Is there any chance of Puerto Rico becoming a state?

[DevotedDemocrat]

A segue from the main thread, a question: Is there ANY chance of Puerto Rico becoming a State? For those more knowledgable, do the odds favor Puerto Ricans favoring statement in the November referendum?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rican_status_referendum,_2012

[Vosem]

I heard somewhere statehood's likely to win, and both parties wrote in their manifestos they'll support Puerto Rican statehood if the Puerto Rican people want it...this referendum is actually a massive story but the media isn't covering it...

[minionofmidas]

Statehood failed narrowly when Puerto Rico had popular Governors from the Penepists' leftwing. Right now it has an unpopular Governor from the PNP's right wing who's already had his other ideas about how to reform the country's Constitution shot down in referendum by surprise margins. So, probably not a lot.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

No. 50's a nice round number and if this happens, we'll have to suddenly find another 49 states to balance it out and take us to an even 100.

[7,052,770]

Either way, I'm surprised the media isn't covering this.  Are they just going to casually mention in November that we're getting a new state like it's no big deal?

[Zioneer]

Either way, I'm surprised the media isn't covering this.  Are they just going to casually mention in November that we're getting a new state like it's no big deal?

I don't think the media sees much point in covering this, even though it's got a good chance of passing. Some things even blindside the media.

[greenforest32]

There will be outdated flags everywhere if they do vote to become a state

[SteveRogers]

There will be outdated flags everywhere if they do vote to become a state

New flags become official on the next 4th of July after a new state is admitted, so everyone should have time to replace their old flags.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Either way, I'm surprised the media isn't covering this.  Are they just going to casually mention in November that we're getting a new state like it's no big deal?

I don't think the media sees much point in covering this, even though it's got a good chance of passing. Some things even blindside the media.

A glacier could blindside the media.

[Jacobtm]

Puerto Ricans will choose between 3 options:

Statehood
Independence
Sovereign Free Associated State

Will 50% choose statehood out of the 3 choices? Seems like the question is set up to avoid any option recieving 50%.

Either way, they should choose Independence. But we've mindfked them so hard that they couldn't bear to be free of us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnWss3y7AUY

[JFK-Democrat]

The last thing the Republicans want or need is another state with maybe 18 EVs that automatically end up in the Democratic column.

I don't see this happening ever.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

The last thing the Republicans want or need is another state with maybe 18 EVs that automatically end up in the Democratic column.

I don't see this happening ever.

7 EV. 2000 was the only election that close since we took over Puerto Rico.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Would Americans want Puerto Rico to be state however? I think there has been little discussion what this would actually mean, in practice, if it were to happen except for Rick Santorum, who basically gave reasons why I doubt most Americans would support statehood for PR if it actually came to it.

[Vosem]

Either way, they should choose Independence. But we've mindfked them so hard that they couldn't bear to be free of us.

Why? Because America is an awful corporatist imperialist pro-Zionist hellhole?

[Zioneer]

The last thing the Republicans want or need is another state with maybe 18 EVs that automatically end up in the Democratic column.

I don't see this happening ever.

From what I can tell, a lot of Republicans seem convinced that because the current Governor of Puerto Rico is aligned with the Republicans and because they (the GOP) thinks that all Hispanics are socially conservative, that somehow means that Puerto Rico will be a Republican-leaning state if the GOP can appeal to Hispanics.

I don't understand the logic either, but it's there.

[ag]

Would Americans want Puerto Rico to be state however? I think there has been little discussion what this would actually mean, in practice, if it were to happen except for Rick Santorum, who basically gave reasons why I doubt most Americans would support statehood for PR if it actually came to it.

If PR were to ask for statehood, it would be extremely difficult politically to deny it. It would, in fact, require taking an outright anti-Hispanic stand, with little possibility of any sort of a fudge - not something one would necessarily want to do.

It is further complicated by the fact that within PR it is the relatively pro-Republican PNP that's pro-statehood, while the outright pro-Democratic PDP prefers the status quo. While PNP is not exactly the local affiliate of the Republican party (it does have a pro-Dem wing, though that one is relatively weak right now), nearly all the local Republicans are part of it. If the national Republican party opposes statehood, it would amount to a complete destruction of the local Republican organization on the island. As Puerto Ricans are US citizens (something that, in the short term is not even possible to change if PR declares independence), they can and do vote when they find themselves living on the mainland.  Oposing statehood would, basically, tell those of them who still vote Republican that their party does not want their vote - in those many words and, once again, without much realistic possibility of a fudge.

It would even be pretty hard to make a principled anti-statehood argument in a way that wouldn't alienate at least some normally pro-Republican Cuban-Americans: it wouldll all come down to the issues of language and culture that Cubans themselves hold dear, and the arguments would undoubtedly degenerate into outright anti-Hispanic claims that would make a lot of people feel very unwelcome in that sort of a party. At that point, being a Hispanic (even Cuban) Republican would become a lot like being a gay Republican - not impossible, but not that easy or pleasant.

To sum up, if the Republican party openly opposes statehood, it would go a long way towards making sure that the Hispanic electorate converges to black levels of support for the Democrats. And, of course, when and if PR votes for statehood, Democrats themselves would have no incentive at all to oppose it. Hence, though a number of diehard anti-Hispanics can be counted on making a few passionate speaches, nobody who cares about national political implications would dare to do anything to prevent it happening.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Would Americans want Puerto Rico to be state however? I think there has been little discussion what this would actually mean, in practice, if it were to happen except for Rick Santorum, who basically gave reasons why I doubt most Americans would support statehood for PR if it actually came to it.

If PR were to ask for statehood, it would be extremely difficult politically to deny it. It would, in fact, require taking an outright anti-Hispanic stand, with little possibility of any sort of a fudge - not something one would necessarily want to do.

It is further complicated by the fact that within PR it is the relatively pro-Republican PNP that's pro-statehood, while the outright pro-Democratic PDP prefers the status quo. While PNP is not exactly the local affiliate of the Republican party (it does have a pro-Dem wing, though that one is relatively weak right now), nearly all the local Republicans are part of it. If the national Republican party opposes statehood, it would amount to a complete destruction of the local Republican organization on the island. As Puerto Ricans are US citizens (something that, in the short term is not even possible to change if PR declares independence), they can and do vote when they find themselves living on the mainland.  Oposing statehood would, basically, tell those of them who still vote Republican that their party does not want their vote - in those many words and, once again, without much realistic possibility of a fudge.

It would even be pretty hard to make a principled anti-statehood argument in a way that wouldn't alienate at least some normally pro-Republican Cuban-Americans: it wouldll all come down to the issues of language and culture that Cubans themselves hold dear, and the arguments would undoubtedly degenerate into outright anti-Hispanic claims that would make a lot of people feel very unwelcome in that sort of a party. At that point, being a Hispanic (even Cuban) Republican would become a lot like being a gay Republican - not impossible, but not that easy or pleasant.

To sum up, if the Republican party openly opposes statehood, it would go a long way towards making sure that the Hispanic electorate converges to black levels of support for the Democrats. And, of course, when and if PR votes for statehood, Democrats themselves would have no incentive at all to oppose it. Hence, though a number of diehard anti-Hispanics can be counted on making a few passionate speaches, nobody who cares about national political implications would dare to do anything to prevent it happening.

Yes, I understand that politically it would be very awkward to take an anti-statehood stance if PR votes for it. However, if PR does becomes a state, the US government would surely have to make much more provisions for bilingualism at the level of the federal government and social services. While it wouldn't be like Canada, it would get harder and harder to deny the right of Puerto Ricans to have a significant level (more than now) of government services in their own language even if they live in New York. Given that there is a substantial block of the conservative vote that strikes drives itself mad in circles over "Press 1 for English", I can not imagine that would be no opposition.

[ag]

It won't have to do anything. US does not have an official language at present and it already has other states with multiple oficial languages.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Either way, I'm surprised the media isn't covering this.  Are they just going to casually mention in November that we're getting a new state like it's no big deal?

Technically the referendum is advisory only, Congress would still have to pass legislation for Puerto Rican statehood, so it'd likely get more attention during that process. And ag is right in how virtually impossible it'd be to oppose Puerto Rican statehood in that situation without looking anti-Hispanic, though no doubt the usual suspects will come out against it because they're already seen as anti-Hispanic anyway.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

It won't have to do anything. US does not have an official language at present and it already has other states with multiple oficial languages.

Legally speaking, I know. I admit that I'm looking at this from the perspective of someone who does not know the United States particularly well. But I do understand enough to note that over the past 30 or so years and increasingly over the last few couple the Republican Party has become increasingly sectarian in its approach to defining American-ness. While we can scoff at Sarah Palin and her innate ridiculousness but the concept of there being 'Real Americans' is something that has a real (if often obscured) power in American discourse. And while, there can be some debate about Palin meant, I'm pretty sure that c5 million mostly monolingual Spanish speaking, tanned skinned people from an island in the Caribbean do not make the cut. I mean there is a subsection of the electorate that has managed through sheer noise to make the birthplace of Barack Obama one of the most important issues in recent US politics - and that was really about, yet again, defining 'American-ness' in a purely sectarian way and that sort of venom is hardly being restricted to those at the top right now (though the president is most obvious target).

Of course I could completely wrong and the Republican Right will embrace Puerto Rico as one of their own as if were Utah or South Carolina excluding the black parts (though I don't really see how the state will end up voting GOP with electoral and socioeconomic demographics being what they are - its GDP per capita is much lower than even Mississippi, which brings us to the issue of state subsidies and redistribution...).

[Oldiesfreak1854]

It won't have to do anything. US does not have an official language at present and it already has other states with multiple oficial languages.

Legally speaking, I know. I admit that I'm looking at this from the perspective of someone who does not know the United States particularly well. But I do understand enough to note that over the past 30 or so years and increasingly over the last few couple the Republican Party has become increasingly sectarian in its approach to defining American-ness. While we can scoff at Sarah Palin and her innate ridiculousness but the concept of there being 'Real Americans' is something that has a real (if often obscured) power in American discourse. And while, there can be some debate about Palin meant, I'm pretty sure that c5 million mostly monolingual Spanish speaking, tanned skinned people from an island in the Caribbean do not make the cut. I mean there is a subsection of the electorate that has managed through sheer noise to make the birthplace of Barack Obama one of the most important issues in recent US politics - and that was really about, yet again, defining 'American-ness' in a purely sectarian way and that sort of venom is hardly being restricted to those at the top right now (though the president is most obvious target).

Of course I could completely wrong and the Republican Right will embrace Puerto Rico as one of their own as if were Utah or South Carolina excluding the black parts (though I don't really see how the state will end up voting GOP with electoral and socioeconomic demographics being what they are - its GDP per capita is much lower than even Mississippi, which brings us to the issue of state subsidies and redistribution...).

Are you saying that Republicans hate or don't care about blacks, or are you just saying that the black parts of South Carolina are more Democrat than the rest of the state?  The Republican Party was founded to fight for blacks.  I'm white, but I'm a Republican in part because of that.

[7,052,770]

Are you saying that Republicans hate or don't care about blacks, or are you just saying that the black parts of South Carolina are more Democrat than the rest of the state?  The Republican Party was founded to fight for blacks.  I'm white, but I'm a Republican in part because of that.

Oh come on, you are well aware that the parties don't bear much resemblance to where they were in the 1950s, much less the 1850s.  You're a Republican because you're conservative, not because of what happened 160 years ago in a completely different world.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

No. 50's a nice round number and if this happens, we'll have to suddenly find another 49 states to balance it out and take us to an even 100.

Couldn't we just combine North and South Dakota? That way we could keep it at an even 50.

[後援会]

We can just return California to Mexico. I'd be okay with that.

[Bacon King]

The only arguments against Puerto Rican statehood I've heard that aren't just bigotry:

• If Puerto Rico becomes a state they can't compete in the Miss Universe pageant anymore, which is surprisingly kind of a big deal because they've won it five times (making them the nation with the third-most Miss Universes) and won it twice last decade.
• Puerto Rico has a much lower average income than the contiguous US, so welfare programs would have to cover a lot more people, maybe causing budget issues or something.

And, that's it.