Democrats Go Island Hopping

By DOUGLAS WALLER

Puerto Rico, where residents can't vote for the U.S. President, will hardly be a battleground in next year's election. So why have Democratic candidates been cultivating the island's key politicians? Kenneth McClintock, minority leader of Puerto Rico's Senate, got a visit last December at his San Juan office from Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, who dropped by to plug his candidacy. Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean has been a faithful McClintock phone pal. McClintock says his "added value" will kick in when he tours states like New York, Illinois and Florida next January to recruit the large number of Puerto Rican voters for his chosen candidate. Who's on McClintock's short list? The Senator says he likes Dean, who as Governor supported Puerto Rican statehood. But McClintock notes that when General Wesley Clark headed the U.S. Southern Command in 1997, he helped begin the relocation of its Army component from Panama to San Juan. That, says McClintock, "would make him popular here." --By Douglas Waller