So why have there been NO "Brokered Conventions" in either party since 1952?

[Zolorp]

1952 was the last year of brokered conventions and BOTH parties held a brokered convention.

Adlai Stevenson came out of the Democratic National Convention and Dwight David Eisenhower came out of the Republican convention.

That was the last year either party held a convention where the nominee was not determined on the first ballot.

But why?

It's simple really. Brokered conventions are contentious affairs and nobody wants that in party leadership.

It's a tradition that every four years media personalities swoon over the possibility of a brokered convention on one side or the other because this sort of drama makes for good television and sells advertising. Every four years by the time Super Tuesday wraps up, it's down to no more than two real contenders in each party. All of the other multitudinous candidates see their money dry u and they just cannot compete.

And somebody always comes out on top to take the convention on the first ballot no muss no fuss.

You can usually tell who is seeing some nasty internal polling that shows their only hope is for several candidates to stay in so they have the plurality of delegates going into the first brokered convention since 1952 and can take it on the strength of the argument that" the convention must rally around the person with the most pledged delegates?" The person who starts using that argument almost always loses.

Almost. Always.

On rare occasions you can see some early panic in a campaign that thought it would do better early on. It's rare, but can happen.

The last time it was seriously pushed was in 2008. Hillary Clinton thought for a time she could argue she had the most popular votes so she should be nominated in the convention.

Hillary lost.

So yeah, it's interesting to look at the arguments about how a brokered convention should be handled, but it's all academic. Conventions are no longer brokered. 2020 will be no different. It will boil down to two contenders (or possibly even only one realistic contender) after Super Tuesday.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. 1968 wasn't exactly brokered, but Humphrey was nominated even though

he'd never run in any of the primaries.

The Democratic Party, which controlled the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House, was divided in 1968. Senator Eugene McCarthy entered the campaign in November 1967, challenging incumbent President Johnson for the Democratic nomination. Robert F. Kennedy entered the race in March 1968. Johnson, facing dissent within his party, and having only barely won the New Hampshire primary, dropped out of the race on March 31. Vice President Hubert Humphrey then entered into the race, but did not compete in any primaries; he inherited the delegates previously pledged to Johnson and then collected delegates in caucus states, especially in caucuses controlled by local Democratic party leaders. After Kennedy's assassination on June 5, the Democratic Party's divisions grew. At the moment of Kennedy's death the delegate count stood at Humphrey 561.5, Kennedy 393.5, McCarthy 258. Kennedy's murder left his delegates uncommitted.

Support within the party was divided between Senator McCarthy, who ran a decidedly anti-war campaign and was seen as the peace candidate, Vice President Humphrey, who was seen as the candidate representing the Johnson point of view, and Senator George McGovern, who appealed to some of the Kennedy supporters.

Before the start of the convention on August 26, several states had competing slates of delegates attempting to be seated at the convention. Some of these delegate credential fights went to the floor of the convention on August 26, where votes were held to determine which slates of delegates representing Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and North Carolina would be seated at the convention. The more racially integrated challenging slate from Texas was defeated.

In the end, the Democratic Party nominated Humphrey. Even though 80 percent of the primary voters (in those states which held primaries) had been for anti-war candidates, the delegates had defeated the peace plank by 1,567¾ to 1,041¼. The loss was perceived to be the result of President Johnson and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley influencing behind the scenes. Humphrey, who had not entered any of 13 state primary elections, won the Democratic nomination, and went on to lose the election to the Republican Richard Nixon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Democratic_National_Convention

I remember watching the coverage of that convention and the riots outside. It was a complete goatfuck.

[tiredtoo]

3. Yes being a republican in 1968

I watched the riots in Chicago with pleasure. Took me a few more years to get my head on straight. My eyes were opened when Saint Ronnie fired the Patco workers in 1981.

[VarryOn]

2. Every four years, we hear about a possible brokered convention...

With either party. They just dont happen. I predict by the end of March, our nominee will be quite apparent.