Reply #21: I think deadlock is possible

[ewagner]

Because we have nine candidates running, each taking away a portion of the pie from each state.

Further, each candidate seems to have a regional strength which counterbalances the others. for instance

Edwards wins NC, SC, Virginia
Graham wins Florida, Georgia, Bama etc
Dean wins NH, VT, Conn
NY goes up for grabs

anyway you get the picture............

If that pattern persists, then none of the candidates will come into the convention with a pure majority on the first ballot. And as wisely noted in a post above, after the first ballot, all bets are off.