John F. Kennedy won the Democratic nomination in 1960, bypassing the convention process by accumulating enough delegates in the primaries.
This was presumed to be the death knell of the smoke-filled room where delegates pondered and haggled before selecting their party's presidential nominee. Sometimes the process took more than one ballot.
Lacking the mystique of voter participation, the convention system was considered both outmoded and unjust, although there were many who lamented its passing. It was argued that the professional politicians were more skilled at putting together a balanced and winning ticket than the primary process. Conventions were also friendlier to candidates who did not have substantial financial means at their disposal and could not afford the huge expense that the primary system imposes. Each system has its proponents and detractors.
Now in Republican circles, the term "brokered convention" is increasingly being heard. William Kristol brought it up in the Weekly Standard. The term is being bandied about due to both political reality and wishful thinking.
The Republicans changed the nominating rules this year. In 2008 John McCain had the Republican nomination sewn up by March. The race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton lingered on two months more. While conventional logic would have maintained that two more months of internecine fighting would do the Democrats little good, the reverse proved the case. John McCain was starved for media attention that focused on the Obama-Clinton race and provided the Democrats with an opportunity to get their message across to the voter.
Therefore the Republicans have changed from winner-take-all primaries to allotting delegates proportionally. This means that the Republican primary battle will go on into May. Another reason for the change was to avoid a situation where states holding their primaries later would be presiding over meaningless exercises since the issue is already decided.
Even if the Republican campaign resolves itself into a two-man race between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, some of the other candidates could still have an incentive to stay in the race.
For example, Rick Perry, the governor of Texans and Ron Paul, a House member from Texas, could have an interest in staying on the ballot in Texas as favorite sons, because coming out of that primary with a ten gallon hat of delegates could make them effective power brokers in a deadlocked convention.
It is no secret that, justified or not, many in the conservative intellectual establishment look with horror upon a Newt Gingrich candidacy; the Wall Street Journal was the latest to join the attack.
On the other hand, their efforts to promote the candidacy of Mitt Romney have not gained the traction that they hoped for. Therefore the fallback position is that neither Gingrich nor Romney will be capable of winning the nomination outright. The decision will then go to the convention where perhaps the candidates who did not declare, such as Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Mitch Daniels and others could be prevailed upon to accept the party's mandate and prove more capable than either Gingrich or Romney.