In case you are wondering what the term means, I found the following definition on Wikipedia:
A brokered convention is a situation in United States politics in which there are not enough delegates ‘won’ during the presidential primary and caucus elections for a single candidate to have a pre-existing majority, during the first official vote for a political party’s presidential-candidate at its nominating convention.
Once the first ballot, or vote, has occurred, and no candidate has a majority of the delegates’ votes, the convention is then considered brokered; thereafter, the nomination is decided through a process of alternating political horse-trading, and additional re-votes.
In this circumstance, all regular delegates (who, previously, were pledged to the candidate who had won their respective state’s primary or caucus election) are “released,” and are able to switch their allegiance to a different candidate before the next round of balloting. It is hoped that this ‘freedom’ will result in a re-vote resulting in a clear majority of delegates for one candidate.
Superdelegate votes are counted on the first ballot. Although the term “brokered convention” is sometimes used to refer to a convention where the outcome is decided by superdelegate votes rather than pledged delegates alone, this is not the original sense of the term. Like a brokered convention, the potentially decisive role played by superdelegates can often go against the popular vote from the primaries and caucuses.
Before the era of presidential primary elections, political party conventions were routinely brokered. Adlai Stevenson (of the 1952 Democratic Party) and Thomas Dewey (of the 1948 Republican Party) were the most recent “brokered convention” presidential nominees. The last winning U.S. presidential nominee produced by a brokered convention was Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1932.
I also found this post at Red State, and thought it was interesting:
First step is to justify the idea of a brokered convention. This is an idea that is within the rules. It is not something that is under-handed. It is the age old way we used to select nominees. Abe Lincoln wasn’t so bad and he was selected through a contentious convention. Second, I will explore why this race demands a brokered convention. Third I will look at ways to make it happen.
Okay, so is a brokered convention bogus? It is somehow not a valid part of the process? No. This is easy. The conventions only became coronations in the very recent past of electoral politics. And interestingly, the Republican Party did not write the rules in the 70′s to make a brokered convention impossible. The rules make it less likely, but not impossible. So there are circumstances when a brokered convention is allowed. To suggest this would anger voters and make them feel like they don’t matter, I say BAH! How do voters feel when a nominee is selected by the time three states vote in a primary? When candidates they like are bounced after Iowa and New Hampshire and no one else gets a chance to voice their opinion? A convention is more democratic than that because all states send delegates to defend their interests. So don’t tell me a convention that actually selects the nominee is somehow invalid. Barry Goldwater as nominated by a conservative movement manuvering in a convention.
Next, do we need a brokered convention this year? Yes! Mitt Romney is not a conservative. His defining characteristic is his ambition which leaves a long trail of shifting positions that makes him appear to be a ideological sociopath. Few like him and less trust him. He is the grandfather of Obamacare. We can’t nominate the grandfather of Obamacare if we hope to draw stark lines with the Obama administration. Newt is reckless and careless. He also has shown willingness to throw conservatives under the bus. Paul and Santorum are not really going to be the nominee, but they are unacceptable too. Should we just suck it up? Some might say the process beat us and that we just have to deal with it. Not so. How did we lose? Two states into the process we don’t have a candidate! The answer is not to accept this, but to find ways within the process to win just like the Goldwater movement did in 1964. Now is not the time to just take Newt because he isn’t Romney. Newt is just one vehicle we can use to make sure we get to a stage where we have more power to pick an acceptable conservative nominee.
And that leads to strategy. Newt is the viable vehicle right now to block Romney from picking up enough steam and delegates to wrap this up. But he isn’t the long term answer to get to a brokered convention. He is a means to an end. We need to start an appartus within states with a late filing deadline to nominate favorite son candidates. We need people specifically running to lock up delegates for the first round of voting at the convention. And yes, there are states where we can do that. Continue reading….