primary in Puerto Rico on Sunday, and is expected to return to the mainland with a purseful of delegates.

But lower-than-expected turnout could hamper her camp’s efforts to argue she can attract enthusiastic general election voters and is the better candidate than Barack Obama in the fall race against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.

Puerto Rico’s role was enhanced in the Democratic primary election process this year as its 55 delegates are a critical chunk in the remaining three contests in a marathon primary season that has yet to crown a nominee.

Returns were expected to come in slowly but some pre-vote estimations had Clinton winning about 35 of the total delegates to Obama’s possible 20.

The largely symbolic vote comes with only two contests left on the calendar — Montana and South Dakota, which both vote Tuesday.

“We’re going to win big here today,” Clinton’s campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe predicted.

Turnout could also be less than what Clinton had hoped for — 300,000 to 400,000, rather than the 500,000 to 600,000 that had originally been projected. Kenneth McClintock, the Puerto Rico Senate president, said that he was hearing late reports that voting had picked up. He said 20 percent turnout would be about 460,000 voters.

“We had a very slow start in the morning, but it seems like it’s picking up...

[Enchante]

Unfortunately for Hillary, in this last critical period in which she tries to make progress with remaining Superdelegates, Bill chose this moment to stomp all over her good news by going on the attack against Vanity Fair:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0608/Clinton_attacks_Vanity_Fair.html

He could have waited a few days, even a week or two, and still made his points against VF in a timely manner. But no, he has to try to dominate the discussion this week with his desperate counter-attack against VF.

Wonder how Shrillary is feeling about this “memo” to VF and the public just about now?

[Ebenezer]

Here are the numbers posted on the Puerto Rico Elections Commission website, with all polling stations accounted for (http://www.ceepur.org/Presidenciales08/Div/index.aspx.htm):

Clinton - 263,120 (68%)
Obama - 121,458 (32%)

Clinton carried 77 of the island’s 78 municipalities by majorities ranging from 56% (Loíza) to 80% (Barceloneta). Her only loss was in Culebra, where Obama won with 57% of the vote.

[Ebenezer]

Hey, remember this is Puerto Rico. She most likely ordered five guava pastelillos (pastries).

[SunkenCiv]

OTOH, was the Vanity Fair piece really just another attack on the Clintoons by Obama’s media shills? This is worth knowing because we’ll have to be fighting the media shilling for the next five months.

[Vaquero]

we are no longer the Knights Who Say Ni, but the Knights Who Say Icke Icke Icke P-Tang Zoop-Boing

[Vaquero]

we are no longer the Knights Who Say Ni, but the Knights Who Say Icke Icke Icke P-Tang Zoop-Boing