Moving on Up...

...but hardly being noticed.

Puerto Rico, sometimes referred to as ‘the 51st state’ was officially approved by the Democratic National Committee to make 2 very interesting changes to their chance to select the Democratic nominee.

First, out of concern that there will be just too many people taking part to make their usual caucus even remotely manageable, they have switched to a primary.

Second, in order to truly allow as many people as possible to take part, they have moved it up two days from Tuesday, June 3rd to Sunday, June 1st.

Primary Day is very important in Puerto Rico anyway. Since Puerto Rican citizens are not able to vote in the general election and Puerto Rico does not have any electors, this is their only opportunity to have a say in who becomes president of the United States. The fact that the nominee has not yet been determined and how Puerto Ricans vote could effect the outcome of the nomination should make this one of the most spirited days in Puerto Rican voting history.

Puerto Rico has 63 delegates, which ranks it as the 5th largest out of the remaining 10 primaries, just ahead of Kentucky and just behind Oregon. Not as large as Pennsylvania and North Carolina, but certainly not insignificant. The switch from a caucus to a primary probably benefits Hillary Clinton although that is more likely to provide her with a final victory rather than enough additional delegates to make a difference in the nomination race.

I appears that this date change (finalized on Tuesday, march 25th) was missed by many members of the media, including some experts on The Chris Matthews Show this Sunday, as they referred to the Democratic nominating process going "all the way to Puerto Rico". I guess saying “going all the way to Montana and South Dakota” isn’t as sexy. Perhaps once they realize the date change, they can start using the concept that as it was for Custer, Montana could be “Clinton’s Last Stand”.