If you follow the commentators on TV or on line, you have already been told repeatedly what will happen when the election returns come in tonight. My suggestion is that you get ready to be surprised. The pundits have been so wrong for so long, it's a wonder that anyone even listens to them anymore. Consider this:
1. Jeb Bush was the clear favorite in the early GOP race. He had the money and the name and was proclaimed the front runner by most of the people in the media. And yet, he was a spectacular failure.
2. Ted Cruz, we were told, was the most hated man in Washington. He would have no success. At least that was the storyline. Cruz, of course, won Iowa and has done reasonably well since then. He, most likely, won't be the nominee, but he has done very well nevertheless.
3. Donald Trump would surely implode when he said that Mexico was sending murderers and rapists in among the illegal immigrants to the USA, when he said that John McCain was not a hero, when he said that Megyn Kelly had blood coming from her "whatever", etc. We all know how that one turned out.
4. Scott Walker was going to be the strongest of the non-Washington candidates, or so we were told. Walker couldn't even make it to the Iowa caucus.
5. Marco Rubio had no chance because he was too young and could not beat his old mentor Jeb Bush. Again, that was just plain wrong.
6. On the Democrat side, Hillary was inevitable and no one could even come close. Indeed, after the first debate last fall, she was anointed by the media as the sure fire winner. Of course, Hillary got fewer actual votes than Sanders in Iowa and got crushed in New Hampshire. Now, however, we are again being told that she has it locked up. We'll see.
My point is simple. No one knows the future. The pollsters are often wrong, way wrong. I certainly admit that I have been wrong in my expectations more than once so far this year.
Let's wait until the returns come in tonight. Then let's all be surprised. Maybe Rubio will win six states. Maybe Sanders will trounce Hillary. Maybe Trump will collapse. Maybe all the predictions will be correct. It's not long now until we know the answers.
1. Jeb Bush was the clear favorite in the early GOP race. He had the money and the name and was proclaimed the front runner by most of the people in the media. And yet, he was a spectacular failure.
2. Ted Cruz, we were told, was the most hated man in Washington. He would have no success. At least that was the storyline. Cruz, of course, won Iowa and has done reasonably well since then. He, most likely, won't be the nominee, but he has done very well nevertheless.
3. Donald Trump would surely implode when he said that Mexico was sending murderers and rapists in among the illegal immigrants to the USA, when he said that John McCain was not a hero, when he said that Megyn Kelly had blood coming from her "whatever", etc. We all know how that one turned out.
4. Scott Walker was going to be the strongest of the non-Washington candidates, or so we were told. Walker couldn't even make it to the Iowa caucus.
5. Marco Rubio had no chance because he was too young and could not beat his old mentor Jeb Bush. Again, that was just plain wrong.
6. On the Democrat side, Hillary was inevitable and no one could even come close. Indeed, after the first debate last fall, she was anointed by the media as the sure fire winner. Of course, Hillary got fewer actual votes than Sanders in Iowa and got crushed in New Hampshire. Now, however, we are again being told that she has it locked up. We'll see.
My point is simple. No one knows the future. The pollsters are often wrong, way wrong. I certainly admit that I have been wrong in my expectations more than once so far this year.
Let's wait until the returns come in tonight. Then let's all be surprised. Maybe Rubio will win six states. Maybe Sanders will trounce Hillary. Maybe Trump will collapse. Maybe all the predictions will be correct. It's not long now until we know the answers.
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