While my year-end wrap-up think piece was a total bust, I’m doubling down by announcing daring predictions for 2019. The bottom line is: As crazy and unpredictable 2018 was, this year will dwarf it with accusations, investigations, and sheer lunacy from all sides.

Making predictions in a political universe with Donald Trump at the center is like walking into a casino expecting to emerge with your wallet intact — the house always wins, and you feel dumber for having played.

Not even Nostradamus could foresee the wild end to 2018 and the volatile start to the New Year. Yet, even in unpredictable times, human expectations and behavior don’t change overnight. Often patterns emerge and events play out as expected. The risk to my already questionable credibility is enormous in this undertaking.

Democrats Impeach Trump

She knows better, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will fail at holding back the bloodthirsty partisans in her conference. Exacerbated by a fast-starting presidential primary featuring candidates desperate to please liberal crowds and donors, Pelosi will succumb to the pressure to impeach despite the enormous risk of 2020 backlash. It matters not what the Mueller report claims, evidence will be manufactured or at least exaggerated.

The Senate though will not convict the President, and blowback for such naked partisanship may blow back on the Dems in 2020.

The Economy will continue to roar but Dems will downplay it

In 2019, watch the economy move front-and-center in the national conversation. Overall, the fundamentals of the economy remain strong. Unemployment is steady, inflation is low, and there’s little question that President Trump’s tax cuts and regulatory relief have spurred an ongoing economic boom.

Yet, that’s not what we’re hearing about on the news. It’s all about the economic risks: the trade war, stock market volatility, and the federal government shutdown. Democrats will continue to drive this narrative in an attempt to capitalize on a slowing economy.

That’s due to the undeniable force of the phrase “It’s the economy, stupid.” Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley points out that the last two presidents who failed to get re-elected, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush, were primarily victims of sluggish economies. Democrats are all too happy to stoke economic fears and scare us toward recession if it means defeating Trump.

Dem Presidential frontrunner will emerge from nowhere, Trump gets a GOP challenger too

For God’s sake not Hillary again, nor fiery but aged Bernie, or even Michelle Obama (She’d probably be elected but won’t run). Also, probably not Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Corey Booker, or millennial heartthrob Beto O’Rourke.

Just as Bush 43 was challenged by John McCain in 2004 and Bush 41 was challenged by Patrick Buchanan in 1992, Donald Trump will face one or more challengers, probably from the GOP’s mainstream establishment wing, in 2019-2020. Count on the media to fall in love with him/her. 

Trump gets a third Supreme Court Justice

Ruth Bader Ginsberg or a surprise vacancy on the nation’s highest court gives Trump a third pick. Democrats lose their minds and stoop to nothing to block as Republicans —with 53 senators instead of 51 this time around — easily confirm what history will judge as the most conservative of Trump’s three first-term picks.

Bonus: Prediction on the partial Government Shutdown

The Dems won’t cave. President Trump signs a spending bill then declares a national emergency to build his southern border wall. The Dems then find a liberal judge who will halt it. This pattern has emerged as the new standard for stopping Trump’s agenda (remember the travel ban). Traitor John Roberts was entirely wrong in his recent denial of the existence of Obama judges, Bush judges, and the like. This truth is self-evident.

Just For Fun

Betty White lives another year.

I am still waiting for my Jetson’s-style flying car. And finally some real wisdom -

Never make predictions, especially about the future. - Casey Stengel