Michael "Potato Salad" Steele: 50-50 chance of open GOP Convention, just like Newt's marriage

[Amerigo Vespucci]

TAMPA, Fla. -- Michael Steele, the former Republican national chairman who oversaw the writing of the party's nominating rules in 2010, told The Huffington Post Saturday night that the chances of an open -- that is, undecided -- GOP convention in Florida next August are now "50-50" after Newt Gingrich's victory in South Carolina.

"It's a real possibility," Steele told HuffPost. "Right now I'd say it's 50-50. The base wants its chance to have their say. They aren't going to want it to end early, before they get their chance, which means that the process could go all the way to Tampa."

And if it does, Steele says, the result will not be an unpalatable anti-democratic display of insider deal-making, but rather an advertisement for the ideological and grassroots input of the party.

"You would see the people who had the influence to begin with -- the Tea Party, the social conservatives, you name it, hashing it out right in front of us all. I think that is good."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/21/republican-convention-mitt-romney-south-carolina-primary_n_1221350.html

[Generic Other]

1. I am loving these headlines!!

Yours is a DUzy worthy one for sure!

[EFerrari]

2. LOL

[BumRushDaShow]

3. At least his version of a spin

seems somewhat logical.

[Lint Head]

4. Can you say brokered convention?

[Tomay]

5. If I recall correctly, the last truly open GOP convention

was in 1920. After endless debating, speeches, and bargaining in smoke-filled rooms, they ended up nominating ... Warren G. Harding, who became arguably the worst president in history. He only won because the Dems nominated their own obscure candidate. Obama would wipe up the floor with Warren G. Harding v.2.0.

[Ter]

6. What was 1976 considered?

Reagan put up quite a challenge to a sitting incumbent, but came up a little short.

[Tomay]

7. That is true, Reagan nearly grabbed the nomination from Ford,

but it wasn't really "open" since Ford's only real rival was Reagan, who had built up a strong national following over a decade. In 1920, the Republicans were leaderless (kind of like now); they were very hostile to the sitting president, Wilson (who wasn't running), and his agenda, but otherwise had little in common; this allowed an obscure "favorite son" candidate like Harding to emerge at the convention and get the nomination. There's a small chance we could see something like that happen again this time, though I personally think the Gingrinch will win the nomination in the primaries as Mittens continues to collapse. Of course, there could also be some kind of swindle at the convention that gives Mittens the nomination anyway, since the banksters love him and hate the Gingrinch, especially lately with the Gringrinch's anti-1 percent rhetoric.