There is a lot being written recently about the possibility of Democrats having a “brokered convention.” What that means is a convention in which the nominee is not selected on the first ballot.
Delegates are essentially required to vote for the candidate they were sent to support on the first ballot. Presuming no one wins a majority on the first ballot, horse trading then begins.
The scenario everyone is concerned about is one in which (a) Bernie Sanders has more delegates than anyone else but less than a majority, and (b) the total delegates for moderate candidates (everyone but Warren and Sanders) is a majority.
What then has to be determined is whether the anybody-but-Sanders delegates can agree on someone to vote for. It is believed some Warren delegates would vote for Sanders on a second ballot and some would not, further complicating the issue.
A cartoon I saw recently had the Democrat Party as Lucy from Peanuts, holding a football for Bernie Sanders dressed as Charlie Brown to kick. The obvious question, would the party take the nod away from Sanders again? The cartoonist obviously believed it would. And if they did, would Sanders’ supporters work and vote for the D nominee, vote minor party, stay home, or vote for Trump as some 12% did in 2016.
Those of us who write about politics would love a brokered convention because it is grist for our mill, a big, complicated process about which to speculate, opine, and write. There hasn’t been one recently, the deck is stacked against that outcome.
