What happens in the brokered convention situation?
I hear a bunch of talk about a Republican brokered convention this year… What exactly happens in that scenario (and yes, I’ve seen the Wikipedia article already and it hasn’t helped)?
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If no candidate wins a majority of the delegates needed for the presidential nomination, back-room deals are negotiated between the candidates until one candidate has won the support of a majority of the delegates.
For example, if after all of the state primaries and caucuses, the delegates are apportioned as follows:
Romney: 35%
McCain: 25%
Huckabee: 23%
Giuliani: 10%
Other: 7%
Romney could make a deal with McCain (or Huckabee), offering him the vice presidency in exchange for support of his delegates. This would give Romney a majority of the delegates and the nomination. However, McCain might not accept this offer. Maybe McCain wants to be president now and isn’t particularly fond of Romney, so he tries to negotiate his own ticket, offering Huckabee the vice presidency and Giuliani (or a couple of the other candidates) cabinet positions to pull above the 50 percent mark. Eventually, a deal is agreed upon and a nominee is elected.
Do the candidates negotiate with each other or do the they deal with the delegates?
The candidates negotiate with each other behind closed doors until a deal is reached and then direct thier delegates on how to vote.
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