Media see hollow Clinton victory

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Pundits and editorial writers see Hillary Clinton's success in Puerto Rico as another example of a strong finish to the campaign, which nevertheless does nothing to increase her chances of victory.

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CQ Politics

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton easily won Puerto Rico's Democratic presidential primary Sunday. But barring a stunning turn of events, Clinton's win in the U.S. commonwealth stands to be her last hurrah in a nominating contest that Illinois Senator Barack Obama appears virtually certain to win.

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Politico.com

Hillary Rodham Clinton's decisive win in Puerto Rico demonstrated that her electoral coalition has at least temporarily survived the blow the Democratic Party dealt her campaign Saturday in denying it an infusion of delegates from Michigan.

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The Boston Globe

Senator Hillary Clinton scored a lopsided victory in the Puerto Rico primary today, boosting both her spirits and her popular vote count, but offering little hope that she can catch rival Senator Barack Obama by the end of the Democratic presidential primary season on Tuesday.

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Los Angeles Times

Clinton's Puerto Rico triumph continues the string of lopsided victories that she and Obama have traded in recent weeks in states that played to their different strengths among Democratic demographics.

Clinton has proved popular among Latinos around the country, but in Puerto Rico the bond was especially strong, thanks to her home state's deep ties to the island commonwealth.

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Associated Press

Hillary Rodham Clinton has won a largely symbolic victory in Puerto Rico's presidential primary, the final act in a weekend of tumult that brought Barack Obama tantalizingly close to the Democratic presidential nomination.

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Mike Madden, Salon.com

But turnout among the island's residents, who don't often get excited about national politics, was so low that the win gave Clinton only a small bump in the overall popular vote - which was the entire rationale for all of her time and energy here. Aides knew by the time they landed in San Juan Friday night (two hours late for a rally in a downtown plaza) that the treasure-trove of votes they once thought they'd find here wasn't likely to materialize. But the final vote total was even less than they'd expected.

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New York Times

The victory - coming among Hispanic voters, who are a key constituency in the fall election - underscored a constant source of frustration among Mrs. Clinton and her supporters: that her strong finish over the past months, with big victories among blue-collar voters, have shown no signs of pushing uncommitted super-delegates into her camp.

"Most Clinton supporters are filled with bewilderment that this is happening," said Gov. Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania. "We are willing to go on, and we understand the inevitability of this, but we are filled with disappointment and amazement: Why haven't these results caused the super-delegates to come around?"

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Donna Brazile, Democratic strategist, CNN

<i>Discussing the possibility that Hillary Clinton may not win the nomination...</i>

I would hope her supporters understand that at the end of the night on Tuesday Senator Obama may reach 2,118, it's time to unify the party, bring the party together, and really reach out to the supporters from both camps and have a successful campaign this fall.