Posted on 02/17/2012 5:15:14 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
The prospect of a brokered Republican convention has reared its head — with the re-emergence of conservative lightning rod Sarah Palin as a GOP savior — as the controversial Alaskan said she’d be willing to “help” if her party can’t choose a nominee ahead of the August rubber- stamp event.
But even with the rollicking Republican primary roller coaster looking more like a trainwreck, political experts and players are split over the likelihood of a late-summer nailbiter.
Sean Trende of RealClearPolitics.com said that if the current trend of stark regional divides continues — with Mitt Romney taking more moderate states, Newt Gingrich taking southern states and Rick Santorum taking the conservative heartland — it could go all the way to the convention without a clear winner, as the Democrats narrowly avoided doing in 2008. And disgruntled delegates rebeling against a Romney candidacy could tip the balance for a right-leaning star. Enter Palin.
Who are those people going to gravitate towards if they can’t get Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum? Will they pick Sarah Palin? It’s very possible,” Trende said.
Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential pick, told Fox News that if the primary turmoil drags on, “all bets are off as to who will be willing to offer themselves up in the name of service to their country. I would do whatever I could to help.”
But a brokered convention is as likely as a “space alien attack,” the Republican National Committee’s Sean Spicer told The Washington Times.
But Trende estimates the likelihood at 10 to 15 percent, “which is not nothing,” he said. Brokered conventions were last widely used in the first half of the 20th century, before the 24-hour news cycle, Trende said. Spicer noted that the last candidate chosen that way was Thomas Dewey in 1948 — 64 years ago.
“No one really knows what a brokered convention looks like in modern times,” Trende said. “If no one has enough delegates, you’ll probably see Sarah Palin walking around the floor of the convention trying to get support. And you’ll have party brokers who want it to go to Mitch Daniels or Paul Ryan. My personal opinion is it will be a mess.”
Go, Sarah!
The funds raised in these FReepathons go to pay our current quarter expenses. But we're also going to try to replace some of our older servers and failing equipment this year so we're going to add a little extra to our FReepathon goals. John is estimating ten to fifteen thousand to do this and I'd like to get it all in place and working before the election cycle is fully heated up, so we'll try to bring in a little extra now, if we can, and the rest next quarter.
Jim Robinson
Is the space alien guy the same guy who was pimping Jeb Bush?
If some of the GOP insiders in PA know what they are talking about, a brokered convention is not going to happen.
Word around Pittsburg is that the GOP E has already brokered a deal between Santorum and Romney.
As far as the GOP is concerned, the only thing the primaries are deciding is who is going to take the top of the ticket.
Sickening.
Do you think you might give us a link instead of hearsay?
You should back up what you claim with fact.
Deal between Gingrich Palin trumps your Romney Santorum. Romney’s house of cards about to implode. Santorum of limited appeal and about to be bombed.
Would have to agree with that. A Gingrich/Palin ticket is the only way to get out of this entire mess.
I posted my conversation on another thread. I spoke to my best friend today, who went back to PA about a month ago. Her husband is gravely ill, so we haven’t discussed much about politics for several months.
My friend’s family are staunch conservatives, from a family whose property deeds were signed by William Penn, so they’ve been around a while. Needless to say, they know the movers and shakers in the Pittsburg area, and their son has worked on several GOP campaigns.
I was surprised to hear that they were going to vote for Romney, until they heard about this. I won’t go into all the reasons they don’t like Santorum, but I got an earful.
That is my source, and I don’t ask anyone to accept it, but it would be good to keep an ear to the ground.
It was reported that Friess, the billionaire supporting Santorum, was asked by Greta if Santorum would consider Romney as a VP. I didn’t hear the interview, but maybe another Freeper did. Friess reportedly said that could be a definite possibility (something to that effect), which makes sense, since he Friess supported Romeny in 2008. So did Santorum.
That would indeed be a dream come true.
If Gingrich can get enough delegates to deny Santorum/Romney what they need for a combined ticket, that would an answer to prayer.
Where I come from, a Pro's a whore.
That is hearsay. Before saying this kind of thing and spreading it, you need to have some proof thst what you say is true.
I do not believe this without something to prove it. You can understand that.
A ticket made up of Romney and Santorum, no matter who is at the top, is a sure loser.
I didn’t misrepresent anything in my post and was very up front about my source.
Just because I trust the source, I’m not asking you to. Just keep your eyes and ears open.
If this is the real deal, I don’t see how the GOP will survive and they shouldn’t. JMHO
Definitely a loser! Have you noticed how the GOP E has made a bad habit of shoving Losers down our throats?
That just makes the nightmare of a Romney/Santorun or vice versa outcome a credible possibility.
Lord Save Us!
Let’s speculate. Say it is Sarah. Does the VP have much influence in the Senate. Say Newt were VP. Would that do any good at all?
Palin’s number one goal is to stop Obama. If she has to offer up her servants heart at the convention she will. But I don’t think that is her preference.
Though Palin is my preference!
I’ve been posting on other threads how this is very likely to happen. RickRoll has rolled over the establishment over and over and over again. They say jump, he says how high. He’s shown himself to be a political climber at heart, a go-along-to-get-along guy. He represents everything that was bad about the Republicans in the 2000s. Romney represents everywhere the Republican party wants to go in this decade (social liberal, increased Wall Street/big money ties, cronyism, bailouts). Romney IS the establishment and Santorum is the establishment’s willing buttboy. If Santorum stays atop of the polls, there is NO chance that Romney won’t be on the ticket. There is no way their delegates added together won’t add up to more than half the delegates at this rate. The only chance to take America back for the people and end the corruption is to vote Newt.
Some of the GOP inside power players in PA are saying this is the deal. With Santorum’s top money backer (Friess) feeling all cozy with Mitt, I don’t think we can shrug this off. Something has smelled rotten for a long time.
At least Newt has two more votes in PA tonight.
Newt says that we have to win this with People Power, so lets keep on pluggin’ and prayin’.
Thanks for your post and stay on it. What your gut is telling you is right on!
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