What was Renly Baratheon's claim to the iron throne?

Renly Baratheon considered himself a better king than his older brother Stannis Baratheon, and was prepared to kill Stannis. No love lost between the two brothers. He made the claim because he was well connected and had a big army. Renly was second in line to the throne, behind Stannis, although Renly may not have known about Joffrey's illegitimacy. However, Stannis was not loved by the other Lords or the people, whereas Renly was. Renly felt that, encouraged by Loras Tyrell and the Tyrell household, he would make a better king than Stannis.
You remember what happened next. Melisandra manipulates events so that Renly is eliminated and Stannis is able to move forward with his ambitions without a challenger in House Barratheon.
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He was Robert’s legitimately born brother, albeit the youngest of the three.
He also believed, not incorrectly, that when push came to shove, more lords would support him over Stannis for a variety of reasons (Stannis’ newfound religion and his overall belligerent personality chief among them). It wasn’t just that he had a bigger army; it’s what having the bigger army represented: He genuinely had a lot of popular support where it counted. Renly had his issues but his idea that the king should have popular support - and that a younger brother could be king if enough people supported him - was pretty forward-thinking.
Renly had a blood claim to the throne, as the brother of the king. But claims are only meaningful if those with the power of force back them up. Even for those who accept Cersi's children as being illegitimate, Stannis clearly has the stronger legal claim under accepted rules of succession. But Renly and his allies were able to convince an awful lot of nobles not to accept the rules of succession, and instead to place him on the throne. Convinced them of it hard enough that they were willing to commit huge forces to his cause. A feudal system of royalty isn't a democracy, but you still can't rule if you don't have the support of the right people. Renly did and Stannis didn't.
As Renly points out about Robert, the blood claim, in such circumstances, is a secondary point, important only to scholars. The more important issue is who has the loyalty of those in power. That was Renly's primary claim, and the only one that matters (barring shadown assassins, of course).
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