Are We Heading for a Brokered Convention? (ContributorNetwork)

Newt Gingrich recently told reporters in Florida that "he is going all the way to the convention" this summer where he will win the Republican Party's nomination. And following the South Carolina primary earlier this month, former GOP national chairman Michael Steele said he thought there was a "50-50 chance" the Republican convention would be brokered.

Given how close the race is between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, let's take a look at some brokered, or nearly brokered political conventions of the past.

Election of 1948 (Republicans)

With Franklin Roosevelt's death in 1945 the Republicans had high hopes for this election, but they didn't have a clear candidate going into the convention. New Yorker Thomas Dewy, who had run against Roosevelt, was the favorite, but he had some strong competition. Republican stalwart Robert Taft from Ohio, Herold Strassen of Minnesota and Douglas MacArthur were making a run against Dewy. It took three ballots but eventually Dewy prevailed in what was the first political convention to be televised. He went on to lose a close election to incumbent Harry Truman.

Election of 1952 (Democrats)

When Harry Truman decided not to seek re-election in 1952 the Democrats found themselves scrambling for a candidate. When it came time for the convention that July in Chicago, there was no clear nominee and 11 candidates were put forward, the most prominent being Tennessean Estes Kefauver and Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson. On the first ballot Kefauver had more votes but not enough to win the nomination. By the third ballot, Stevenson had gained enough votes to clinch victory for the Democrats. He went on to lose to Dwight Eisenhower in the general election.

Election of 1976 (Republicans)

The 1976 Republican convention began in Kansas City, Mo., with two possible nominees: incumbent President Gerald Ford and surprise challenger Ronald Reagan. A fierce challenge from within the party, like Reagan's, against a sitting president is highly unusual, but the former California governor only backed down at the last moment. The delegates nominated Ford, but Reagan gave a speech to a rapt audience who seemed more enthralled with him than they were with their president who had never been elected. Ford went on to lose the general election to Jimmy Carter, while Reagan would win the White House four years later in 1980.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120129/pl_ac/10897909_are_we_heading_for_a_brokered_convention

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