An unusual election campaign finally almost over

Election Day has arrived. The polls will close within a few hours, and it will be over, finally and thankfully.

My prediction here is that most Americans are not going to be happy with the outcome of the presidential election.

If Hillary Clinton wins, millions of voters who think she and her former president husband are dishonest, crooked and likely to put the United States through four years of court hearings (some in criminal courts) and other scandals are likely to feel deep regret.

Hillary and Bill Clinton are not unifiers. They are not going to bring America back together but instead are likely to create greater divisions. Maybe not everything that is being — or has been — said about her conduct is true but enough of it to be damaging has stuck or will stick to her as investigations continue. And the investigations and revelations are not going to stop, even if she and Bill move back into the White House (at taxpayer expense).

She most certainly would be a one-term president.

If Donald Trump wins (and it is hard to tell at this writing, a few days prior to Election Day, if that is even possible) his presidency would likely be one-term also, and Americans would grow increasingly more supportive and approving of Trump's vice president, Mike Pence, and wish that he had been at the top of the GOP ticket.

Pence's popularity is likely to continue to soar whether he is the next vice president, or rather the likely front-runner for the GOP nomination in 2020 if Trump loses this year, or maybe even if Trump wins.

Donald Trump strikes me as someone who would tire of the presidency much sooner than four years into the job, and would be anxious to leave — or — would see the handwriting on the wall after two or three years and realize there is no way American voters would select him for another term. “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me” or something like that.

At this point, I think Pence would be the hands-on choice to replace Trump, but in an election that could attract another 10 or 12 GOP candidate field with some (not all) of the familiar faces from the 2015-16 fight.

Certainly some of the “old” faces of 2016 would reappear: Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorina, Rick Santorum, Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson. Almost certain not to be on the list would be Jeb Bush and Chris Christie. I think the Bush clan, which I am personally very fond of, needs to lay low for a while, and I think Cristie fizzled terribly in 2016.

The others on “my” Republican list above are all younger than Trump and certainly in the prime of their political lives. Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, was my personal favorite against Trump because as a woman, I thought (still do) that she would neutralize the one (and only) distinction that sets Hillary Clinton apart from the field.

But enough about the future (for now). The important election right now is today's, and if voters seem tired of it or less than enthused about this year, they are demonstrating that sense of exhaustion in unusual, but obvious, ways.

Perhaps you have noticed but there seems to be a dramatic decrease in the number of voters who are willing to put a “yard sign” with a candidate's name in their front yard. I was curious about that last week and did a quick walk through my Arlington Heights neighborhood and found four homes with signs in their front yards. Usually, I would expect to find dozens, especially since there is a popular state representative in the neighborhood and some other candidates who are well known. But only four signs.

But across the street from the Arlington Heights Village Hall, which is an “early voting” site, I counted 196 signs in and along the parking lot (at Sigwalt and Arlington Heights Road, if you miss seeing campaign signs).

This is a strange election year. It is unfortunate for state and local candidates that the presidential contest is sucking up so much of the oxygen but it is going to end sometime tonight. Regardless of the outcome, I'd say we're going to be going through another one just like it in four years, maybe with a different (but familiar) cast of characters.

Ed Murnane, edmurnane@gmail.com, of Arlington Heights, is a former staff member for presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and former regional administrator for the Small Business Administration. In 2015, he retired as president of the Illinois Civil Justice League.