Heloise,

You say,

"More people have voted for Hillary and Barack than any other Democratic candidate in the history of primaries. Their estimated combined popular vote total: 35,246,910! If you include Puerto Rico's count of 384,578 = 35,631,488. . .

Check the RCP site again. Hillary did NOT win the popular vote. The only way you can say she won is if you don't include the popular vote estimate from those caucus sites or decide to give her all her votes from Michigan while giving Obama none from that state.

Why would you count the PR vote?

Puerto Ricans cannot and will not vote in the general.

Their numbers are meaningless.

I thought all US territories voted in general elections???!! I don't believe they have electoral college representation, but they do get to vote...of course, I could be wrong...it's happened before...

Sorry for all the repeats, folks!!

Andy,

Don't know if this is why, but PR is not a territory; it's a semi-independent Commonwealth. Puerto Ricans not only don't have the vote themselves, they don't have voting reps in DC.

On the other hand, they don't pay federal income tax, either.

Clav, I know MT is being a bitch right now, but click the Publish button once and once only. It should post OK.

My frustrated "Dammit" post was precisely because I know to click the "Publish" button only once and did so.

I have no idea why one click resulted in multiple copies.

This just in a bit ago on Ynetnews. Bush congratulates Obama on Democratic nomination.

US President George W. Bush offered his congratulations to Sen. Barack Obama for securing the Democratic presidential nomination, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said on Wednesday.

"President Bush congratulates Sen. Obama for clinching the Democratic party's 2008 nomination for president," Perino told reporters. (Reuters)

I never have understood that commonwealth thing. I live in the commonwealth of Virginia. I don't know what the hell that means, but at least I get to vote! Wouldn't mind the not paying income taxes thing though...

Why'd they have a primary then? Isn't that like Canada having a primary?

Andy,

Here's a brief description of the structure and function of the Puerto Rican government and its status within the larger framework of its relationship to the US. The description is from Wikipedia.

Puerto Rico has a republican form of government,[21] subject to U.S. jurisdiction and sovereignty.[2] Its current powers are all delegated by the United States Congress and lack full protection under the United States Constitution. Puerto Rico's head of state is the President of the United States. The government of Puerto Rico, based on the formal republican system, is composed of three branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. The Executive branch is headed by the Governor, currently Mr. Anibal Acevedo Vila. The Legislative branch consists of a bicameral Legislative Assembly made up of a Senate upper chamber and a House of Representatives lower chamber. The Senate is headed by the President of the Senate, while the House of Representatives is headed by the Speaker of the House. The Judicial branch is headed by the Chief Justice of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court. The legal system is a mix of the civil law and the common law systems. The governor and legislators are elected by popular vote every four years. Members of the Judicial branch are appointed by the governor with the "advice and consent" of the Senate.

Puerto Rico has limited representation in the U.S. Congress in the form of a nonvoting delegate, formally called a Resident Commissioner (currently Luis Fortuño). The current Congress has returned the Commissioner's power to vote in the Committee of the Whole, but not on matters where the vote would represent a decisive participation.[22] Puerto Rican elections are governed by the Federal Election Commission;[23][24] While residing in Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections, but they can vote in primaries. Puerto Ricans who become residents of a U.S. state can vote in presidential elections.

@#8

wooohooo!!

@#1

Dan,

I supported Obama and I didn't care for Hillary as president. I don't find the idea of Hillary as objectionable as Vice President. I am not sure how many people would feel this way. It may or may not be relevant.

I think Obama has demonstrated considerable strategic skill dealing with the adversities he's confronted in the primaries, from all this religious and race commotion right through dealing with the formidable and (potentially) destructive Clinton campaign. It appears that he is dealing very adroitly with the Hillary situation even as he pulls into the leadeship position in his party.

I hope that if he is elected president that those same skills are applied equally well to handling the economic and foreign affairs problem we in the USA always have to face. I think his performance so far is very encouraging.

IMO we would have been better off the last 8 years if Carl Rove had applied his considerable savvy to solving our economic and policy problems, rather than the trivial goal of merely getting GWB elected. We'd have been better off if Rove had been boss rather than just serving a dimwit effectively in achieving mean political goals.

Here is an interesting article from 2006:

Clinton-Obama Ticket Stirs Fear in GOP

"...some Republican advisers to the White House and leading 2008 hopefuls Sen. John McCain and Rudy Giuliani see the ticket as an easy winner built on the enthusiasm it would generate in Democratic circles.

Their theory is that Clinton would stand a good chance to pick up the states that Sen. John Kerry won in 2004. While not enough to win the election on her own, the addition of Obama would help push closely divided states like Ohio over into the Democratic column, thereby giving the Clinton-Obama ticket the White House."

Personally, I would like to see an Obama/Gore ticket. I think that would be unbeatable.

Gore would never take second spot to a newb like Obama. Obama needs to hook up with a solid, mediocre but respected figure who won't overshadow him. Joe Biden or Bill Richardson would be the best choices. I'd push for Richardson, personally. He might help break Obama out of his marxist rut.

Dave

Yeah, I agree about Gore. When a supporter asked Obama, Obama said something about Vice President being a step-down for Gore. It would have had to have been Gore/Obama. Now that would have been a great democratic ticket.

In any case, Gore has clearly and unequivocally indicated that he's no longer interested in politics, now that he's been anointed the Pope of the Church of Global Warming.

Cindy @#13 -- If, like me, you were old enough to remember Vice President Lyndon Johnson -- or even if you were just old enough to remember Vice President Gerald Ford -- you would appreciate the importance of the choice of vice-presidential candidate.

MAOZ,

I have to say thanks. I wasn't paying enough attention to VP. I guess that preliminarily out of some of the possible choices I like Bill Richardson--a lot.

What really scares me is that Dave @#17 likes Richardson.

Dave? what am I missing?

Clav,

I think it is the Church of Global Smarming.

Dan