First, let me lead with the caveat that I'm old enough to remember when all political conventions were "brokered", i.e. most states didn't have primaries, state party bosses met at the convention and selected the nominees largely behind closed doors......"in smoke-filled rooms.......", delegate ballots were ultimately cast to provide the "official" result.
I've mentioned before that I have relatives and friends living and working "inside the beltway", in Washington, DC, a few even working on Capitol Hill.
The insider talk recently seems to be growing in volume regarding a brokered Republican convention......apparently for two primary reasons:
First: After last week, the RNC establishment "elite" (read: RINO's) are scared shitless of a Gingrich victory in the primaries, for the simple reason that, in their jaded view, they cannot control a Newt Gingrich in the White House.......they perceive him as a "loose cannon", that can't reliably be trusted to follow the party line, and just might go off half-cocked and do something "conservative".......or even worse "controversial". particularly, failing to reach across the aisle to compromise with the opposition.
Second: Their establishment candidate Mitt Romney, even after five years of practice running for president, is starting to grow threadbare, and his rhetoric on the stump is failing to impress the electorate.......which raises the real possibility that he may actually lose to Obama. Romney's position on issues is so nebulous in areas that the voters have difficulty distinguishing his candidacy from his Democrat opposition. Further, his recent debate performance is no longer the polished, confident presentation of the party anointed.......he comes across as petty, disorganized, shrill, and defensive.
In light of these events, in the back halls of the RNC, consideration is being given to circumventing the primary results from the states entirely, and "brokering" either a completely new candidate to the nomination, or overriding the primary result if Gingrich is the ultimate winner, installing Romney. Should this admittedly remote possibility come to pass, there would be great consternation among the Republican electorate, not to mention the TEA party group.
I should add that this is not unprecedented, it's happened many times in the past......but the distant past. In your opinion what would the reaction of the voters be?
doc
