Time for me to look at my predictions for this year and to dine on a bit of crow:
1. The GOP national ticket will consist of Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, but I am uncertain as to which of them will be the nominee for President.
The correct answer of course was neither.
2. By the time of the conventions Donald Trump will be a spent force. He will run third party in the fall with a Democrat in the second slot. He will draw about seven percent of the vote, and his votes will come from both parties.
That is certainly a large piece of crow to consume!
3. Clinton will win the Democrat nomination, unless health problems force her to retire from the race. Bernie Sanders will bolt the convention and run third party, drawing about two percent of the vote.
Not too shabby, especially concerning the health issue. Bernie Sanders was a good soldier for the Democrats, but the Green candidate did take about 1% of the vote right out of Clinton’s hide.
4. The Republicans will win the presidential race.
Bingo!
5. The Republicans will retain control of both Houses of Congress.
On target.
6. The Vatican will be rocked by a series of “kiss and tell” books from disgruntled Vatican insiders.
Not quite yet.
7. US ground forces will go into combat against ISIS.
Yep.
8. There will be a naval clash between Japan and China.
Not yet, but sadly this prediction will continue to be on my list for 2017.
9. Mark Shea will continue to win friends and influence people.
As demonstrated by his support for Hillary Clinton and his regarding of Donald Trump as an anti-Christ.
10. McClarey will be wrong in some of his predictions.
Always the safest of predictions.
Half the time your right.
One could say that your glass of Jameson’s is half full.
Not bad.
Slainte. 🙂
Mr. McClarey, I cannot imagine anyone could have predicted how this year’s
presidential race unfolded. There is no shame in not seeing this one coming.
Partial credit on #2, since P-E Trump certainly did earn votes from both sides.
As far as Trump making the ticket, only 2 people seemed to think that possible in early days—Ann Coulter, and Donald Trump.
Excellent job overall. Criswell would be envious! I can’t wait for your 2017 predictions—wild times in store?
8. There will be a naval clash between Japan and China.
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Why do you think this is so? Because China will be the aggressor?
Don, I told you The Don would win after Cruz got eliminated.
“8. There will be a naval clash between Japan and China.”
China has been flexing its muscles in the South China Sea and making belligerent noises against Japan. This is being done largely as a distraction from domestic problems that the Chinese regime is ill-advised to deal with. China’s leaders face a nightmare of civil war and rebellions if the situation gets much worse, and traditionally playing up a foreign threat is the main way Chinese governments in trouble have traditionally reacted to such challenges. Vietnam sees war coming and is allying itself with the West.
You did indeed Don, and ultimately I agreed with you!
I hope the future will reveal a President Rubio in store for us.
Timothy R.
Like suz I give partial credit on # 2. As she said, T. drew votes from both parties. Also, he didn’t quite create or run a third party, but he is certainly an unconventional Republican to say the least. He won the GOP nomination as much in spite of some of its members as because of them. He could qualify as quasi-third party.
As far as predicting a Cruz/Rubio ticket — two hispanics (Cuban Americans) on the same Pres. /VP ballot ? And neither one a good Catholic. Cruz is more like an evangelical preacher. My impression of Rubio is that he is an on-again-off-gain lukewarm Catholic. I think he has called himself an evangelical Catholic, which I believe is how now protestant ex-Catholic Pence refers to himself. I don’t think they would have gotten a big uptick in the hispanic vote — older generation Cuban immigrants already vote Republican and I don’t think it would have appealed to the Mexicans unless they offered a good amnesty package. Of course a lot of people in Texas were behind Cruz, and Rubio probably would’ve won Florida. So — was it the electoral college votes of those two states that would have made them a “hot ticket” ? I voted Trump in the primary.
Cruz is not Catholic.
I just looked back on my predictions on this site, and I didn’t get much right at all. I saw Cruz winning. I did predict that Clinton would complain about “he’s bullying a girl” and it’d backfire, so I’ll count that as an insight, and I predicted that the inner-city murder rate would become a campaign issue. Otherwise, no gold in the pan.
China’s leaders face a nightmare of civil war and rebellions if the situation gets much worse, and traditionally playing up a foreign threat is the main way Chinese governments in trouble have traditionally reacted to such challenges. Vietnam sees war coming and is allying itself with the West.
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I know that ever once in a while, a group of Chinese folks go nuts because they simply cannot take it any more and promptly get slaughtered. What groups in China would have the ability to start an actual civil war & under what cause?
Elements of the army. A return to the warlordism of the twenties and the thirties of the last century is the nightmare of the current Chinese government. China really isn’t a country as we understand the term. China has a coastal crust that is rapidly modernizing and a huge interior where there is ever growing anger about living conditions.
I enjoy trying to predict just as much as anyone else. However, the Christian side of me encourages me to shed some of the logic, or, at least try to keep it in it’s place.
Because of this, I am going to postulate that the Lord does not endow us with the ability to always see into the future, because He wants us to experience Hope.
If a loved one is sick, we Hope that they will pull through. And Hope can be a form of prayer.
Timothy R.
playing up a foreign threat is the main way Chinese governments in trouble have traditionally reacted to such challenges.
To be fair, it seems to be the way most governments deflect attention from domestic problems.
China’s leaders face a nightmare of civil war and rebellions if the situation gets much worse, and traditionally playing up a foreign threat is the main way Chinese governments in trouble have traditionally reacted to such challenges.
The “it belongs to China because it says ‘China Sea’ right there in the name” shtick is also a really good resource grab, and a chance to insult the “international community”– triple advantage.