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Showdown in San Juan?

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With Super Tuesday in the books and no clear winner on the Democratic side, it looks increasingly like the delegate-by-delegate war of attrition might continue all the way to the convention. Why, then, is nobody talking about Puerto Rico and its delegates?

Puerto Rico, the final contest in the nomination process, caucuses on June 7, over two weeks after Oregon and Kentucky divvy up their 125 delegates. In Puerto Rico, 63 delegates—more than were at stake in Iowa or New Hampshire—are up for grabs. Is it possible that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama could spend the final days of the campaign crisscrossing the Caribbean island?

In this race in which every delegate counts—Clinton has been mentioning American Samoa (9 delegates, though no one could find it on a map) in her speeches just to shore up a couple of delegates—American overseas territories could prove decisive. And not just in a vacationing sense.

The Virgin Islands allot their 9 delegates on Saturday; Guam votes on May 3. But Puerto Rico is the big prize.

A number of Puerto Ricans have lived in New York and are also, of course, Hispanic—two strikes against Obama. But Obama hasn't been ignoring this Spanish-American War conquest. He visited both Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands in early November, and it wasn't just a trip for body surfing. In Puerto Rico, Obama held a fundraiser in Old San Juan and met with Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila. At the end of 2007, Obama had raised $135,300 in Puerto Rico to Clinton's $112,555.

Watch out, you political crazies: This campaign may extend from the snows of New Hampshire to the beaches of Puerto Rico. Expect both candidates to learn the words to "La Borinqueña" very shortly.

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