There are only three Democratic primaries left: Puerto Rico on June 1 and Montana and South Dakota on June 3. With 55 delegates up for grabs, Puerto Rico should not be ignored.

The archipelago’s political system is confusing, and Time does a great job of explaining some of its facets. Here are some facts I’ve pulled from various parts of the article:

- Rather than being divided into Democrats and Republicans, Puerto Rico has a commonwealth party and a statehood party.
- The “commonwealthers” are associated with the color red, but are more likely to favor Democrats.
- The “statehooders” are associated with the color blue, but are more likely to favor Republicans.
- Puerto Ricans can vote in the presidential primary, serve in the U.S. military, pay U.S. payroll taxes and receive Social Security benefits.
- Puerto Ricans cannot vote in the general election, are not represented in Congress, do not pay U.S. income taxes, and have their own Olympic team and Miss Universe candidate.

It’s clear that candidates have to tailor their speeches and issues to campaign in Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans won’t care as much about U.S. income tax issues - they don’t have to pay anyway - but they’ll certainly have an interest in Social Security issues. And both statehooders and commonwealthers are interested in the candidates’ positions on whether Puerto Rico should be granted statehood or stay a commonwealth, according to CNN. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama say Puerto Ricans should be able to self-determine.

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MSNBC’s First Read has a great roundup of articles and blogs analyzing the relationship between Sen. John McCain and President George W. Bush. Most say McCain continues to distance himself from the unpopular president - and especially today, according to the blurb they posted from The Wall Street Journal:

“President Bush and John McCain will appear together at a fund-raiser in Phoenix Tuesday, the first time in nearly three months that the Republican presidential candidate will be seen beside the man he hopes to succeed. With Mr. Bush’s popularity at a record low, the McCain campaign has made sure that television footage of the two men together will be minimal. The maneuvering is the latest example of Sen. McCain’s aggressive effort to separate himself from the White House, even as he embraces many of the policies that Mr. Bush has promoted throughout his presidency.”

Further, the Washington Post’s The Trail blog mentioned that McCain broke with Bush over his North Korea stance yesterday in an opinion article that he co-authored with Sen. Joe Lieberman.

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Over the course of this primary season we’ve all been a little on edge, working at a level that usually calms down around Super-Tuesday. But with a hotly contested race in the Democratic Primary, everyone has been working to the edge.

So, we can understand when comments or jokes are made that offend some people. However, we also remember that these people are running for an election and should be a little more careful with what they say.

From Senator Obama’s “bitter” comments, to last weeks comments by Senator Clinton on the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy; everyone needs to be a little more careful.

Fox analyst, Liz Trotta found that out as well.

Discussing Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s reference last week to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy during the 1968 primary season, the Fox analyst, Liz Trotta, said Sunday that “now we have what some are reading as a suggestion that somebody knock off Osama, um, Obama — well, both, if we could.”

Apparently startled, Eric Shawn, the Fox News anchor, said, “Talk about how you really feel,” as Ms. Trotta laughed.

Trotta apologized tonight, stating it was a poor attempt at humor; but it serves as another reminder of just how tense things are, and how careful everyone needs to be in this age of instant communication.

The Federal Election Commission has been having a difficult time keeping up with the massive fundraising and expense efforts by the major candidates in this primary season.

According to CNN Clinton and Obama have now collected $195 and $240 millions respectively, collectively the two almost have reached half a billion dollars, just in the primary.

Now that’s a lot of money, just temper that thought when you realize how shocked people were when we talked about Bush’s $250 campaign war chest. It is scary to think that the actual campaigning hasn’t even technically begun for the Democrats, because they don’t officially have a nominee yet, and they have almost raised and spent twice what the entire GOP spent in 2004.

Obama’s January fundraising report, detailing the $23 million he raised and $41 million he spent in the last three months of 2007, far exceeded 65,536 rows listing contributions, refunds, expenditures, debts, reimbursements and other details. It was the first report to confound basic database programs since 2001, when the Federal Election Commission began directly posting candidates’ fundraising reports online in an effort to make political money more accessible and transparent to voters.

Apparently by March, the Clinton campaign reports had followed suit and were no longer short enough to fit in the 65,536 rows offered in Excel.

For those who wanted too, you can use Microsoft Access or purchase Microsoft Excel 2007, which are both sophisticated enough to handle the massive reports prepared by the Democratic candidates.

The money is still rolling in.

Senator Clinton has often touted now that she is the candidate who can win in November, that she, not Senator Obama, will be the one to make it a Democrat in the White House, because she is the Democratic candidate who can attract the working, middle-class, white American vote.

It has been the mostly unstated, and sometimes direct, argument from the Clinton campaign that Senator Obama will be unable to carry these same voters in the general election come November.

The New York Times ran an article today that disagrees.

Ruy Teixeira, a Democratic analyst of voting trends, wrote the book on the core issue in the endgame of the party’s nomination fight. Its title is “America’s Forgotten Majority: Why the White Working Class Still Matters.”

One might conclude that Mr. Teixeira is troubled by Senator Barack Obama’s performance in recent primaries against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton among the voters known by nicknames like Joe Sixpack or Nascar Dad or Waitress Mom.

Actually, he is not.

Interesting, most of the media I’ve seen or heard in the past three months has told me the woes the Obama campaign would face in the fall if it couldn’t prove now that it had the support of the working class.

Apparently Teixeira doesn’t agree.

But Mr. Teixeira, who is not backing either candidate, does not buy that argument. He dismisses intraparty contests as “pretty poor evidence” of whether Mr. Obama, as the Democratic nominee, could attract the blue-collar support he would need against Senator John McCain, the presumed Republican nominee.

No Majority Needed

And how much blue-collar support would Mr. Obama need? Not a majority, said Mr. Teixeira. Though blue-collar Democrats once represented a centerpiece of the New Deal coalition, they have shrunk as a proportion of the information age-economy and as a proportion of the Democratic base.

Head over to The New York Times and read the rest of this interesting piece.

I thought this cartoon by Walt Handelsman, who I think is one of the best political cartoonists, is a good fit with Clintons announcement.

No OFF Switch

In the New York Daily News today, Hillary Clinton announced why she is continuing on in the race, despite many telling her to step down. 

“I am running because I still believe I can win on the merits. Because, with our economy in crisis, our nation at war, the stakes have never been higher - and the need for real leadership has never been greater - and I believe I can provide that leadership. [Read more →]

Barack Obama didn’t seem to make any big deal about what Hillary Clinton said in a Friday interview, where Clinton used the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy as an example to illustrate her point. Obama, who is in Puerto Rico, responded about the RFK remark. 

From Reuters: ”I have learned that when you are campaigning for as many months as Senator Clinton and I have been campaigning, sometimes you get careless in terms of the statements that you make and I think that is what happened here,” Obama said in an interview with Radio Isla Puerto Rico during a campaign visit to the Caribbean Island and U.S. territory.”-Barack Obama

Thats it. He wasn’t upset, offended, or hurt. He was empathetic. 

I wonder if Keith Olbermann has calmed down yet? After last nights rant, I sure hope so. 

Forget “Bittergate” - Hillary Clinton’s RFK comment Friday is perhaps the biggest blunder of the campaign so far.

When I first heard what she said, I - like Laura - didn’t understand why the comment was so offensive. In an attempt to illustrate that primary seasons have run long before, she simply mentioned that Bobby Kennedy was assassinated during his presidential campaign in June. If you watch the video that Laura posted here, it is clear that she emphasized the word “June” to make her point:

“My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.”

The controversy focuses not on Clinton’s intent, but the implication of what she said. Her comment could be interpreted as, “Barack Obama could be assassinated, so I should stay in the race just in case.” Oops.

I don’t believe for a second that she meant that. But the damage has been done. She has awakened memories of revolutionary leaders who have been tragically assassinated in their prime. RFK. JFK. Martin Luther King, Jr. Fearing for Obama’s safety is not a new concept, but she has pushed it to the forefront of everyone’s minds. Click here to read the story of one Daily Kos diarist who was deeply offended by Clinton’s words.

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Mike Huckabee set the record straight. He is not seeking out the Vice Presidency from presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, contrary to recent media reports. In a sit down interview yesterday in Seattle, that I attended with colleague Will Mari, I asked Huckabee why he chose to seek out the Vice Presidency from McCain. Huckabee, who was wearing cowboy boots with his suit, was quick to respond.  [Read more →]

By Will Mari, SeattlePoliticore

Former Arkansas governor and GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee was in town Thursday, promoting music education for Music Aid Northwest after speaking to a meeting of the Family Research Council.

Between making the rounds on local rock and conservative radio stations, he sat down with Laura Mansfield and I for a wide-ranging interview. Here’s a transcript of some of our questions and his answers. It’s raw Huck, to speak. 

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