Voting Results

Well the results are in for Illinois and few surprises were tallied. The highlights are:

Democrats:  Hillary won handily over Bernie (50.5% versus 48.7%), but Bernie made a stronger showing than expected. Still, Hillary won the delegates and continues her march toward the party’s nomination this summer.

Republicans: well, Trump didn’t lose and that isn’t a surprise (he won 38.8% of the vote). The surprise – if you think there was one – is that super conservative Cruz polled so well in the voting (he took 30.3% of the vote). Perhaps that is because the other candidates are viewed as weak and voters made this a contest between Trump and Cruz instead (Kasich took 19.7% of the Illinois Republican vote, while Rubio earned just 8.7% of the votes in Illinois). Rubio also lost his own state of Florida and has called his campaign suspended for now. As republican candidates continue to disappear, votes continue to move from past candidates to those remaining. So the lines of the contest are becoming clearer.

Predictions for fall elections: Trump vs. Hillary. I see no other possibility unless a candidate becomes incapacitated in some manner. The writing is on the wall.

That means the summer will be filled with national presidential campaigns touting conservative versus progressive candidates and policies. We have several months to research what that really means.

As I write this it is 3:50 am and I served as an Election Judge from 5 am to 10:30 pm Tuesday, March 15^th. Although tired and achy from a long day standing, sitting and performing myriad clerical duties in serving voters in our four precincts, I couldn’t remain in bed until I learned the results.

As the polls closed and the election staff worked late into the night, violent storms moved across Illinois dropping rain by torrents and brightening the sky with spectacular lightening displays. Thunder rumbled near and far as well and the wind flung light objects far and wide. We can hope the political signs have disappeared during the night and left our landscape much cleaner! And more honest!!

Working the polls we noted heavy turnouts. We observed a surge of young voters. We also noticed deep thought as voters considered switching to another party ballot to make a difference among the opposing party’s candidates. I think Bernie’s results closer to Hillary’s is a point in fact. Many Illinois republicans detest the thought of Hillary running on the Democratic ticket. So they flooded her primary trying to take Illinois away from a Hillary win. They did not succeed.

If I’m right, however, then party switching only nailed the results for Trump and doomed everyone else but Cruz. So if Republicans hanker a convention pitted between Trump and Cruz, they have their wish. If that’s not what they wished for, they got it anyway! That’s the gamble a party takes when it messes with the other party’s ballot.

Time, of course, will tell us where such initiatives were attempted and whether they worked.

For now, I can return to bed and sleep the sleep of the exhausted. And in my head are images of bacon and eggs and English muffins drenched in butter. That is my reward.

Then a busy schedule of SCORE appointments. It’s a good life I think. It’s one I wouldn’t want any different!

March 16, 2016