As some of you may know the candidates from each party must be chosen at a Convention previous to election day in November. The Republican dates are set earlier than usual in July 18th-21st of this year. Now you may be wondering, why does this matter to me? Well, history has shown that by this time of the race, there is usually a clear winner for the position. This year is a rather unusual circumstance, in that, there isn't a clear winner yet.
We see here that though it may not be extremely close there are still 854 delegates up for grabs. And since the Republican party is stretched between so many candidates, it may cause a tie, or for those who have not pledged may wait for the popular vote and then decide. Like I said, usually we can see this clearly with a candidate with outstanding numbers, but this year folks, its going to be quite the ride. Get ready to tune into the most influential Convention of your lives.
Usually Conventions will have a winner based off of primaries and caucuses depending on Delegates. Therefore after the first ballot there will be a winner and then all party officials can get together and basically have a party.
The people and party officials are showing that there isn't a clear "likable" candidate, either. This fact will push some delegates away that may prefer the populous vote which is what occurred in 2012 with Clinton and Obama. So how will the Convention declare their candidate if there aren't enough delegates or votes?
A Contested Convention could be in our near future folks, and its going to be the most entertaining and history event seen thus far in the election. These is a first ballot, where each delegate MUST vote for whomever they have pledged for. If there is still no clear winner, it leads onto the second ballot. This is where it gets messy. After the first ballot, delegates no longer have to vote for their candidate, its a free for all at this point in the game. Now, most of the time it isn't an immediate second ballot, there could be speeches and possibly some deals being made behind closed doors.
I mean, honestly if you're looking for the most outrageous and nail biting debate, this will be it. People will be glued to their TVs and radios for days. But what if that second ballot doesn't give us an answer, then what? We keep going! I mean really, I was just as floored as you are when my political science teach spoke on this. We really keep voting and finagling like rock, paper, scissors, until we get a candidate to run the country? Why would Republicans even put themselves in that situation in the first place? But hey, that's a question for the Convention.
So remember this July when you're 80, and if your DVR lets you, save it for your grandchildren. Remember, history repeats itself.
