“Don’t cry for me, Puerto Rico.”

Waiting outside the metal detectors, chanting "Hil-la-ry! Hil-la-ry!", Puerto Ricans queued up to see Senator Clinton give her victory speech at the Condado Plaza today.

The victory was hardly a surprise win. And despite the delegate numbers that would indicate Obama’s "presumptive nominee" status, the Clinton camp does not appear to be giving up the ghost quite yet.

Harold Ickes, a committee member who is a Clinton adviser, said Mrs. Clinton was reserving the right to contest the decision into the summer. And her aides opened up a new argument on Sunday, claiming that by the voting is ending, she will have achieved a victory in the total popular vote and that should have more bearing on the decisions of the remaining undecided superdelegates than the fact that Mr. Obama is likely to emerge from the contest with a majority of the delegates chosen in primaries and caucuses.

Two hours later, the growing crowd in the small ballroom was still rowdy, shouting for "Senora Presidente". In the press room, two journalists standing behind me contemplated who Obama should pick for his running mate and which position Clinton would be best suited for in an Obama administration. The only recognizable face in the press corps was Joe Klein, and he’d left before they’d even opened the doors to the press.

At 5:15, salsa music started up and the crowd went wild, cheering and clapping along with the beat. The warm-up speakers took to the stage, and announced that Hillary Clinton’s win in Puerto Rico surpassed the voter margins in any of the other state primaries.

[I]n the Puerto Rico primary, Clinton won 70 percent of the male vote, 65 percent of voters under 30, 70 percent of voters who attended college, and 66 percent of voters with an income of over $50,000.

Clinton also performed strongly among those demographic groups that have long constituted the backbone of her base.

Then, two hours after her scheduled appearance, Hillary Clinton took the stage amidst the booming beat of Ricky Martin’s "Cup of Life". "Ta quiero, Puerto Rico," she exclaimed, as she launched into her victory speech, touting her record on workers’ rights and health care.

"This election is for your future. You voted for the person you think would be the stronger nominee and the stronger president."

For ten minutes more, Clinton touted her commanding lead in popular votes, how important the Hispanic vote, to which she lays claim, will be in November, and how, by her second term, Puerto Ricans will be able to vote in the general primary. Then she bade Puerto Rico "gracias" and left the podium.

[photo courtesy Todd Beeton, mydd.com]

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