One of the questions we get is what happens if nobody gets enough delegates for an outright win

This is from Glenn Beck


http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/ ... gb.01.html

Quote:
BECK: Well, we have been talking about the economy all week. How fitting, then, that the Federal Reserve chairman was on the Hill today to talk about economic stimulants. Yes. Nothing like thinking ahead.

So, while Washington tries to screw this up even more, what are you going to do? I have some answers for you, coming up in just a bit.

But first, we`re right in the middle of one of the closest horse races in political history. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, pretty much in a dead heat for first place. And there`s pretty-boy John Edwards, like an 8-year- old kid that just won`t go away.

However, most experts agree that the Democrats will choose their nominee before their convention in September, which is a good thing for safety.

As for the Republicans -- not so much. The race between Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, John McCain could be so close that, by convention time, there may be no clear candidate with enough electoral votes to win. That would be big news. That would be the first brokered GOP convention in 60 years.

I don`t even know what that even means, really. Here`s GOP strategist Whit Ayres to explain it to us.

Whit, explain -- explain the brokered convention.

WHIT AYRES, GOP STRATEGIST: What that means is that the delegates who are selected in these various primaries are normally committed to vote for their candidate on at least the first ballot, but if on the first ballot, no candidate gets a majority, which for Republicans is 1,245 delegates, then you start all over.

And you`ll go to a second ballot. And the people who have fewer delegates start negotiating with the people who have more delegates. Perhaps to cut a deal, perhaps to swing their delegates to one of the leaders, so that they will get, ultimately, a majority of the delegates, and win the nomination.

BECK: OK. So let`s just war-game this out a bit. Let`s say that it`s -- let`s say that it`s Mike Huckabee, John McCain and Mitt Romney, the top three right now, they go into the convention with those, with that standing. What happens then? Do they start going to the Ron Paul people and say, "Hey, we like gold, too?"

AYRES: Perhaps, or they go to the Fred Thompson people and say, "Would you like a cabinet position in my administration? Would you like me to promote certain policies that you really care about? I will do that, if you will try to get your delegates to vote for me."

Now, those delegates don`t have to vote for the person that the other candidate endorses, but he would be very persuasive with them, I think.

BECK: OK. So, you could end up with just the situation where John McCain says, if you know, he has more than anybody else, he can say, "Hey, Mike, I want you to be the vice president."

AYRES: Perhaps. He could, although I think that would seem like a dirty deal. It would be a little too transparent.

BECK: Why?

AYRES: Well, if it looked like he had to give away something like the vice presidency, I don`t think it would give him that image of strength that he`d like to have, going into the national -- national election. But it`s entirely possible.

BECK: Do they -- you know, I had Penn Jillette on, I think it was, when was it, last night, and he said to me, "You got to hate the other guys." If you`re running for -- I don`t think you have to hate the other candidates. Do you?

Do these guys really -- because I got the impression with the Democrats, they hate each other right now. Those three hate each other. And I`ve heard that the other candidates all hate, for some reason, Mitt Romney.

Is there -- don`t they have healthy respect for each other, say, you know, "I just disagree with this, this and this. I think I`d be a better lead guy, but come on in."

AYRES: Glenn, when it comes to winning a national presidential election, personal feelings don`t matter that much. John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson detested each other. But they ran on the same ticket and they won.

BECK: Right.

AYRES: So, I think, if you`ve got the presidency hanging in the balance, your personal feelings don`t matter that much. Or at least you tend to get over them.

BECK: In the Democrats, as I understand it, with the Democrats, they actually would count second place. For, like, right now, if you would -- if you would look at the clear -- person who has the most votes, it would be Mitt Romney. Because he`s been either one or two in all of them, and so, he`s kind of the general favorite if you look at it that way.

But it`s all or nothing with the Republicans. With the Democrats, it`s the other way, right?

AYRES: That`s very important for your viewers to understand. If you have a state with 100 delegates, and in the Republican side, the top three finishers get 35, 30 and 25 percent, the person who gets 35 percent, gets all the 100 delegates in most states.

On the Democrat side, they`re proportional. So the people who get 35 percent get 35 delegates, and then 30 delegates and then 25 delegates. So they could remain very close going forward, even if the same person wins a number of primaries.

BECK: This is going to spell doom for the GOP, if this actually happens. Thanks, Whit.