Monday, March 24, 2008
Puerto Rico primary change approved
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We broke the news over 2 weeks ago that Puerto Rico was moving their date from June 7 to June 1, and changing from a caucus to a primary. Today the DNC approved the change. The change in date was just a clerical error – The primary was supposed to be on the first Sunday in June, and someone must have used the wrong calendar.
But why the change from a caucus to a primary?
A primary will give more voters a chance to take part in the nominating process, said Puerto Rico Democratic Chairman Roberto Prats. He said caucuses were fine in previous years, when the party nominee was already settled and the only task was to choose delegates to attend the party’s national convention.
“Now it’s different,” Prats told the Democratic National Committee’s rules panel in a conference call. “This is the first time in decades that Puerto Rico will be participating in an event of this magnitude.”
Update: The changes in both date and voting method were unanimously endorsed by all
PR State Democratic Committee members, which included pro-Clinton and pro-Obama backers. This was a logistical change, not one intended to give either side an advantage.
Posted by Matt at 7:47 PM 
Interesting that the Puerto Rico Party Chair had previously announced his endorsement of Clinton.
Makes a person wonder if that was part of the reason for the change from a caucus (where Obama usually outperforms Clinton) to a primary, where the field has been a bit more even for Clinton.
Both campaigns approved the change. I think it was just a logistical issue. The June caucus was traditionally probably a sleepy affair, held months after the nominee was decided. Not so this year, and they realized the caucus system would probably just fall apart in the face of the huge number of voters who will vote in Puerto Rico this year.
Good points Mike in Maryland. He outperforms her because caucuses are basicially fraud proof.
Did anyone catch Dan Abrams tonight? Wow- 16,000 Republicans in ONE countly alone in Ohio switched over according to Limbaugh’s “Operation Chaos” and now they may be faced with felony charges!!! LOL – I hope they drag Limbaugh in with the rest of ’em!
I can’t recall how many votes she won Ohio by, but 16K bogus votes in the one county they’re focusing on so far seems like a substantial amount.
The righties will stoop to nothing to get her in… and why not?
Well- even if the party chair is doing all they can to bend over backwards for HRC..
I still say kudos to the Governor of Puerto Rico, Anibal Acevedo-Vila, for endorsing Senator Barack Obama!
:o)
Libby