Island In The Sun

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 | 9:02 AM

By Sarah Scully

There is not a delegate to spare between the two democrats in their historic deadlock and it is mathematically impossible for either to win solely based on the upcoming primaries. So how does either one plan to reach the "magic number" of 2024 delegates? Superdelegates are the unavoidable answer, of course, but in order to woo them, a candidate must show they have the majority of the support from voters and also an ability to beat the Republican nominee. Trailing Obama in delegates, Hillary Clinton's campaign has a few ideas, one of which includes her controversial delegate wins in Florida and Michigan counting though this looks less likely everyday. Her address today on the concerns of Puerto Rico, indicates that her campaign is going to work on getting every single delegate they can until there are none left. She will triumph in Pennsylvania but then Obama will likely win North Carolina two weeks later and so the contest will go, with each candidate collecting wins. The way things look now, even with a big win in Puerto Rico, Clinton will still be behind in delegates and still be asking superdelegates to go against the popular vote. Here is a helpful little game I found on Forbes.com.

While there is a valid argument that every state (and territory) deserves a chance to have their votes count and as much as we would like an excuse for IFC to send us there, there is no way that Puerto Rico will be in any way decisive in the Democratic nomination so for her to campaign to their electorate at this point seems desperate, and even a little delusional. Clinton may be looking forward to her day in the Caribbean sun, but she has a better chance of a scandal knocking her opponent out of the race beforehand. Barring that or a deal brokered by someone like Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat Party will be in terrible shape if there is still a fierce nomination battle by June.