CLEVELAND, Ohio – Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, isn’t saying “no” to the possibility of being nominated for president at a brokered convention.

Top Democrats are reportedly scrambling to find a potential unity candidate in the event none of the eight currently in the race manage to reach the threshold on the first round of voting for the nomination, per the New York Times. Brown has said for months since declining to run for the White House that he had no interest in jumping into the Democratic primary.

Specifically, the Times reports that superdelegates – party leaders who get to vote if the nominating contest goes to the second round – are afraid of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont possibly winning the nomination.

Their search for a candidate to rally around includes the likes of former first lady Michelle Obama, Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware and Brown, who the Times story said has received a “steady stream of calls.”

When asked for a comment on the story, Brown sent this statement:

“Democrats are going to beat Donald Trump. This is a president who has betrayed workers over and over, and has fought to dismantle our health care system. He uses his phony populism to divide Americans, to distract from the fact that he used his first term to pass a tax bill that went overwhelmingly to the top 1% and has allowed the largest wealth gap in American history. If we focus on the dignity of work, we have a winning message. It’s how we win and it’s how we govern. While Trump tries to divide the country, the dignity of work unites all of us.”

There’s one key word missing from that statement: “No.”

That certainly leaves open the possibility that Brown would consider accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination under the right circumstances.

Brown did not respond to a follow-up email asking if he’d accept the nomination, but a source close to Brown said it wasn’t happening.

“There's nothing to consider,” the source said. “This is a scenario that literally hundreds of articles have been written about over the years but that never comes into play. Sherrod is focused on doing his job and is confident we're going to beat Trump in November.”

Let’s rewind for a moment. Brown openly expressed interest in running for the presidency after winning re-election in 2018, pushing Democrats to adopt his “dignity of work” message against Republican President Donald Trump.

He embarked on a tour of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina in 2019, but decided against running to the surprise of many.

He’s left openings for the possibility of being the nominee’s running mate, a spot he pushed for in 2016, but has pretty consistently said that he hasn’t had any second thoughts about not jumping in the race.

“I don’t have second thoughts,” he said to a crowd at the City Club of Cleveland in November. “I just never had the burning desire to be president. I think one of the reasons I win in this state … is that you need to bring some joy to being the candidate and an elected official. I don’t know that I could have done that in the presidential race.”

He also hasn’t endorsed anyone in the presidential primary and said several times he is unlikely to do so.

To be clear, the chance of Brown jumping into the current race is nonexistent. He’s already missed just about every deadline imaginable for ballot access, fundraising and debate stages. It’s not happening.

The possibility of him getting the nomination lies in the complexity of the Democratic nominating process.

To receive the nomination at the Democratic National Convention, a candidate must receive 1,991 out of the possible 3,979 delegates on the first round of voting. Delegates are “pledged” during this round, meaning they must vote for the winner in their respective contests.

Should a candidate not reach that threshold, a second round of voting occurs where the delegates can vote for whomever they want. Another 771 so-called superdelegates – party leaders and elected officials – are also introduced, with a candidate needing 2,376 of a possible 4,750 delegates on any subsequent round of voting.

It’s here where any potential Brown – or other “unity” candidate – might come in. The thinking is if Sanders doesn’t win enough delegates on the first round, the anti-Sanders delegates plus the superdelegates can deliver the nomination to a “consensus” candidate.

This scenario is incredibly unlikely. A brokered convention hasn’t happened since 1952, but that hasn’t stopped talk of one in nearly every election cycle with a hotly contested primary. Speculation mounted that Republicans could have one in 2016, 2012 and 2008. Democrats have escaped most of the brokered convention talk because of superdelegates’ past role in the nominating contest, but that didn’t stop talks of them in 2016 and 2008.

Still, in the very improbable event that one happens, Brown clearly isn’t saying no to a possible nomination.

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