GOP presidential primary ballots in Puerto Rico, soon to overflow recycling bins throughout the island. (Ana Martinez/Reuters)
With 83 percent reporting, about 112,000 Boricua voted in the GOP's presidential primary in Puerto Rico. As I noted
last night, Mitt Romney took his victory as proof that he had juice with brown people.
"Those people who don't think Latinos will vote for a Republican need to take a look at Puerto Rico," he said.
Of course, 385,000 voted in a meaningless
Democratic primary on the island in 2008 (the June primary came after Obama had clinched a majority of pledged delegates). So if we're going to compare the two, well, there's no comparison. But island Republicans really really
really thought
this was their year!
Adolfo Krans, a political analyst who hosts a daily radio talk show on the island, predicted that the turnout in Sunday’s primary will be high – some projections hover around 400,000, which would be more than the first two primary states to vote – Iowa and New Hampshire – combined – and that Romney holds the upper hand.
“For the first time Republicans will be able to say that we are having a substantial amount of participants going to vote, sending a message that has been lost for many years because for some reason Puerto Rico has always been identified as a place in favor of the Democrats,” Krans said in an interview.
“It’s going to be fun and it’s going to be very positive for the Republican party to send a message that Puerto Ricans are not necessarily in favor of the Democratic party in the United States,” he added.
Ha ha ha! You know what was fun and positive? Seeing Republicans get less than a third of the turnout they expected—further proof that their message isn't resonating, particularly among non-white Southern males.
So yup, Mittens, I took a look at Puerto Rico. And I see nothing in the results that makes me believe you'll get more than the 14 percent of Latinos supporting you in Fox News' latest poll.