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There’s been talk in the news recently about a potential brokered convention for the Republican presidential candidates. Which leads to the obvious question: What the heck is a brokered convention and why does it matter? At least it does for me, as someone that has heard the term tossed around every four years but never taken the time to figure out what it means and what the impact of having one could be in the general election.

So I skipped over to Google and put some mad researching skills to work.

First things first: A basic understanding of the primary process is needed. We have primaries to supposedly get to know our candidates a little better. We shake the skeletons out of the closet, witness their debate skills, and get a peek at how they handle the intense pressure of campaigning.

The states begin to vote for their primary candidates in the election year, with the Iowa caucuses going first, and the New Hampshire primary on its heels. The results of these races are significant because they can be an indication of which candidate voters will most likely support in November. It’s also a chance for lesser-known, under-funded candidates to rocket to the top and gain national recognition and momentum for their campaigns.

Then we muddle through all the other states (the last one this year is Utah on June 26) until our candidate emerges. The official announcement isn’t made until the party’s National Convention some weeks or months later, but everyone usually throws their support behind one candidate somewhere along the primary process, and the rest of it is just going through the motions.

Now we get to brokered conventions. The official candidate isn’t chosen by popular vote, but by delegates. Similar to the Electoral College, each state has a certain number of delegates that will travel to the convention to make the vote for the candidate, based on how the primary or caucuses in their state went down.

A brokered convention is when the delegates aren’t necessarily bound to the candidate their state chose, but may vote for whomever they like. This is what Rick Santorum has been hoping for, because the way things have going don’t look good for him otherwise.

This is a terrible idea going into an election against a sitting president. We need to band together behind one candidate, raise as much money for the general as we possibly can, and start pounding on the opposition instead of getting lost in our own petty squabbles.

Mitt Romney told Neil Cavuto that a brokered convention would “doom” the Republicans’ chance of winning in November. While it’s tempting to think he’s only saying that because he’s in the lead, the man has a point. There’s been talk in the news recently about a potential brokered convention for the Republican presidential candidates. Which leads to the obvious question: What the heck is a brokered convention and why does it matter? At least it does for me, as someone that has heard the term tossed around every four years but never taken the time to figure out what it means and what the impact of having one could be in the general election.

So I skipped over to Google and put some mad researching skills to work.

First things first: A basic understanding of the primary process is needed. We have primaries to supposedly get to know our candidates a little better. We shake the skeletons out of the closet, witness their debate skills, and get a peek at how they handle the intense pressure of campaigning.

The states begin to vote for their primary candidates in the election year, with the Iowa caucuses going first, and the New Hampshire primary on its heels. The results of these races are significant because they can be an indication of which candidate voters will most likely support in November. It’s also a chance for lesser-known, under-funded candidates to rocket to the top and gain national recognition and momentum for their campaigns.

Then we muddle through all the other states (the last one this year is Utah on June 26) until our candidate emerges. The official announcement isn’t made until the party’s National Convention some weeks or months later, but everyone usually throws their support behind one candidate somewhere along the primary process, and the rest of it is just going through the motions.

Now we get to brokered conventions. The official candidate isn’t chosen by popular vote, but by delegates. Similar to the Electoral College, each state has a certain number of delegates that will travel to the convention to make the vote for the candidate, based on how the primary or caucuses in their state went down.

A brokered convention is when the delegates aren’t necessarily bound to the candidate their state chose, but may vote for whomever they like. This is what Rick Santorum has been hoping for, because the way things have going don’t look good for him otherwise.

This is a terrible idea going into an election against a sitting president. We need to band together behind one candidate, raise as much money for the general as we possibly can, and start pounding on the opposition instead of getting lost in our own petty squabbles.

Mitt Romney told Neil Cavuto that a brokered convention would “doom” the Republicans’ chance of winning in November. While it’s tempting to think he’s only saying that because he’s in the lead, the man has a point

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Mitt Romney talked to Fox News’s Neil Cavuto about the prospects of a brokered convention. He explained why that isn’t going to happen and why, in any case, it would be a disaster for the Republican Party.

This is a critical argument: Rick Santorum and those dreaming of a brokered convention are spinning a tale that almost certainly would, in Romney’s words, “doom” the Republicans chances in November. There would be a huge kerfuffle if political insiders picked someone other than the winner of the majority of votes cast in the primary. Moreover, the failure to fundraise for the general election and focus on the president for many more months would give President Obama a huge advantage. (“We sure as heck are not going to go to a convention, all the way to the end of August, to select a nominee and have the campaign working during a convention. Why, can you imagine anything that would be a bigger gift to Barack Obama than us not having a nominee until the end of August? That is just not going to happen.”)

It is worth asking, then, why Santorum and his decreasing band of fans in the conservative media would be angling for a scenario that would undermine the Republicans’ prospects in November. Is Santorum willing to tear down the party and give the president a huge leg up for the unattainable goal of flipping delegates in the convention to his side? And those egging him on, what is their angle? I suppose if you have rooted for other candidates there is some perverse satisfaction in watching Romney’s chances go up in flames. Certainly, there is certainly an ilk in the party that would rather howl in the wilderness than win with a center-right candidate who would have to govern — that is, make some necessary compromises. And then there are those pundits and operatives who simply delight in mischief-making and creating havoc, for it confirms their place in the constellation of conservative players.

But c’mon. We re talking about the country’s future. And if conservatives really do care about getting rid of Obamacare, disarming the Iranian nuclear threat, restoring funding for defense, avoiding a debt crisis and picking the next couple of Supreme Court justices, isn’t it time to cast aside the foolish gamesmanship? Those conservatives, including Santorum, who insist on playing a destructive game that benefits only the president should engage in some introspection and decide if they are in this for their own cockeyed reasons and ambitions or for the good of the conservative movement and the country. And the rest of the party should take note of the GOP version of birthers (“conventioners”?), recognizing just how nonsensical and counterproductive they have become. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/time-to-stop-dream
ing-of-a-brokered-convention/2012/03/13/gIQA1coO9R_blog.html

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