Spring Break
Lessons From '52 and '76: What to Expect in Denver
Shawn Kothari '11
Issue date: 5/11/08 Section: Opinion
Senator Bob Casey's surprise endorsement of Barack Obama in the Pennsylvania primary was just another step in the long protracted road to the Democratic nomination. The endorsement helps restore some of the firepower the Obama camp lost in response to the controversial comments of Reverend Jeremiah Wright, but with August's Democratic Convention in Denver approaching and the contestants still deadlocked, whispers of a brokered convention are beginning to rise. Newsweek editor Jon Meacham suggested such a possibility during a "Meet the Press" interview in which he said, "I think, depending on where you end up with the… popular vote, or the pledged delegates, you do have the capacity for a kind of corrupt bargain charge." Political junkies will recall the smoke-filed rooms and party boss negotiations that characterized past brokered conventions. Both parties have failed to produce a nominee before their respective conventions in the past, the most prominent cases being the 1952 Democratic Convention and the 1976 Republican convention. Each provides unique insight into how this year's convention may play out.
The 1952 Democratic convention featured four contenders vying for the nomination. The group consisted of Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee, Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois, Senator Richard Russell of Georgia, and former Secretary of Commerce Averell Harriman of New York. Debate was intense as "party bosses" held backroom negotiations debating candidate credentials. Stevenson originally had no intention of seeking the nomination, but after an ardent opening speech, local power players quickly moved to add him to the ticket. After six days of heated dissent and three ballots, Stevenson-the hometown boy given that the convention was held in Chicago-emerged as the winner. The convention is notable for two reasons. First, the national television coverage of the convention, possible because of new technology, began to diminish the influence of "political bosses." Second, the convention's result was largely due to the influence of these local power players. In the context of modern conventions, superdelegates have replaced party bosses as the deciding factors in a tight race.
The 1952 Democratic convention featured four contenders vying for the nomination. The group consisted of Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee, Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois, Senator Richard Russell of Georgia, and former Secretary of Commerce Averell Harriman of New York. Debate was intense as "party bosses" held backroom negotiations debating candidate credentials. Stevenson originally had no intention of seeking the nomination, but after an ardent opening speech, local power players quickly moved to add him to the ticket. After six days of heated dissent and three ballots, Stevenson-the hometown boy given that the convention was held in Chicago-emerged as the winner. The convention is notable for two reasons. First, the national television coverage of the convention, possible because of new technology, began to diminish the influence of "political bosses." Second, the convention's result was largely due to the influence of these local power players. In the context of modern conventions, superdelegates have replaced party bosses as the deciding factors in a tight race.
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