It’s Tuesday night in the Eagle News newsroom. I have finished my entire section with the exception of my top story on the primaries. At first, I thought I would wait for the results to come in before writing this op-ed piece. But, sitting here is pretty boring, and in my opinion, the results are about as predictable as an episode of “Blue’s Clues.”  Steve — or Joe, if you are young — will always help his dog, Blue, find three clues after sitting in his thinking chair and receiving a letter in the mail from “our” friends. So, I am going to take a leap of faith here and take a stab at what I think the results will be in our little swing state of a peninsula.
Florida is considered a swing state but has traditionally voted Republican. Florida is also a winner-take-all state for Republican candidates. This means the Republican candidate that wins in Florida will then acquire all 99 Republican delegates.
With the newsroom as my witness, here are my predictions that I made prior to the results coming out.
It may be unfortunate, but it is blatantly obvious that Donald Trump will win in Florida. Sen. Ted Cruz won’t come in first, and neither will Sen. Marco Rubio. Rubio will, undoubtedly, lose his home state’s support, and this will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, causing him to be the next Republican candidate to drop out of the race. Presidential candidate John Kasich won’t win Florida, but he will turn around his luck by winning in his home state Ohio.
Though millennials may be feeling the Bern, enough of them either didn’t show up to the polls or don’t live in Florida, aka Heaven’s waiting room. Yes, the campus has seemed to be a buzz about Sen. Bernie Sanders, but this is just one small sphere of the entire state. Hillary Clinton will win by a landslide, like she has in most southern states.
Fast-forward to (read in SpongeBob narrator voice) four hours later, results are in, and needless to say, I am about as surprised as I was when FGCU won against Fairleigh Dickinson University tonight. Both Trump and Clinton won Florida, which should be discerning to non-supporters.
This means that the guy who condones knocking around protesters and building a wall to keep out immigrants has just gained 99 more delegates from our Sunshine State. That’s scary.
Kasich won the Republican vote in his home state of Ohio, which means he now has 66 more delegates and, hopefully, a fighting chance going forward. I think this win could pave the way for more wins, considering that winning his state proves his constituents’ confidence in his ability to get things accomplished.
Cutting through all of the numbers, I think it is safe to say that the real winners tonight, whether you like them or not, are Clinton and Trump.
If you find yourself upset with the idea of our country’s presidential candidates being Trump and Clinton next fall, quit complaining and do something — and by “do something,” I don’t mean getting violent at a candidate’s rally. What I mean is to get out there, express your opinions and vote.
Odds are that you will be reading at least one of these two candidates’ names on your ballot next fall. Are you confident with shading in a bubble next to one of their names?