What do you think about Puerto Rico voting to become the 51st state?

The 2012 election this November 7th was full of surprises. For the first time since the Great Depression, a president was able to win reelection even though unemployment was greater than 8%. Perhaps, as in 1936, voters remembered who presided over the Great Financial Crisis they had just weathered. In an unprecedented sweep, Democrats increased their number of Senate seats even though they had to defend 23 seats in the election while only 10 republican seats were on the ballot. It was the year of the woman.

In the news clutter, almost unnoticed, something else noteworthy happened. Puerto Ricans went to the polls and voted to petition for statehood. Next, the question moves to the US Congress, which must approve Puerto Rico’s petition before they can be accepted as the nation’s 51st state.

Will the GOP see this as a much needed opportunity to embrace the growing Latino element of the American electorate, and support Puerto Rican statehood in Congress? Or will they dig in their heels in opposition to what they are likely to see as a risk of adding another reliably blue state to the Union, and further diluting the power of their largely white male base? What’s your personal opinion regarding statehood for Puerto Rico? Are there any other protectorates, territories or districts you would like to welcome into the Union as states?

BTW, here’s the layout for a US Flag with 51 stars. Is there any number of states that can’t be worked into a reasonable looking field of stars on our flag?