Early in the last century, Denver, Colorado constructed the huge Municipal Auditorium to hold large conventions. After being rejected by the Republican’s 1908 Convention, Denver enticed the Democrats with offers of free use of the auditorium, free decorations, drinks and $100,000 cash. In comparison, this year Denver will have to come up with more like $100,000,000 to cover the Party’s cost!
William Jennings Bryan was the inevitable candidate in 1908. Denver tried to provide drama in other ways. They hired a troop of Apache Indians to dance and mingle with the hoopla of delegates making it difficult, as Damon Runyon put it in the Rocky Mountain News, to distinguish Wild Indians from Democrats, except that the latter were "wearing a lot of badges" and yelling ALL of the time.
In comparison, this year’s Democratic Convention, thus far, does not have a clear cut candidate in place. Democrats may have a different kind of entertainment as the possibility of a brokered convention is pending. Before the era of presidential primaries, conventions were routinely brokered. Adlai Stevenson, in 1952, for the Democratic Party, and Thomas Dewey, in 1948, fro the Republican Party were the last two candidates selected through a brokered convention, although the Democratic Party’s 1968 convention might have been brokered had it not been for the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. The last brokered convention to yield a nominee that went on to win the general election was the Democratic Convention in 1932. That candidate was Franklin Roosevelt.
Since then, there have been many years when brokered conventions were projected but did not come to pass. In 1988, a brokered convention was predicted for the Democrats since several candidates on the Super Tuesday primaries that year. Theorists have identified two types of political momentum, piecemeal and all-at-once, with different impacts on the front-runners. In addition, the political parties wish to avoid the negative publicity from a brokered convention as well as to maximize the amount of time the nominee has to campaign for the presidency. There are approximately two months between the major parties conventions and Election Day in November. In addition, the candidate nominated from the brokered convention will be seen as unconvincing and must jump additional hurdles in a relatively short time to gain the needed votes. It is in the party’s best interest to have the Clinton and Obama race resolved prior to the convention in August 2008.
To be continued by Pat Canady
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