Please explain how a "brokered" convention works.

[MoonRiver]

Seems at least the Republics may be heading toward one, and I'd like to know what to expect. From what very little I know it sounds like fun.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Ever hear of a smoke-filled room?

Basically, in a brokered convention, coming in, no one candidate has a lock on the nomination. So delegates for various nominees get together and ask for trade-offs--for example, if Candidate X has no chance of winning, yet has the key number of delegates Candidate Z needs to be nominated, Candidate X or his delegates can ask for some special favor in exchange for the delegates, such as a Cabinet post. Of course, Candidate Y will be looking for those votes as well, and may offer a Cabinet post plus a change in wording of the platform to more closely conform to Candidate X's views. Get the idea?

[MoonRiver]

4. Sounds a little like a caucus.

?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. It is, in a way

only on a grander scale, and with higher stakes. As I understand it, the candidates and their handlers don't take an in-person active role in a caucus, but they would in a convention.

An example of a brokered convention would be the 1860 Republican convention, in which William Seward, the front runner, didn't have enough votes to be nominated in the first round. Lincoln's handlers went around to other candidates and their delegates, and were able to get them to vote Lincoln by the third round. In one case (Pennsylvania) it is contended that they promised Simon Cameron, a crooked pol, the Secretary of War position in exchange for the votes.

[TechBear_Seattle]

2. My understanding

At the National Convention, there are two types of delegates: regular and "super." Regular delegates are the ones selected by primaries and caucuses to represent a specific candidate. On the first ballot for naming a party nominee, they are obligated to vote for the candidate they represent. If a candidate has delegates representing a majority of available votes going into the first ballot, then the balloting is pro forma; the candidate goes into the convention the presumptive nominee and all the balloting will do is change that from pro forma to actual. (Superdelegates are party officials and elected officeholders at or above a certain rank. They have a vote and may cast it according to their conscience.)

A "brokered" convention occurs when two things happen. First, no candidate has enough regular delegates to snag a majority of delegate votes on the first nominating ballot. Second, the addition of superdelegate and otherwise uncommitted votes is not enough to give a candidate the majority of delegate votes. Once these two conditions are met, all bets are off. Regular delegates, having fulfilled their mandate, may now vote their conscience. It becomes a free-for-all as partisans lobby for delegate votes, usually by using platform planks as barganing chips. ("We will get this plank put in and block that plank, if we can depend on the support of your block in the next balloting.) This barganing back and forth is the "brokering" part of the convention. Brokered conventions are pretty rare, though.

Hope that helps. :hi:

[MoonRiver]

3. Thanks, that does help!

It certainly sounds wild! :)

[AlGore-08.com]

5. F.Y.I. the superdelegates also include former office holders - - the GOP doesn't have superdelegates

The Dem party has 792 superdelegates (about 1/5 the number needed for the nomination) and are not obligated to vote based on the results of the primary/caucus in their state. The GOP has 463 unpledged delegates (123 of those are RNC officials).

[northzax]

6. different states actually have different rules

about when delegates are released to vote their concience, some can switch on the first ballot, some have to wait until the third or fourth.

and if the Dems go to one, and Florida and Michigan are not seated, this makes superdelegates even more important, since the number you need to win has stayed the same, but 250 some odd potential votes have vanished. (think of it like this: you need to convince five people to vote for you, easier when there are ten people in the room rather than nine, right?