The election process can become quite convoluted. This can lead to dissatisfaction and at times disenfranchisement of voters. The process should be streamlined -in my opinion- to be completely transparent and in line with the will of the people.
However, when a candidate doesn’t secure enough delegates to decisively capture the nomination, there are all kinds of little tricks and tactics that can be used. Super delegates are not required to vote according to the will of the people and may support whom they choose (or as cynics like me tend to think, whoever the highest bidder might be).
A brokered convention (the key word being brokered) means backroom dealing until the party elites are happy with the candidate. You’ve heard of the smoke filled room? This is it.
So, if neither has enough delegates at the end of the day, and the Democratic voters want Obama and the party leaders want Clinton, it could still end up being the latter.
This is not to say that only the Democrats have issues, because Republicans certainly have plenty of their own… However, the Republicans seem to have found their golden boy at this stage, strangely enough a candidate whose campaign was on the verge of folding not so many months ago. While I frequently speak with an assortment of self-proclaimed “political junkies,” I’ve yet to find a Republican who admits to having supported McCain.
I expect that hardcore party loyalists will vote for McCain in the general election (many of them having to eat their words from early on in this election cycle) if for no other reason than to keep a Democrat out, especially if the nominee ends up being Hillary Clinton. Too many people who register under the R cannot stand the thought of another Clinton in the White House. It seemed as if she wasn’t getting much traction with rock-star-like Obama as competition, but a brokered convention could change all that.
That may rally Republicans. It may also leave a bad taste in the mouths of Democratic voters who don’t support Clinton. It will be very interesting to watch unfold.
Have you been following this election closely? What do you think about a brokered convention?