Which Way for Puerto Rico? Ask McClintock.

Puerto Rican Sen. Kenneth McClintock (Photo by Richard Whittaker)

Many Democrats wonder how Sen. Barack Obama hopes to heal the divisions within the party caused by the bitter primaries. Puerto Rican Sen. Kenneth McClintock, the former co-chair of Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in the territory, argues that Obama's anti-war stance will ensure support in Novem­ber from one Clinton-backing voting bloc: the Hispanic community.

McClintock, outgoing president of the Senate of Puerto Rico, was in Austin July 2 for the national forum on education policy hosted by the Education Commission of the States, a nationwide, state-sponsored compact on education policy. McClintock gained national notice for helping deliver a 68% to 32% primary victory for Clinton in the territory. "Hillary and Bill have been strongly committed to Puerto Rico throughout their lives," he said, pointing to her authorship of federal legislation specific to the islands and ensuring its inclusion in other bills. Obama's activism for Puerto Rico was "more watered down than Hillary's," he said, as reflected on the campaign trail. "He only committed 20 hours of his time and 24 hours of Michelle [Obama]'s to Puerto Rico," said McClintock. "Between Hillary, Bill, and Chelsea, they committed 15 full days. She was strong when she started, because of her record, and she ended up stronger."

McClintock sees similarities to Texas' primaries, where Clinton gained early support from Hispanic superdelegates and performed well in heavily Hispanic districts. But he stressed that Obama should not panic about disgruntled Clintonites becoming Republicans: firstly because of party loyalty but secondly because of the high number of Hispanics in the military. "We're prepared to pay our fair share in national defense, but when you see a war that goes on and on and is floundering and you don't know what the mission is, it can scare you somewhat to have a McCain saying this could be an open-ended war."

Yet this perceived Democratic bias among Hispanics could be slowing down the push for Puerto Rican statehood. The U.S. Congress is considering House Resolution 900, the Puerto Rico Democracy Act, which would enable the first referendum in 110 years on moving the territory toward statehood. McClin­tock argues that an enfranchised Puerto Rico could well be a swing state: While Democrat-sponsored social programs are popular, Puerto Ricans are generally highly religious and pro-life, making it fertile ground for Republicans. "When you scratch a Puerto Rican, what you find is a socially conservative person," he said.