1,000 Attend Hillary Event in Puerto Rico

By Jeralyn, Section Elections 2008
Posted on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:02:42 PM EST
Tags: Puerto Rico '08 (all tags)

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Hillary Clinton is back in Puerto Rico where she will remain all weekend. 1,000 showed up to greet her tonight. (In Spanish.)

500,000 are expected to vote out of the more than 2 million registered voters. Recent polls had Hillary up by more than 10 points.

Prison inmates, by the way, are allowed to vote in Puerto Rico, even in the presidential primary. They vote at the prison. (article is in Spanish.)

Here's the translation of the article on Hillary's event tonight prepared from one of our new correspondents, a criminal defense attorney on scene in Puerto Rico: [More...]

San Juan (AP) _ More than a thousand persons gathered Friday night in Old San Juan to close the campaign of Senator Hillary Clinton, who will face Barack Obama this weekend in a primary on the island for the Democratic candidacy to the presidency.

During afternoon hours hundreds of supporters of the former first lady approached the center of the capital and had to wait in line so that agents checked their belongings before approaching the Plaza Darsenas where the event would be held, which would include the participation of the pair of reggae players Rakim and Ken-Y.

Many of those present carried placards endorsing Clinton, and others wore t-shirts, caps and carried water bottles with the Senator’s name. The senator from New York was to arrive at the event at about 6:00 p.m., but the airplane that brought her to the island was delayed and would land at 8:00 p.m.

The multitude gathered in the walled city, close to the piers for cruiseships, danced to the rythm of the merengue orchestra Grupo Manía while it waited for the arrival of the candidate.

It is expected that about 500,000 of the 2.3 million registered voters will vote in the primary on Sunday, in which Clinton and Obama dispute 55 delegates who will participate in the convention in which the nomination will be decided.

Here's an article (in spanish) about how tonight is party time at Plaza Darsenas in Old San Juan with the Clintons.

English description:

It has her campaign leaders in PR explaining how Hillary can still win, and how the vote in PR can help her get there.

José Alfredo Hernández-Mayoral of the PDP and son of former PDP Governor Rafael Hernández-Colón (an Obama supporter), says that “Puerto Rico cannot give away its vote to anyone. Puerto Rico has to give it to the one who has come to earn that vote.”

He also opined that Obama had given no attention to the island during the week when he should have, so “he will pay even less attention even he is not looking for votes. I have no guarantees that Obama is going to pay attention to Puerto Rico.”

[Note: If anyone had told me a week ago I'd be trying to post breaking news in two languages, I would not have believed it. A big thanks to our new correspondent.]

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1,000 Attend Hillary Event in Puerto Rico | 58 comments (58 topical)

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A very festive note to end the evening (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by bjorn on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:06:30 PM EST

well done Jeralyn! Muy bueno. I am hoping for a miracle turnout in PR.

Viva la Hillary! (5.00 / 0) (#2)
by masslib on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:18:33 PM EST

Thanks for the post. :)

I agree (5.00 / 1) (#8)
by americanincanada on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:30:35 PM EST

I think she is going to do far better in PR than anyone expected. I think she might also even take SD. it could be a pretty amazing week.

I have often wondered what would happen if one of them, especially Obama this late in the game, could not 'hold serve'.

Having read the articles in links provided... (5.00 / 0) (#9)
by NO2WONDERBOY on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:31:19 PM EST

one cannot but notice the objective and professional quality of the Puerto Rican journalists in their coverage of the upcoming primary in the island.
Refreshing.
And, I agree with bjorn, that it was a very festive note to end the evening

Song for tonight? The Beatles- Revolution?? (5.00 / 1) (#19)
by Mrwirez on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:49:30 PM EST

You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
all right, all right

You say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We'd all love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well, you know
We're doing what we can
But when you want money
for people with minds that hate
All I can tell is brother you have to wait
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
all right, all right
Ah

ah, ah, ah, ah, ah...

You say you'll change the constitution
Well, you know
We all want to change your head
You tell me it's the institution
Well, you know
You better free you mind instead
But if you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao
You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
all right, all right
all right, all right, all right
all right, all right, all right

I was thinking of the Beatles and (5.00 / 1) (#20)
by Jeralyn on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:51:05 PM EST

"We can work it out" only I wonder if people would realize it was a joke?


How about a nice Willie Colon or Ricky Martin (none / 0) (#23)
by PssttCmere08 on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:57:08 PM EST

song in honor of Puerto Rico...


Sat. night will be a song for Puerto Rico (none / 0) (#29)
by Jeralyn on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:03:53 AM EST

Suggestions welcome.


: cool.....love that music and like someone (none / 0) (#30)
by PssttCmere08 on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:05:43 AM EST

else mentioned La Vida Loca is one....but a true
PR salsa/tropical song would be great....will look for one.

Prison inmates are allowed to vote in Puerto Rico (5.00 / 0) (#32)
by bridget on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:10:31 AM EST

that is v. interesting piece of info

A Captive Audience n/t (5.00 / 3) (#40)
by MO Blue on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:28:35 AM EST

: LOL ... voting all for Hillary I hope (5.00 / 0) (#42)
by bridget on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:37:06 AM EST

That is awesome.... (none / 0) (#57)
by kdog on Sat May 31, 2008 at 09:42:22 AM EST

I wish prison inmates could vote in the 50 states, they are still Americans after all.


Hillary is no Rocky Balboa (none / 0) (#3)
by flashman on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:21:03 PM EST

I never liked that analogy when she made it in Pennsyvania, although I understood why she did. Personally, I'm both a boxing fan and political junkie, so I preferred to have a REAL fighter to compare her to. My first thought was of Felix Trinidad's historic 1999 fight with Oscad De La Hoya. The parallels to this contest is striking. De La Hoya won much of the early rounds, then decided to 'coast' in the later rounds, advoiding any real action to prevent losing on a knockout punch. For his part, Trinidad continued to stalk De La Hoya, tried to run him down, never giving to the 'math' as it was. At the end, it was Trinidad, not De La Hoya raising his arms, signifying victory.

That comparison is even more relevant now that Hillar is in Puerto Rico, a place where Trinidad is a living legend. If only she was a REAL boxing fan, she would know enough to make that comparison; the natives would go wild for her. Damn, wish I could call her and give the advice. BTW, I told my friends that when Hillary was campaigning in Ohio, she got the only endorsement that mattered there; middle-weight camp and Youngstown native son, Kelly Pavlic.

Not a Trinidad fan, but I can see your point. (5.00 / 1) (#22)
by PssttCmere08 on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:56:04 PM EST

However, you must admit no one in boxing has ever been down more times than Rocky and he just keeps getting back up, battling back and winning. In that vein, Rocky is a good pick for Hillary.


I Wasn't Sure If You're Comment Was Serious (5.00 / 1) (#34)
by flashman on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:15:42 AM EST

but if you want to talk about ficticious boxers, what about Louis 'Mountain' Rivera; Anthony Quinn in "Requiem For A Heavyweight", (1962) A movie light years better than Rocky, IMO.


: That was a good one too....but everybody (none / 0) (#43)
by PssttCmere08 on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:37:48 AM EST

loves Rocky and he is well-known and I forgot about Anthony Quinn... :)

Pavlic's fun to watch (none / 0) (#4)
by digdugboy on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:23:47 PM EST

He's smart and clever. Do you think Hillary will suspend after next Tuesday?


Nope (5.00 / 2) (#7)
by flashman on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:29:40 PM EST

I was watching Willie Brown tonight, he said Hillary will take the fight to the convention. I'd love to see that.


She can still go to convention (5.00 / 1) (#10)
by JavaCityPal on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:32:59 PM EST

if she suspends. She keeps all her delegates.


Then What Would Be The Point? (5.00 / 0) (#12)
by flashman on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:36:53 PM EST

Since it's all over then anyway.


Before I Get B**ch Slapped... (5.00 / 0) (#18)
by flashman on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:47:34 PM EST

when I said "all over" I meant the primaries and caucuses, not the campaign. :)


Smack! (none / 0) (#35)
by waldenpond on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:17:55 AM EST

Convention Smack! dude Smack! convention. Smack!

Also, it is my understanding that if she suspends she can still fund raise which can be used to pay current debts or plan for the GE. If she's raising money for the GE, she knows something about Obama IMO.


Please help, I'm stupid (none / 0) (#38)
by Nadai on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:21:53 AM EST

What would be the point of suspending her campaign? If she can fund raise and continue on to the convention, how is a suspension different from a vacation?


Not Stupid (none / 0) (#41)
by flashman on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:31:15 AM EST

just confused, as many of us are. Sorry I can't give you a definitive answer. It's my understanding that she has a limited time to raise money to pay off her campaign debts, although I can't say exactly when that deadline is. I don't think it matter if she suspends her campaign or not. Either way, I think she has to eat the $20M debt.


Thanks! (5.00 / 1) (#49)
by Nadai on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:54:30 AM EST

The whole system seems designed to confuse.


Suspending is different (none / 0) (#45)
by waldenpond on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:45:11 AM EST

than ending. If you end, your primary is over and you are under some conditions. Once the primary process ends you have limited time to set up accounts to transfer debt, and transfer additional funds. She can transfer money forward or even send it back to donors to give to Obama. There is a process for doing all of this. I know there are opinion pieces by bloggers but I actually found an article that explained this. I'll see if I can find it again.

Here's one.


I Get Your Point Now (none / 0) (#46)
by flashman on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:51:38 AM EST

You're talking about suspend vs. quit. I was talking about suspend vs. stay in the contest. I agree if she quits, then that's it. But if she stays in the contest, she can still raise funds. But time is running out, and she will probably not be able to pay off the debt from this campaign.


Really (none / 0) (#50)
by Nadai on Sat May 31, 2008 at 01:00:22 AM EST

what confuses me about the suspension bit is why she has to do anything at all. Unless Obama has the delegates to win, I can't see why she'd quit. But assuming he doesn't, why can she not just go on vacation/fund raise/whatever without making some sort of status announcement? I understand now (sort of, anyway) about the need to raise money if she wants to pay herself back for her campaign loans, but that doesn't seem to be dependent on whether her campaign is over, suspended, or ongoing.


: You're Right, IMO (none / 0) (#51)
by flashman on Sat May 31, 2008 at 01:06:34 AM EST

I don't think suspending her campaign does anything for her. I agree with you, she doesn't need to do anything; stay in the contest, continue to raise funds, continue to lobby the SD's, etc. The ONLY thing I've heard is that if she suspends, Obama MAY help her pay off her debts as some sort of quid pro quo ( even so, there are rules preventing him from giving money directly to her. He would have to convince his donors to contribute ) The whold thing just doesn't pass the smell test if you ask me.
I agree. She just stays in the race, doesn't suspend. She has other options to pay off the debt.

Thanks! (none / 0) (#48)
by Nadai on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:53:35 AM EST

That article was helpful.


$20 million debt? Easy for her to pay (none / 0) (#56)
by felizarte on Sat May 31, 2008 at 08:15:46 AM EST

with writing just one book about this campaign!. No problem. Between a book from her and another from Bill.


I am impressed (none / 0) (#5)
by befuddledvoter on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:26:00 PM EST

Where else would we get such information, but here? Bravo!!


VIVA HILLARY....She is doing well with the (none / 0) (#6)
by PssttCmere08 on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:26:04 PM EST

PR vote and I expect she will do even better than we thought.

Speaking for me only, I don't (none / 0) (#11)
by oculus on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:36:51 PM EST

endorse currently-incarcarated felons being able to vote. Think what this would do to criminal justice issues eternally on the CA ballot?

Personally, I despise ballot iniatives. (5.00 / 3) (#13)
by masslib on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:38:55 PM EST

And, we can thank CA for their ever growing popularity.

I totally support prisoners right to vote.


: There has been evidence presented in at least one (none / 0) (#52)
by TomLincoln on Sat May 31, 2008 at 03:06:10 AM EST

federal case in PR to the effect that one candidate made a deal with the largest prison gang in PR. so while I support their right to vote, it can become problematic at times. As with the rest of the population, many do not choose to vote, although I must admit that the population at large has a much higher voter turnout in GE than most places I've hjeard of stateside. Politics here is truly our national sport.

Well (5.00 / 5) (#15)
by Steve M on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:42:04 PM EST

Think about it this way, if you imprison too many people and a significant fraction of your voters become incarcerated, the system becomes self-correcting!


: Hah! (5.00 / 1) (#33)
by gyrfalcon on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:12:26 AM EST

Bravo, Steve!

: That may happen w/o permitting (none / 0) (#27)
by oculus on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:03:12 AM EST

inmates to vote. Are you following the federal court trustee's threats to wipe out the state's general fund or inmates will be released early?

Well great. (none / 0) (#16)
by masslib on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:42:08 PM EST

That "joke" was extremely anti-woman.

Please stay on topic (none / 0) (#17)
by Jeralyn on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:42:56 PM EST

I'll put up a late night open thread shortly. Still looking for a song.

as if La Vida Loca... (5.00 / 3) (#21)
by p lukasiak on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:54:45 PM EST

wasn't the obvious choice?


: Agreed !! (none / 0) (#25)
by Andy08 on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:59:45 PM EST

that was funny.

song suggestions (none / 0) (#37)
by mexboy on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:21:46 AM EST

Drop it on me by Ricky Martin

la vida es un carnival by celia cruz

carnival..I forget who sings it.

Que te pedi, by La Lupe


Blue Bayou by Linda Ronstadt (5.00 / 1) (#39)
by bridget on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:26:12 AM EST

that is such a fabulous song

maybe another time


Carnaval....is by Celia Cruz (5.00 / 1) (#44)
by PssttCmere08 on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:39:07 AM EST

: it's a different one (none / 0) (#58)
by mexboy on Sat May 31, 2008 at 02:29:59 PM EST

this carnival is a deep house song.

Jeralyn (none / 0) (#24)
by Andy08 on Fri May 30, 2008 at 11:58:49 PM EST

I'm a bit confused with the numbers; I recall reading here at TL that
turnout was expected at 50% but if 500K are expected to vote out of 2 M RV that'd like 25% ...that would be too low for PR (?)

I thought 500,000 seemed low too (5.00 / 0) (#28)
by Mrwirez on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:03:31 AM EST

How closely are they following, and how is everyone's English on the Island?


Turnout is usually more like 80% (none / 0) (#31)
by Jeralyn on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:08:27 AM EST

But this year there aren't a lot of local issues on the ballot so turnout is expected to be much lower. I've seen two articles say 500,000 and one said 600,000. A few weeks ago they were predicting 1 million.

Many may feel the race is over and stay home.

Hillary needs them to come out to boost her popular vote total.

She's spending the whole weekend there. If the news tomorrow night after the RBC meeting doesn't declare her a loser no matter what happens in the last 3 primaries, perhaps they will rally around her and surprise everyone.


: Thanks Jeralyn (none / 0) (#47)
by Andy08 on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:52:08 AM EST

wow... it is then 25%... that's too low for her.
She needs our help turning out the vote in PR; I agree with you earlier assessment she is riding this on the popular vote.
So she needs the people of PR to come out strong for her !!

Registered voters as of local primaries in March (none / 0) (#53)
by TomLincoln on Sat May 31, 2008 at 03:16:55 AM EST

was 2.3 million. The actuyal number of persons who voted in the primaries was as follows:

PNP 751,616
PDP 279,789
Total 1,031,405

The low turnout on the PDP side is explained by the fact that the governor's candidacy was not in play in the PDP, whereas it was in the PNP.

Otherwise you would have seen about equal numbers for the PNP and PDP.

General election turnout is quite another thing.

You can find a tables showing the registered electorate per age and sex and same but within each of the senatorial districts at http://tinyurl.com/6bv35c


Benicio Del Toro supports Barack Obama (none / 0) (#26)
by bridget on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:00:20 AM EST

aaaarrrrgh .... just saw that little picture to the right of that Hillary article and I knew the answer ;-)

He is one of my fav. actors and I just saw him w. Halle Berry in Things We Lost In the Fire.

I guess it's too late to turn Benicio into a Hillary supporter.

Favorite Song: La Vida Loca w. Ricky Martin I would say :-)

Well (5.00 / 0) (#36)
by Nadai on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:18:09 AM EST

I will pretend I didn't read this. :(


Benicio's dad is a criminal defensel lawyer (5.00 / 2) (#54)
by TomLincoln on Sat May 31, 2008 at 03:26:12 AM EST

Gustavo Del Toro, and is a friend of mine. We have tried cases together. Benicio also went to the same school I did in PA (Mercersburg Academy), although quite different periods. I just saw the father on Thursday at the post office. He had just returned from Cannes Film Festival and was really proud of his son winning an award there for the movie Che.

I wish Benicio had kept mum, but its his right to do this, so I grudgingly resign myself to it.


: I am looking forward to Benicio in Che (none / 0) (#59)
by bridget on Sat May 31, 2008 at 02:55:11 PM EST

I know he will be great. Always is. I just saw
Excess Baggage again on Watch Instantly on Nexflix. Seen it at least 3 times by now - this is such an entertaining film. B. is v. charming in that film.
thanks for posting - I enjoyed reading about his father, too.

PR shows the way (none / 0) (#55)
by Prabhata on Sat May 31, 2008 at 06:13:13 AM EST

I hope that the vote is higher than the polls call for Hillary.