John Light
Mulling A Possible Contested Convention, Pt. II 
Reader RS has a different perspective from AC — “ultimately, the party should be allowed to pick” who wins the nomination, he writes.
Here’s part of his email.
As far as I understand it, the Democratic Party has always required a majority vote at the Convention to nominate a candidate. If that doesn’t occur on the first ballot, pledged delegates are released and the deliberations continue. That reflects the desire to try, as best as possible, to get a consensus nominee.
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Mulling A Possible Contested Convention, Pt. I
Readers have been writing in about the possibility that, by this summer, Democrats could be facing a contested convention — one in which Bernie Sanders is leading in delegates, but without enough to win the nomination outright.
Reader AC reflects on the angst that could result should the party step in and select another nominee.
I get that there are reasons to be worried about Bernie, but I think the worries about the other candidates, and especially a contested convention in which a Bernie clear lead doesn’t translate to a Bernie nomination, should be much more significant.
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The Atlantic published an article yesterday speaking to various Democrats about a primary campaign Bernie Sanders floated against Barack Obama in the 2012 election. Joe Biden referenced that would-be Sanders 2012 campaign in his post-debate comments last night. The senator ultimately didn’t run, and his aides say he was never serious about it.
But another episode in the article stood out.
Our latest Inside briefing — a conversation with voting expert Rick Hasen — is available to watch. Josh and Rick had a wide-ranging conversation on the various threats to voting in the U.S., including “dirty tricks” by bad actors to skew elections and efforts to suppress the vote by the Trump administration and its allies. Is it fair to say that voter suppression efforts have results in Republicans “stealing elections”? The two discuss.
Where Things Stand: Is The Trial Over?
We wrapped up the impeachment trial’s Q&A portion last night and two key senators immediately announced where they stood on witnesses: Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) was for them, but Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) was against.
Now we’re waiting for Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) to make a statement (Romney is a yes). But, as Tierney Sneed wrote last night, the best Democrats can hope for now is a 50-50 tie. Chief Justice John Roberts could break it, but he’s not expected to do so.
Is it game over for Democrats? Not quite.
Rick Hasen is one of the nation’s top experts on voter suppression and voter fraud propaganda of the sort often pushed by the Trump administration. He’s been a go-to source for our reporters and editors on these issues for years.
Tomorrow, we’re holding an Inside briefing with Hasen. If you care about these issues, you won’t want to miss it.
The first votes of 2020 will be cast Monday in Iowa. Meanwhile, voting rights advocates are warning that this could be a banner year for voter suppression, and after 2016, concerns abound that we could see new efforts by foreign powers to interfere in the election.
One of the top election experts in the country, Rick Hasen, will join us Friday to discuss threats to elections — the real ones and the imagined ones — that we’re likely to see in 2020. Hasen is the Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of California, Irvine and a frequent source for TPM reporters. We’ll also discuss attempts by the Trump administration and its allies to perpetuate the “voter fraud” myth.
