PR: Si Mi, FL/MI

On Fareed Zakaria's new show GPS, the E.U.'s Ambassador to the U.S. (who knew there was one?), an Irishman named John Bruton, said in a discussion about foreign views of the Presidential campaign that, speaking for the foreign community, "we have learned about new territorial units in the U.S. and their relation to the political process, of which we had never heard before."

Puerto Rico--about to report as I type--is certainly one of those, and this is its coming-out party. The boriquenos get more delegates than KY, more than Tuesday's MT/SD combined, and a national candidate participating in the Puerto Rican primary is entering a major minefield. Hillary is expected to have the edge due to a good regard for Bill and the strong connection with Hillary's New York.

Their moment will pass quickly, though: the outcome of the FL/MI issue in the Rules and Bylaws Committee gives HRC-dom little support. Florida is settled, and Michigan's dispute is petty. Wedneday, June 4 will be the day Obama clinches the nomination.

It's good news for Obama, but it will cause me some loss on the CNN Political Futures Market: I made a slight bet in favor of the ambiguous proposition that the contest "[be] resolved before the final primary on June 3". Close parsing suggests that refers to the moment the polls close in SD, but I'm not yet sure. The proposition seems doomed, though, unless a lot of SD and newly-enfranchised FL/MI Delegates (pronounced "feel-me's") wake up Monday morning and decide to put an end to it.

P.S. P.R. Comes in 2-1 for Clinton (CNN exit poll: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/epolls/#PRDEM). The most interesting aspect appears to be the statewide question and its relation to Former Governor Acevedo, who endorses continuing special Commonwealth status over statehood and Obama. Those who liked him strongly, or felt P.R. status should remain as Commonwealth, preferred Obama. Otherwise, support was pretty uniform for Clinton.