Predictions From 2019

A year ago I made some predictions for 2019.  Overall, I think I did pretty well.

Domestic Politics:

Trump's popularity will not go above 50%

Yep.  Not even close.  He stays safely in the low 40s (averaging the polls).  Makes you wonder how he can be reelected.

There will be a vote to impeach Trump.

Pretty good guess.  No one even knew a year ago what the impeachment would be about, but I had confidence the Dems would find something.

Trump will get another Supreme Court pick.  And the nominee will get through.

Nope

No major bills will pass.

It depends what you think is major, but I can't give myself this one.

There will be no major construction on The Wall.

Yep

The Mueller investigation will not find any major Russian collusion in the Trump campaign.

Yep

Chief Justice Roberts will be the new swing vote on the Court.

This is arguably true.

International Politics:
 

Brexit will finally go through.

Looks like it's going to happen soon, so I guess I just missed.

 

Immigration into the U.S. will not slow down.

Hard to measure but I think I got this right.

 

There will be major electoral upsets in Europe.

I would say so.

The Economy:

By the end of the year, the Dow will be higher than where it is now.

Yep

 

Unemployment will be up by the end of the year.

Nope

 

Polling will show Trump is blamed for bad economic times.

We haven't quite had bad economic times, so I guess I got this wrong. (While we're at it, Trump doesn't seem to get too much credit for any economic good news.)

Sports: 

Alabama will beat Clemson in the BCS. (So Notre Dame will not be in the game.)

Clemson destroyed Alabama.  At least I got the two teams right.

The Wolverines will lose no more than two regular season games.

So close, so close.

The Rams will be in the Super Bowl (because that would be fun for me).

I was right, though they lost to New England.

Tom Brady will have his worst season in years.

I think I called this.


Popular Culture:

Movies:

Avengers: Endgame will be the biggest hit of the year.  Captain Marvel will not disappoint.  People will get sick of Disney live-action remakes.  Once Upon A Time In Hollywood will be a comeback for Tarantino after The Hateful Eight.

Right about Endgame.  Right about Captain Marvel.  Wrong (mostly) about Disney remakes.  Right about Tarantino.

Oscars:  Tough to call--few clear front-runners and I'm guessing way too early, but...Roma will surprise by getting nominated--and winning--Best Picture.  Viggo Mortensen will surprise by winning Best Actor (if only his film had made more money), because they just can't give it to Bradley Cooper, don't care enough about Cheney enough to give it to Christian Bale and no one saw Ethan Hawke. Lady Gaga will be nominated but lose to Olivia Colman for Best Actress.  Richard E. Grant will surprise by winning Supporting Actor because they're not ready to give yet another to Mahershala Ali.  Let's say Regina King for Supporting Actress, and it won't be Emma Stone or Rachel Weisz because they'll cancel each other out.

Roma did get nominated, but lost to Green Book. (I'm guessing it finished second.) Viggo was nominated, and so were Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale, but Rami Malek won.  Lady Gaga was nominated, but, as predicted, Olivia Colman won. Grant lost to Ali--guess they didn't mind giving him two Oscars.  King won, beating former winners Stone and Weisz.

TV:

Game Of Thrones finale will get gigantic ratings (even if the rest of the season may not be the highest).  As the season commences, they've still got Cersei, Jaime, Tyrion, Daenerys, Jon Snow, Davos, Sansa, Arya, Brienne, Samwell, Jorah, Theon, Melisandre, Varys, Bronn, Gilly, Missandei, Grey Worm, The Hound, the Night King and two living dragons.  By the time it ends, at least eight will be dead (or in the case of the Night King, destroyed).  The invaders from beyond the Wall will have been repelled, but the Throne won't be what it was.

Game Of Thrones got huge ratings in general.  More than eight of those listed died--in fact, it was eleven: Cersei, Jaime, Daenerys, Jorah, Theon, Melisandre, Varys, Missandei, the Hound, the Night King and one of the dragons.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine will get at least one more season on NBC (I sure hope).  So will The Good Place.

Right on both.  And it's now known this is the last season of The Good Place.

Modern Family will get another season.

It did, and this is its last.

The Walking Dead ratings will be down yet again.

Yep