Holy Cross Political Expert Says a Brokered Convention Won’t Stop Trump

Daniel Klinghard, associate professor of political science, warns that those who oppose Trump should not count on a brokered convention in his recent op-ed published in Fortune.

Klinghard’s op-ed recommends that “nervous Republicans and giddy journalists” depending on a brokered convention to halt Trump’s campaign shouldn’t count on it, especially since there hasn’t been a brokered convention since 1920.

“The 2016 race does not present the conditions for a brokered convention,” Klinghard explains. “Most obviously, today’s conventions are more constrained by the fact that delegates represent popular votes cast by the Republican electorate, not state and local party officials who were selected by state and local conventions, and who were expected to act as trustees for the party (as was the case in the 19th century).Rejecting a popular candidate today—particularly one who has as enthusiastic a following as Trump—means rejecting that candidate’s supporters, who expect that the convention will represent their will.”

Read the full piece from Fortune here. 

This “Holy Cross in the News” item by Jessica Kennedy.