One of the wildcard predictions I listed in my last diary entry (
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2003/10/27/154656/20) was the possibility of a brokered Democratic convention. This has been a favorite scenario of pundits and political fantasists for many election cycles now, but one the increasingly front-loaded primary system seems to mitigate against. Still, as I've said before, in an era of impeachment, recount and recall, anything's possible. And it's not
quite as unlikely as it seems.
It's only been in the last two decades that conventions have routinely become the low-rated televised coronations they were in 2000. While no convention has gone to a second ballot since Stevenson threw open the VP nomination in 1956, there were quite a few afterwards that still contained an element of drama. JFK, Humphrey & Nixon in '68, McGovern all won on the first ballot but their nominations were contested all the way to the floor. There was a serious "Dump Carter" movement in advance of the 1980 convention. And Ronald Reagan came within a hair's breath of upsetting the incumbent president, Gerald Ford, at the 1976 GOP get together. With nine candidates this year, it's certainly possible, if still very unlikely, that this could be the first convention in decades to promise even a hint of multi-ballot excitement. So, if you were a Democratic power broker. or just an ordinary delegate, in Boston next year, who would you support in such a scenario? Some options below may overlap.