The University of Western Illinois has predicted every single US Presidential election with 100% accuracy for the last 40 years. They have completed their mock election for the 2016 Presidential race and according to their results the next President of the Unites States will be Bernie Sanders !
This poll is important in that it counters some hard to believe numbers presented by the likes of Ipsos/Reuters, NBC and YouGov/Economist whom show Clinton with a double-digit lead in percentage points nationally over Sanders. Recently here on Daily Kos I have published a separate diary calling into question the validity of corporate polls.
So, back to the WIU results : in addition to predicting a huge landslide win for Bernie in November WIU also predicts that Martin O’Malley will be Bernie’s running mate. However, WIU success in predicting the eventual Vice President has not been nearly as good as their amazing ability to predict the President accurately.
Dr. Rick Hardy and Dr. John Hemingway have conducted this research since 1975, and again, they have reportedly predicted the eventual President in that election year with 100 % accuracy. The students of WIU are the ones participating in the mock election. This was completed in 2015 but the results now seem even more relevant with the recent surge in Bernie’s popularity nationally :
The 2015 event, the largest and most elaborate mock presidential simulation in the nation, included five sessions and involved thousands of WIU students. Over the five sessions, from Oct. 20-Nov. 2, students took part in simulations of the Iowa Caucuses and the state primaries, the national nominating conventions and the Electoral College vote. During the process, Western students' votes determined primary winners and, ultimately, the winning presidential ticket.
Whether or not the students will again be correct in their presidential prediction remains to be seen. But one thing is for certain: the 2007 and 2011 events both yielded spot-on results of the subsequent years' presidential elections.
Although the Western Illinois (MPE) Mock Presidential Election is fairly new Dr. Hardy and Dr. Hemingway have been doing the prognosticating since the mid 70’s as part of their mass-lecture American Government Classes.
With so many recent national polls presenting head-scratching results showing Hillary with double digit leads, it is good to see independent entities such as Qunnipiac and Western Illinois University confirming what anybody with eyes and ears can see — that this country wants Bernie Sanders to be its next President!