Obama, Clinton Head Toward Contested Convention

[Wretched Excess]

Obama, Clinton Head Toward Contested Convention

In the wake of all the excitement of Super Tuesday, writers and pundits alike began to trumpet the rather shadowy-sounding claim that the battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama could end up being decided at a "brokered convention." But just what does that mean?

The last truly "brokered" convention, according to historians, was in 1952, in Chicago. That year, Adlai Stevenson, the governor of Illinois, won the Democratic nomination, with some heavy help. Party bosses, following the wishes of then President Harry Truman, put Stevenson's name on the ballot and all but hand-picked him to be their party's candidate. The convention, historians wrote, was "brokered" in Stevenson's favor.

In the decades since, both parties have adopted stricter rules and more formal nominating schedules. The changes have made the party brass less important, but certainly not irrelevant. One crucial change among Democrats came in 1982, when the party introduced "superdelegates." By official act, all congressmen, governors, and a number of party officials were dubbed superdelegates and given a single vote at the convention, to be counted with the votes of the regular delegates that had been assigned by the state primaries.

The influence of superdelegates became apparent almost immediately. In June 1984, at the end of primary season, Walter Mondale found himself just short of a majority in the delegate count. He picked up the phone, made a few calls, held a few meetings, and by the time the convention rolled around in July, he had won enough superdelegates to pitch the decision in his favor. The convention was not brokered as in 1952, but the primaries had certainly left the issue of nominating a candidate unresolved.

More

I was listening to "morning joe" on PMSNBC friday morning (I gave up on the foxnews morning show because it is just too silly) and it was mentioned that The BarackStar!'s campaign has the primaries ending with neither candidate winning the required number of votes for winning the nomination.

[Lord Undies]

When one thinks of how Bill Clinton would have never been president without the collusion between him and Ross Perot, and how Hillary Clinton's promised coronation is going to hell due to a half-black candidate, one has to wonder if maybe the Clintons have indeed been forced down our throats all these years. 

Then one has to wonder.....why?  There is nothing spectacularly impressive about either of them.   They are not even that great at being politicians if you honestly think about it.  One has to begin to realize the agenda behind the "magic", which had little to do with the Clintons in the first place. 

The truth is, they have both been propped up by the biggest lie this nation has ever suffered, and it is finally falling apart.  It is not over yet, but good always wins in the end. 

We may, as a nation, yet have to suffer through four more years of the Clintons, but four more years will be the end.  The left in the country will rue the day they ever decided to hitch their star to the Clinton wagon.   

[Wretched Excess]

When one thinks of how Bill Clinton would have never been president without the collusion between him and Ross Perot, and how Hillary Clinton's promised coronation is going to hell due to a half-black candidate, one has to wonder if maybe the Clintons have indeed been forced down our throats all these years. 

Then one has to wonder.....why?  There is nothing spectacularly impressive about either of them.   They are not even that great at being politicians if you honestly think about it.  One has to begin to realize the agenda behind the "magic", which had little to do with the Clintons in the first place. 

The truth is, they have both been propped up by the biggest lie this nation has ever suffered, and it is finally falling apart.  It is not over yet, but good always wins in the end. 

We may, as a nation, yet have to suffer through four more years of the Clintons, but four more years will be the end.  The left in the country will rue the day they ever decided to hitch their star to the Clinton wagon.   

I suspect we will lose in november, and then take both houses of congress back in the midterm election that follows.

[Lauri]

When one thinks of how Bill Clinton would have never been president without the collusion between him and Ross Perot, and how Hillary Clinton's promised coronation is going to hell due to a half-black candidate, one has to wonder if maybe the Clintons have indeed been forced down our throats all these years. 

Then one has to wonder.....why?  There is nothing spectacularly impressive about either of them.   They are not even that great at being politicians if you honestly think about it.  One has to begin to realize the agenda behind the "magic", which had little to do with the Clintons in the first place. 

The truth is, they have both been propped up by the biggest lie this nation has ever suffered, and it is finally falling apart.  It is not over yet, but good always wins in the end. 

We may, as a nation, yet have to suffer through four more years of the Clintons, but four more years will be the end.  The left in the country will rue the day they ever decided to hitch their star to the Clinton wagon.   

I suspect we will lose in november, and then take both houses of congress back in the midterm election that follows.

i honestly didnt think obama would get this far; and i didnt think hilary would flame out this fast... i have a feeling obama against mccain would give us obama cause he's 'fresh' and mccain is old.

obama against huckabee .. i dunno. huckabee is so personable and quick and funny. and he has been an executive for 10 years,  over an entire state. obama cant claim any executive experience..

i think Romney could have smoked Obama and he walked away too soon. I was hoping (not thinking it could happen though) that the electorate would backlash against McCain. Well, it might have happened in Romney's favor..

now we'll never know.

[Wretched Excess]

it's turning out that we were right about the dem florida delegates.  I posted a thread about it.

[Chris_]

yeah, this is one confusing, dispiriting election.

Most of the IT department I worked with at Ford was black.  Great bunch of guys and girls, but they went along with whatever any Democrat had to say.  Once Barry O. entered the race, I knew they would all back him.

[Lauri]

our 22 year old said everyone she knows, her friends and their friends... love Obama.

they dont know what he stands for but they like making history and his 'change' mantra.. who knows if that propels them to actually vote in the presidential race but i heard this morning they were expecting record numbers of people to caucus here .. but that doesnt mean much. typically its not a big deal to most voters in any state.

i definitely think having Obama in the race has enlivened it and people like making history.. the novelty of it might be enough to get people to vote for him.

if they go to a brokered convention though, that's where I think Hilary can strong arm her way to the nomination. he's young and can try again down the road. she really, truly believes she's earned it. but i dont know what a brokered convention entails, or how its decided..

do they arm wrestle?

[Wretched Excess]

our 22 year old said everyone she knows, her friends and their friends... love Obama.

they dont know what he stands for but they like making history and his 'change' mantra.. who knows if that propels them to actually vote in the presidential race but i heard this morning they were expecting record numbers of people to caucus here .. but that doesnt mean much. typically its not a big deal to most voters in any state.

i definitely think having Obama in the race has enlivened it and people like making history.. the novelty of it might be enough to get people to vote for him.

if they go to a brokered convention though, that's where I think Hilary can strong arm her way to the nomination. he's young and can try again down the road. she really, truly believes she's earned it. but i dont know what a brokered convention entails, or how its decided..

do they arm wrestle?

if they do, my money is on her.  The BarackStar! is a total *****.

(very erudite post, by the way.  as always)

[Lauri]

well.. brevity is the soul of wit..

[Uhhuh35]

our 22 year old said everyone she knows, her friends and their friends... love Obama.
they dont know what he stands for but they like making history and his 'change' mantra.. who knows if that propels them to actually vote in the presidential race.

That's why I'd love to see Barry win the nomination. He's depending on a demographic that has a spotty voting record at best. Come election day most of them young people are gonna say "F**k it!", stay in bed and get stoned, and we'll have a Republican president.

[Lauri]

our 22 year old said everyone she knows, her friends and their friends... love Obama.
they dont know what he stands for but they like making history and his 'change' mantra.. who knows if that propels them to actually vote in the presidential race.

That's why I'd love to see Barry win the nomination. He's depending on a demographic that has a spotty voting record at best. Come election day most of them young people are gonna say "F**k it!", stay in bed and get stoned, and we'll have a Republican president.

that's my take on it as well... we asked her if she was voting in the caucus yesterday - or if she knew anyone that was.

she said no.. she did have to work 9-5 and probably could have gotten downtown in time to vote.

she just wasnt interested, even when we explained that her hunter boyfriend would probably not like Obama. she just shrugged, "yeah... oh well."