Note to the younguns...Conventions used to be "contested" all the time!

[Atman]

Great point just raised on Steve Kornacki's show; young people tend to think that the front-runner automatically gets the nomination at the convention. But us old folks know that's not the way it used to work. I remember staying up until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning when I was 15 years old, watching the conventions live on tv, waiting to see who would get the nomination. It was never a foregone conclusion until modern day politics.

The point being, if your favorite candidate doesn't win the nomination, it's not a conspiracy, it's not dirty dealing (not necessarily), it's not the system screwing you...it's the way it's always been done. Or at least, the way it always used to be done, until corporate media wanted everything to fit into nice commercial breaks, and have the horse races all predictable in order to sell commercial time.

Either way...no matter what...we need to stop Drumpf. GET OUT AND VOTE AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDS UPON IT! Because it does.

[nichomachus]

1. Exactly

When I was younger, conventions were where the action was.

[joeybee12]

2. Humphrey was nominated at a contested convention, I believe

Mainly because of all the RFK delegates...he was assassinated after winning California, and other states...a lot of delegates technically became un-committed with his death.

[KamaAina]

3. That's why the primary system came about

to air out the proverbial smoke-filled room.

[hfojvt]

4. What year are you talking about

I cannot remember a single contested convention in my lifetime, going back to 1972.

In what year were you 15? 1960 or something?

[Atman]

5. Not hardly.

Do you remember the 1972 convention? You didn't know who was the nominee until the final roll call. Oh, and instead of 15, I should have said 13.

[hfojvt]

7. they do not mention any floor fights in this account

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries,_1972

and they show McGovern with a huge delegate lead.

1968 and 1972 seem to be the only recent examples, and they decided they did not like that kind of mess. So they changed the process some.

[Atman]

9. 1968 and 1972

We did not know who was nominated until the end of the conventions. Today, the convention is pointless. It is just a coronation ceremony. "They changed the process some." Conventions since then have just been big parties for the nominees.

[gelsdorf]

10. Yes, I used to so look forward to the conventions

and the primaries when they lasted until June.

[surrealAmerican]

6. That was at a time when most states didn't have primaries.

Once you ask the voters, they are not so easy to ignore.

[bluestateguy]

8. In the 19th century it was the norm for a convention to be contested or brokered

By the mid-20th century that was still the case, but to less of a degree.