Talk of a brokered convention is making some Democrats shudder, while former House Speaker Thomas P. ``Tip'' O'Neill says he thinks it would be a lot of fun and other party leaders say the scenario probably will be avoided one way or another. ``A brokered convention is nothing,'' said O'Neill on Wednesday evening. He recalled the brokered 1952 convention that nominated Adlai Stevenson and said, ``It was enjoyable ... it makes it more fun.'' ``If I had my way _ they talk about the smoke-filled rooms _ we ought to open them up to the TV and the press,'' he said in an interview Wednesday night. Sen. Paul Simon's favorite-son primary victory in Illinois on Tuesday brought the brokered convention speculation to the fore, along with concerns that the Democrats could only be hurt by such a lack of unity. New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, who some hope would emerge the nominee if there were a deadlocked convention, condemned the possibility as ``the best way to give this election away to the Republicans.'' He joined Democratic National Committee Chairman Paul Kirk in calling for the Democratic leadership to unify behind the front-runner when the primary season ends in June, rather than wait until the July convention in Atlanta. Simon, reviving his faltering campaign, took most of the delegates in Illinois, with the other home-state candidate, Jesse Jackson, coming in second and taking the rest of the delegates. Simon said no one will have enough delegates to lock up the nomination before the convention, and added, ``We're going to have to work out some kind of a compromise.'' Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, who currently holds a slim lead in delegates, said the party should unite behind the front-runner at the end of the primary season, and that encouraging a brokered convention ``would be a very dangerous thing.'' ``I think there is agreement on the part of most Democrats across the country that somebody will come out of this primary process with, if not an absolute majority, a substantial plurality ... and that people will rally behind that person. Obviously, I hope I will be that person,'' the governor said in Boston. But other prominent Democrats, interviewed Wednesday at a congressional dinner, professed not to be worried about the deadlocked convention prospect, mostly because they don't think it will come to that. ``Nobody said the process had to end by March,'' said Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. But he said he thinks his candidate, Dukakis, will have enough delegates to take the nomination by June, and that ``the process is going to work its way out.'' Former Virginia Gov. Charles Robb, who opted not to seek the presidential nomination this year, said he doubts anyone will have a winning cache of delegates in June. But he predicted that the party would unite behind a candidate before the convention. Nonetheless, he added, ``I don't fear a brokered convention ... I don't think any harm comes from it.'' After Illinois, Dukakis had 464.5 delegate votes, Jackson 460.55 and Simon 171.5. Sen. Albert Gore Jr. of Tennessee had 354.8 and Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri 145. Uncommitted delegates totaled 272.65 of the 2,082 needed to win the nomination. Boosted by his Illinois win, Simon plans to campaign vigorously for the upcoming Michigan caucuses March 26 and the Wisconsin primary April 5. Gore, who fared poorly in Illinois, said he is ``almost prepared'' to agree that the race will still be fluid at the convention. ``I still think this process is likely to produce a winner before the first ballot is over,'' Gore said. ``The results (from Illinois) ... make it more likely we will go to a second ballot.'' Gephardt, who skipped Illinois to try to resuscitate his campaign in Michigan, said the Democratic battle could go all the way. ``The race is wide open,'' he said in Kalamazoo, Mich. ``I think if I can get a good result in Michigan, which I think I can, I'm going to be back in the middle of this thing and have a great chance to be the nominee.'' House Speaker Jim Wright of Texas said Wednesday night he anticipated he would be involved in any discussions to unite behind a candidate before the convention if no one had the winning number of delegates in June. He said a brokered convention wouldn't be the worst thing, but added, ``All things considered, it would be desirable if it didn't happen.'' Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey on Wednesday signaled the likelihood that he, too, would help in early selection of a nominee. First, he told party leaders in his home state that he would endorse a candidate before the primary there June 7, with Dukakis the favorite for his backing. And he said party leaders should halt an effort to put together an uncommitted delegate slate for the state. Victory for such a slate, he said, could cause problems for the front-running candidate when the primary is held.
