Jockeying for the American Presidency: The Political Opportunism ...

While these exchanges were taking place privately, Jackson's hometown newspaper with a national audience, the Nashville Union, “began to prepare its readers for the change.” Samuel Laughlin, the editor, was also a convention delegate. When he left for Baltimore, John Heiss, another Jackson loyalist, kept the presses running and Polk in the news. On May 16, 1844, Jackson's letter (dated May 13), urging annexation and announcing his break with Van Buren, was printed. On May 18, Heiss explained that although Van Buren's name would continue to head the list in the masthead, the editor disagreed with Van Buren's position on Texas. Five days later, Heiss wrote an article suggesting that support for Van Buren was “hopeless” and decided to “hazard some ‘guesses’ regarding the nomination.” Unsurprisingly, Polk was the first “guess.” On May 28, one day into the convention, an article stated, “We do not believe Mr. Van Buren will receive one vote from the Tennessee delegation,” and it went on to explain that if any of those delegates did vote for Van Buren, then they were “unworthy” of the “confidence” given them by their constituents.¹⁴

Prior to the start of the Baltimore convention, most of the delegates met in Washington. According to historian Eugene McCormac, “Pillow and Laughlin reached Washington on May 21 and began a campaign of interviewing delegates to ascertain their views.” After a few days, Pillow wrote to Polk, informing him that while two-thirds likely supported his vice presidential nomination, the delegates were split over the presidential nomination and that there was a fight brewing over the two-thirds rule. Van Buren's supporters wanted to replace the two-thirds rule with a majority rule, but those who were against Van Buren's nomination were adamant in their opposition to the change. McCormac rightly noted, “In asking for a new rule, the New Yorkers were requesting a personal favor for their candidate, which, under the circumstances, they had no right to expect.” Whereas the majority of the delegates (148 to 118) voted to sustain the two-thirds rule at the convention, this skirmish, which lasted “most of Monday and spilled over into Tuesday morning, May 28,” is a rather straightforward example of “aspirant gaming”—or altering structures (procedures and/or personnel) to bolster the probability that one's