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A Brokered GOP Convention? Don't Bet on It
Real Clear Politics ^ | December 13, 2011 | Sean Trende

Posted on 12/13/2011 7:21:25 PM PST by neverdem

Could the GOP nomination battle end up in a brokered convention? That's the hot question on pundits' minds these days. The correct answer is that there's a chance a brokered convention could occur, but it is exceedingly slim.

To understand why, we need a quick reminder on the Republican nomination system as it exists for 2012. Basically, the Republican National Committee looked enviously at the lengthy Democratic primary from 2008 -- which strengthened the Democrats by forcing candidates to conduct registration drives and set up infrastructure in all 50 states -- and decided that a longer primary system would benefit the GOP as well.

So, it decided to require primaries and caucuses held prior to April 1 to allocate delegates through a proportional representation system. To greatly oversimplify, a candidate who receives at least 25 percent of the vote in any given state will receive that same percentage of the delegates (some states have a 20 percent viability threshold, and some states will have “mini-races” in each congressional district). A total of 1,277 delegates will be awarded prior to April 1, so it is nearly impossible for a candidate to rack up the 1,145 delegates needed to win the nomination outright by the end of March.

The RNC also wanted to avoid a situation such as what occurred in 1976, when neither Gerald Ford nor Ronald Reagan had claimed a majority of the delegates by the time of the Republican National Convention, and the uncertainty surrounding the nomination process allowed Jimmy Carter to claim a double-digit lead in the polls. Therefore, after April 1, states are free to allocate their delegates as they choose. Most of them...

--snip--

Below is a useful chart of the month that each state holds its primary/caucus, and how many delegates are up for grabs:

(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections; US: District of Columbia; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: gopconvention

This chart is from the 1st regular webpage. I linked the printer friendly page.

1 posted on 12/13/2011 7:21:29 PM PST by neverdem
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To: LibLieSlayer

The author usually knows his stuff. Sorry about the oversized chart. I should have opened it in a new window.


2 posted on 12/13/2011 7:35:00 PM PST by neverdem (Xin loi minh oi)
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To: neverdem

You must have missed one state, I can only count 56. ;-).


3 posted on 12/13/2011 7:53:24 PM PST by JimSEA (The future ain't what it used to be.)
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To: neverdem
I linked the printer friendly page.

Thank you!

4 posted on 12/13/2011 8:08:03 PM PST by upchuck (Let's have the Revolution NOW before we get dumbed down to the point that we can't.)
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To: neverdem
Slim but possible... but then no one can ever predict politics... although a lot of money is made in doing so.

LLS

5 posted on 12/13/2011 8:10:34 PM PST by LibLieSlayer ("Americans are hungry to feel once again a sense of mission and greatness." Ronaldo Magnus)
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To: LibLieSlayer; All

Every Election cycle, they predict a Brokered Convention for the Party out of power. The did it for Obozo and Hillary. There is NOT going to be a brokered convention. The last one was 60 years ago in 1952. It ain’t friggin’ happening!!!


6 posted on 12/13/2011 8:41:59 PM PST by no dems (Why do you never see "Obama" bumper stickers on cars going to work in the morning?)
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To: neverdem
I happen to agree. The other reason is momentum.

Right now we have running:
Bachmann, Newt, Huntsman, Johnson, Paul, Perry, Romney, and Santorum, along with some others that may get on the ballot in one or two states and take 1000 votes or so. It looks like Bachmann, Johnson, Perry, and Santorum are losing or not gaining traction. They may get a couple of delegates, but not many. They will likely drop at some point and endorse others. Likely Newt or in Johnson's case, Paul.

That leaves Newt, Huntsman, Paul, and Romney. Paul will get his 10% of the vote. He'll get some delegates in some mostly small states with caucuses. Huntsman has the money and can rise if Newt or Romney stumbles. He also could spoil Romney in New Hampshire. If Huntsman doesn't gain ground by NH, he's likely done.

After New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Carolina, funding will either skyrocket or dry up depending on results. It'll be a two way race with the rest being protest votes. Then likely Newt or Romney will suspend their campaign after Super Tuesday and we'll have our nominee.

7 posted on 12/13/2011 8:44:15 PM PST by Darren McCarty (Anybody but Romney or Obama)
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To: neverdem
A total of 1,277 delegates will be awarded prior to April 1, so it is nearly impossible for a candidate to rack up the 1,145 delegates needed to win the nomination outright by the end of March.

Money will be exhausted far faster.

8 posted on 12/13/2011 8:48:34 PM PST by newzjunkey (Republicans will find a way to reelect Obama and Speaker Pelosi.)
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To: no dems
No, I do not remember any such talk. I did not say it would happen... but it is possible... and it is also possible that one of the other candidates will take the lead. gingrich will implode... I can almost guarantee it.

It has already started... newt is his own worst enemy... he always telegraphs the real newt... he cannot help himself... even when he knows that he will suffer right wing blow back... just as he did in the You Tube video of his montage of FDR love...

http://www.businessinsider.com/hey-remember-when-newt-gingrich-thought-progressive-fdr-was-the-greatest-president-of-the-20th-century-2011-12#ooid=M5Ym40MzoHl7iiX9QcxHsPG9Rlo0C4Hi

where newt says, "I have said it before... and it always gets me in hot water with the right... but I think that the greatest President of the modern era... the Greatest President of the 20th Century... was Franklin Delano Roosevelt".

From his embracing of fdr as the best President of the last Century... to his voting for the Brady Bill and the Lautenberg Bill... to his alliance with the UN and CFR... progressivism runs long... it runs deep and it runs continuously throughout newt's career.

LLS

9 posted on 12/13/2011 9:09:48 PM PST by LibLieSlayer ("Americans are hungry to feel once again a sense of mission and greatness." Ronaldo Magnus)
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To: neverdem

I would like to see the state that voted Republican in the last election have more influence then the state that vote Demo.


10 posted on 12/13/2011 9:58:58 PM PST by Big Horn (Rebuild the GOP to a conservative party)
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To: LibLieSlayer
But what if we don't like the candidates we got so far? That makes the system junk.
11 posted on 12/13/2011 10:16:12 PM PST by Ciexyz
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To: LibLieSlayer
Newt has been a CFR member for many many years and that indeed makes him a member of the NWO cabal.

However, on another thread I made an observation about Reagan and that issue. Reagan was not a member of CFR but he knew that that group has sewn up elections in this country since the early 1920s, although their first huge victory was the election of Woodrow Wilson before WWI. Reagan knew that in order to accomplish his short range goals he was going to have to toe the CFR line in appointments and staffing for their long range objectives. That's why he chose GHWB as his veep. Bush was a former Director of CFR and if you'll recall he was the one who actually much later during his own Presidency coined the phrase New World Order into the modern lexicon. Then Reagan proceeded to staff every single one of his cabinet secretaries and their deputies down about six levels with CFR members. It's not like he was dancing to their tune, but he knew all the musicians and all the songs and he was willing to "hum along" in order to get the job done. HIS job done. That is a simple fact of political life in this country. I mean in addition to being CFR both the Bush's are also BONESMEN as well! Talk about elitist cabals!

Nothing of substance gets done in American politics unless it has the CFR stamp of approval and that goes for both major parties and most 3rd parties, too. Everybody knows this has been the case since the creeping incremental takeover of our government by the shadow players in the 1920's. Later came Bilderbergers. The best that we can hope for at this point is that Newt will choose a real veep with deep conservative convictions like Bachmann or Perry or Cain. Then we can only hope that he really DOES choose Bolton for State and Palin for Energy and .... well you get the idea. If he has enough conservatives (real Patriots) in his cabinet, they will keep him in line or they'll blow the whistle when needed to call out the militia to remind him from whence real power flows in a Constitutional Republic. Likewise we can hope for a more solidly conservative Congress.

12 posted on 12/13/2011 11:09:07 PM PST by ExSoldier ("Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil: It has no point.")
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To: neverdem

Since smoking has been banned in public spaces like backrooms, I don’t see it happening. ;)


13 posted on 12/13/2011 11:40:46 PM PST by BigSkyFreeper (You have entered an invalid birthday)
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To: Darren McCarty
That leaves Newt, Huntsman, Paul, and Romney. Paul will get his 10% of the vote. He'll get some delegates in some mostly small states with caucuses. Huntsman has the money and can rise if Newt or Romney stumbles. He also could spoil Romney in New Hampshire. If Huntsman doesn't gain ground by NH, he's likely done.

Romney's imploding in Iowa and he's in a freefall in New Hampshire.  If you believe what Newsmax says.  Huntsman and Romney will likely be gone after New Hampshire goes to the polls.  I see Paul staying in due to momentum that he's gained in the early states like Iowa and New Hampshire.    Paul is in third place at the moment in New Hampshire and at this rate he will be in second place before New Hampshire goes to the polls.  I actually think Paul will get more than 10% 

Huntsman hasn't gained ground throughout this campaign and he won't gain ground any time in the future.  That's being overly hopeful for a guy who is nothing more than a sock puppet for the Obama Regime.

14 posted on 12/14/2011 12:09:07 AM PST by BigSkyFreeper (You have entered an invalid birthday)
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To: neverdem

I hope a new candidate jumps in or there is a brokered convention but I doubt it will happen. The former, maaaaybe. The latter, very low odds.


15 posted on 12/14/2011 4:27:09 AM PST by Impy (Don't call me red.)
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To: Ciexyz

The system is junk because the system is corrupt and controlled.

LLS


16 posted on 12/14/2011 4:48:02 AM PST by LibLieSlayer ("Americans are hungry to feel once again a sense of mission and greatness." Ronaldo Magnus)
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To: ExSoldier

CFR is but one of hundreds of progressive stains on newt’s candidacy... just one of many... and not the most progressive problem that he has... not even close.

LLS


17 posted on 12/14/2011 4:49:48 AM PST by LibLieSlayer ("Americans are hungry to feel once again a sense of mission and greatness." Ronaldo Magnus)
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To: neverdem

A brokered convention is far from unlikely, given the new delegate apportionment system. Every candidate who declines to fold prior to the convention is going to have some votes in his/her backpocket which they may be able to trade to a candidate higher up.

Another scenario is where three candidates come into the convention and none of them have enough votes to knock out the other two. Somebody will have to give his endorsement to another candidate.

I was part of a Jaycee convention once where the third highest candidate refused to fold for ballot after ballot. His troops held behind him for ballot after ballot. Finally one of the leaders began to lose a trickle of votes and rather than give up to his biggest and bitterest rival, he directed his supporters to vote to the third candidate who won after more than 24 hours of balloting. It can happen.

The most likely candidates for the above scenario are Romney and Newt as the highest candidate with Perry the third place guy. (I’m going out on a limb here, but I don’t think Paul has the staying power except in Iowa and Bachman, Santorum probably don’t have the money once past Iowa to improve their percentages.)


18 posted on 12/14/2011 6:50:11 AM PST by wildbill (You're just jealous because the Voices talk only to me.)
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To: LibLieSlayer
Without a doubt, the CFR is more than a mere progressive group. That's like calling the Nazis "hostile, with issues."

I understand the risk they pose to our future sovereignty and still I support Newt this time. But let's see how Bachmann does in Iowa and SC.

19 posted on 12/14/2011 7:02:22 AM PST by ExSoldier ("Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil: It has no point.")
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To: ExSoldier

I am praying hard for her. Anybody but newt, romney or obama... or huntsman... I mean he is an obama clone.

LLS


20 posted on 12/14/2011 7:32:39 AM PST by LibLieSlayer ("Americans are hungry to feel once again a sense of mission and greatness." Ronaldo Magnus)
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