political capital for Puerto Rico?

In class we have been talking extensively about the loss of political power of Puerto Ricans. But with the upcoming presidential election that trend could be turning. Puerto Ricans do not get to vote in the presidential election, however there are 55 delegates from the island, and with the close race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, more and more attention is being placed on the political importance of Puerto Rico in this election.

I think that it will be very interesting to see how much political capital Puerto Rico can gain from this election and how much of it they can keep. Jose Sanchez talks about power in relation to interests on page 41. A high interest in A by B (in this case Puerto Rico-A and the presidential hopefuls-B) directly correlates to a high equilibrium of power between A on B. What does this mean for Puerto Rico? I think that it could mean greater political say in the US government, perhaps even a vote for the representative in congress. It could mean return of lands currently held by the US government, or increased federal funding to create jobs. But what I think will the thing to watch will be how much of this attention and promises will be kept after the election. I guess there is only one way to find out, and that is to just sit back, and wait and see.

www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/18/news/CB-POL-Puerto-Rico-Clinton.php