harry reid: brokered convention "possible"

[restorefreedom]

via cnn live

thoughts?

edited to add:

he also said "we have gotten some great candidates from brokered conventions." THAT made me nervous, almost hinting that if its bernie, they will try and recruit someone else

what the hell was THAT supposed to insinuate?

[Nonhlanhla]

1. That would be a disaster. nt.

[Renew Deal]

2. Only if delegates selected by the voters aren't enough and the super-delegates favor the loser

Then It could get weird. If the super-delegates favor the winner, then 2008. No problem.

It's unlikely in a 2 person race.

[restorefreedom]

5. yeah. i mean, there are two candidates

one will have more delegates than the other. it doesn't get simpler than that.

if its very close, the supers could start tipping for the loser if its hillary. but the pressure to not do that will be too strong from the voters.

he also said "we have gotten some good candidates from brokered conventions." THAT made me nervous, almost hinting that if its bernie, they will try and recruit someone else

[Renew Deal]

7. Another possibility...

What if neither candidate has enough on the first ballot and the supers either don't vote or vote for a 3rd person? Then all of the delegates are released and let the brokering begin... Still far fetched, but more palatable than the scenario where they pick the loser.

[restorefreedom]

13. jeez, that has the potential to be very ugly. nt

[Renew Deal]

15. It does because it could become a papal election.

You don't know who would come out of it. They could pick you and me.

[restorefreedom]

20. i don't want the job!!!! :) nt

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. Whatever it takes to win

One thing is for certain, there is too much at stake this time around let the republicans win.

[pinebox]

6. Every election is like that though

Literally. "Too much at stake". Every election. If Dems held a brokered convention, people will forever leave the party

[Renew Deal]

10. Hard to say how it turned out

There are scenarios where it could be a good thing. Let's say the presumed nominee is arrested or otherwise incapable of performing the job. The totality of the delegates would have to pick someone new.

[TheCowsCameHome]

25. Yeah, I suppose so, but

there will be a few SCOTUS appointments this time around.

There's always something.

[pinebox]

4. That would be a death nail in the party

If they did that, people would leave, permanently and you can say hello to Greens being a legit and rather large party.

[TheProgressive]

36. +1

[Nanjeanne]

8. Guess he plans on retiring

Because he won't get elected by Democrats if he supports that.

[Renew Deal]

12. He is planning on retiring

Maybe he wants to be VP.

[Skwmom]

43. Maybe he wants to make sure he's real comfortable in his retirement. n/t

[Iggy Knorr]

9. he meant: don't support Sanders n/t

[restorefreedom]

22. exactly. its a tactic to discourage bernie supporters

as in, vote for who you want, we will pick anyway.

no one is falling for it,,thankfully

[Iggy Knorr]

23. Milquetoast Firebrand does best Cartoon Dog Impression

Fails to Depress Turnout

In other news, 30's style boxing is making a comeback!

[restorefreedom]

31. lol nt

[Onlooker]

11. No, it's not possible

The only way there will be a brokered convention is if the establishment tries to steal the election from Bernie or in the extremely unlikely event that another candidate gets into the game and begins accumulating delegates. I think both of those scenarios are very remote. The establishment would rather, if it must, back Bernie and lose because, at the very least, Bernie is pulling a lot of people into the Democratic Party.

[restorefreedom]

16. hopefully, yes. i think a lot of this smoke blowing

is to try and convince sanders supporters that it is rigged anyway, so why bother to vote. fortunately, they are not falling for that pure b.s.

[MineralMan]

14. It's way too early to talk about a

tied convention that would lead to a brokered decision. We've had exactly two primary events. It's extremely unlikely that the two candidates will be tied at the end of primary season. I can't even picture that circumstance being possible.

My guess is that one of the candidates will have a majority by May. Once that occurs, he race is over, frankly.

[Renew Deal]

17. They don't have to be tied.

They just have to not have enough delegates selected by voters to win. Then it's at least possible.

[restorefreedom]

19. true. if they don't have the magic number, its on. nt

[restorefreedom]

18. thats what i thought. with only two people,

one will have more delegates than the other, unless the extremely unlikely "exact tie" scenario occurs.

sounded to me like he was referring to the idea of bringing another candidate in, which would upset pretty much everybody.

[Rocky the Leprechaun]

21. He saw the internals for Clinton.

Nevada is feeling the Bern.

[AgingAmerican]

24. The more I hear stuff like this

The more I am convinced the Democratic Establishment would rather have a Republican president than see Sanders elected.

Personal enrichment. Sanders will kill the corporate goose that lays the golden eggs.

[hueymahl]

29. There is some truth in this statement

The definition of conservative is not wanting change.

Virtually ALL our elected leaders, especially those in leadership, are conservative in this manner.

Nothing is more important to most politicians than survival.

[tk2kewl]

30. Establishment Dems sure seemed content to roll over for the Republicans in '14

They all ran from Obama's record, thinking it was "too far left." Now Hillary wraps herself in Obama because Bernie is "too far left" for them. Yo yos

[onecaliberal]

33. I said the same thing to my husband yesterday. They are all owned by the same people,

The policy doesn't matter their seats are gerrymandered safe and courts are all too unwilling to change that. Their bread is all buttered on the same side. We are the pawns.

[Skwmom]

44. I'm beginning to think you are right. n/t

[2pooped2pop]

26. Why do we play "elections" anymore at all?

All decisions are made by the same group of rich people. I'm afraid this has the potential to turn violent.

I'm sure everyone else has noticed that almost all members of our government only tout fighting for the people when they have no power to make changes, or when they are up for reelection.

[valerief]

27. Boy, they really don't want the .1% to lose a penny, do they? nt

[NV Whino]

28. A brokered convention is more likely on the Republican side.

Wouldn't be surprised to see one there. And I think John Kasich would come out the winner even if he drops out of official running between now and then.

[Jester Messiah]

32. If they try to steal a legit Bernie victory, they can look forward to a mass exodus.

I hope they aren't that damnably stupid.

[fredamae]

34. I will NOT VOTE at All

And I have Always VOTED. If they pull this Shit? What IS the Point of Exercising your Right to Vote If they Over-ride the People?

I will NOT Vote is rather profound statement until you realize "they'll" make This move to win it without any of us, imo.

[global1]

35. Interesting Comment By Reid....

It makes one wonder what motivated it. Does he know that something is about to come down to tank Hillary? Do the internal polls show that Hillary- their establishment candidate - is losing it? Are they that afraid of Bernie? Are they just interested in protecting their own jobs? Do TPTB have such a control over our current elected officials that this kind of talk is ok?

If it comes to a brokered convention and they attempt to sandbag Bernie - it will turn on the Dems and they will surely give the Presidency over to the Repugs.

Hillary is a flawed candidate to begin with. She has her staunch supporters and she has her enemies. It will be very hard for her to pick up any additional support going forward. People are locked in on their feelings about her. You either like her or dislike her.

Bernie on the other hand is something of a phenomena. He has captured the hearts of not only lifetime Dems that know what this country was like before the Reagan years but he has wakened a fire in millennials that look to their future under the current conditions and see it as being futile.

The quickest way to turn the millennials off is to sandbag Bernie. Right now the millennials believe that their future is clouded by the status quo and that no matter what they do - their vote doesn't count. Bernie has given them hope. They believe in the 'Political Revolution' that it's going to take to change that. They have become interested and involved politically. They are seeing firsthand the hypocrisy of the status quo candidates and they have rallied around Bernie - because he offers them a way to take on the system and to provide a better future for themselves. He gives them 'hope' like Obama gave 'hope' to the Black community.

Think back to 2007-8 when Obama was campaigning against Hillary. If the Dems would have attempted a 'brokered' convention to end around Obama - we would have had a McCain in the White House. There would have been such a backlash against the Dems and a mass exodus of Blacks from the Party. They would have sat out the election.

That is what will happen this time around if the Dems push for a brokered convention to sandbag Bernie. The millennials will be so disillusioned with the process - they will sit out the election and the Repugs will wind up with the Presidency. Hell - the Dems would lose the millennials altogether. The Millennials are the new Blacks.

Us seasoned Dems would hold our nose and vote for Hillary because we know the importance of the Supreme Court appointees. But the millennials will just see - like Bernie says - that the system is just rigged against them.

I know there is a lot at stake for 2016. The Dems really need to start thinking about The People they are supposedly elected to serve versus their Corporate and 1% money backers and their own jobs. One would think that our current elected officials would welcome a 'Political Revolution' - 'A We The People Revolution' - that could aid them in shaking the hold that the 'monied' have on them.

The message both Parties should be receiving is that the electorate is fed up with the status quo and not going to take it anymore. That is why the Repugs are rallying around a Trump - because he offers the Repugs some hope from their status quo candidates.

The time has come for a major transformative change to our government. If both Parties are talking this early in the process of a 'brokered' convention - what kind of message does that send to the electorate - The People - who they are telling - vote - cause your vote counts.

I'm really on a rant here - sorry for that. But at the very beginning of this primary season - we were told who the 'presumptive nominees' were for both Parties. TPTB want a Bush v Clinton race - because they know that they could live with either in the WH. They were stacking the deck right from the beginning. Both Trump and Bernie are putting a crimp in their plans and they are now looking for contingencies should they not get the candidates of their choice.

Why do you think Bush hasn't dropped out with all his gaffs and misspeaks? Why does he still have all that money backing him? Why is Hillary getting so many endorsements - many that don't make sense that the people endorsing her would endorse her. And don't even ask about what the MSM has done to help this cause.

It's looking more and more each day that comes to pass that we're heading for a Bush v Clinton general election. We shouldn't let that happen. It's time - WE THE PEOPLE - took back control of our government.

[restorefreedom]

38. great rant..lots to unpack....

as to the motivation, i think you are on to something, and I suspect that it is some combo of internal polling bad for hillary, a possible knowledge of some upcoming legal issues, and an ego big enough to think they can get away with it.

and as to hillary and peoples minds made up, apparently the other day, lawrence odonnell said she never goes up as her candidacy progresses, the numbers always go down. so that is a bad sign for her.

the reason i was concerned about him saying "we have gotten good candidates from brokered conventions" , it sounded to me like he was referring to a possible situation where Bernie is ahead in popular delegates, and either Hillary's polling is really bad or she ends up a legal troubles. And instead of giving the nomination rightfully to Bernie, they're going to plan some backroom deal with Biden or somebody else to come in and trying "save the day". my theory is that the money people, who don't care about party affiliation anyway, thought that the Republicans and Democrats would work together to sandbag both Bernie and Trump, therefore leaving a candidate who would play ball no matter which party they represented. Except that their plan is going to crap because Trump has such support, and bernie. he's going to end up with such support, that on both sides any attempt at it coup would be reason for mass exodus and possibly sitting out the election. The problem for us is that while many many people would be happy to see any establishment Republican, they won't be happy with Hillary because of the number of people who would come out and vote against her. I think the Democratic establishment would rather see a Republican win rather than Bernie, except for Trump because he seems also interested in getting money out of politics. So they are in a bit of a quandary.

there B plan if Hillary tanked or got into trouble was probably to throw it to the Republicans. But with Trump having such support and being a nonconformist, the plans not going to be viable anymore.

and like you said, if they try and pull a palace coup, they will lose the millenials and probably see the end of thr dem party for some time.

[global1]

39. The 2016 General Election Will Be An Historic One - No Matter What.....

If it is Bush v Hillary - you'll have the lowest turnout for an election ever.

If it is Trump v Bernie - you'll have the highest turnout for an election ever.

What's it going to be Parties - go ahead - make my day.

[restorefreedom]

40. we need to stock lots of this....

i predicted a while ago bernie v trump

i still believe that is the most likely contest for the ge

and it will be uuuuuuge!!

[steve2470]

42. that's a really excellent well-thought out post, thank you nt

[bigwillq]

37. Cool.

I know exactly what side I am on.

[Donkees]

41. Does it involve coin flips?

[restorefreedom]

45. smoky back rooms, likely, and coin flips nt

[Ferd Berfel]

47. yes - LOTS AND LOTS of coin will flip

[Ferd Berfel]

46. Is this how Harry Ried becomes Prez?

[berni_mccoy]

48. That would mean President Trump, plain and simple

[restorefreedom]

49. yes, and if it wasn't for trump getting in the way....

i believe the dem elite would be ready to throw the election to the gop and try and sink bernie. but their little plan B went awry when the right got just as pissed off as the left and supported a nonconformist.

so they are screwed either way, and will end up with a president who won't play ball.

good.