I Wish We Would Go Back To The Old Way Of Selecting A Party's Candidate.....

[global1]

I'm 64y/o now and I remember the conventions of old when one sat on the edge of their seat when the delegations were pledging their votes for their candidate. Remember - the great State of Illinois - the Land of Lincoln - pledges all their votes for the next President of the United States - (fill in the blank).

We went through the roll call of all the states and in the end one candidate came out the winner and the party rallied around that candidate. One came out of those conventions very united for that candidate.

Now a national convention is just one big commercial filled with falsehoods and innuendos and IMHO most of people just tune out unless one is a die-hard party person.

I was real young but I remember watching these conventions on a black and white DuMont TV in my living room with my parents. I was too young to really understand what exactly was going on - but I know that I was mesmerized by the excitement of the convention.

Anyone else remember those days?

[ZombieHorde]

1. I think I may be too young to remember that, but it sounds pretty cool to me. nt

[freshwest]

2. Yes, I do and enjoyed it. There is little to be decided at the conventions now.

They're just a commercial for the last part of the campaign before November.

[gateley]

3. I vaguely remember watching with my parents and being bored, but yeah, it would be nice to have it

it like that again.

[Wednesdays]

4. True, that

When was the last time there was a multiple-ballot convention?

[Scuba]

5. A random selection of citizens would get us better candidates than most of what we have.

Series.

[broiles]

11. O for the days of smoke filled rooms and party bosses.

We wouldn't want the little people to have a say.

[JDPriestly]

6. Yes, I remember those days. The conventions really meant something.

But there was a lot more backroom wheeling and dealing. The process wasn't nearly as democratic.

Of course, Romney's party -- is wheeling and dealing in its own undemocratic way.

[global1]

12. Don't Kid Yourself That The Backroom Wheeling & Dealing Isn't Going On Right Now....

it still is and it is probably more manipulative than ever. The corporations and money fosters this wheeling and dealing and that is something that is not going to go away as long as we have Citizens United rulings.

[leveymg]

7. To be honest with you, it's kinda boring to be a delegate most of the time, too. Except the

free booze and socializing in the hospitality suites.

Some things don't change.

[Flashmann]

8. Anyone else remember those days?

Yeah I do......The days of 3 TV channels....The earliest convention I recall seeing,was 1959..Didn't take much interest as an 8 year old...Didn't like that every stinking channel carried them...My parents seemingly,in hindsight,went out of their way to not influence me,either way..Somehow I concluded Nixon was some sort of shitbag,and I've been a Dem ever since.....I remember pols stretching truth,but no whopping,outrageous flatout lies,like we see now days,mostly from the goops in general and the goops who speak in particular....

[Agnosticsherbet]

9. My earliest memory of a nominating convention was 1968...

I was 17 and thought it was cool. My grandfather sat around making disparaging remarks. He was a Rockefeller Republican and did not think Nixon could polish Eisenhower's shoes. My grandmother, a Democrat true and blue, supported Senator Eugene McCarthy against Hubert Humphrey, especially after several local boys we all knew died in Vietnam. That convention was what led to the adoption of binding primaries and zero surprises. But it was also surrounded by riots outside and Dan Rather was roughed up inside when he attempted to talk to a delegate. Walter Cronkite called them thugs.

I was unaware of any of what went on behind the scenes at those conventions. The pageantry of the whole thing was a hell of a spectacle. I remember Goldwater from 1964, because he appeared at our school and handed out cans of "Goldwater" soda, that tasted like Orange Crush.

I find the current Republican National Convention, with the Party elite attempting to push out Paul's delegations, and even Texas in one report, to be interesting and telling concerning the fight inside the Republican Party between Party big business Corporate Conservative leadership and the Teaparty and radical Christian insurgents. But I read reports only and don't watch. I get enough political advertisements on regularly scheduled television to last me a lifetime.

[Warren Stupidity]

10. The last brokered convention was 1952.

I was less than one. You might have been as old as four. The last convention where there was any doubt about the nominee was 84 with Mondale, but the general trend since 52 has been that the contest was over long before the convention started. Whatever seat edging there was would have been mostly fabricated for the viewing audience.