Predictions for the general election in November

The Groundhog Day primary is over - barring a possible recount or two. The following are my reflections on the results and predictions for the general election in November.

One fact is indisputable: Voter turnout was incredibly low. Many factors played into this voter apathy, but it is clear that primary day was much too early in the year. Up to 2008, the primary had been held on the third Tuesday in March, but Illinois Democrats - including so-called progressive, good-government reformers - pushed the primary up to help then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama in his presidential nomination slugfest with Hillary Clinton. It is time to move it back to March.

For years to come, politicians, pundits and professors will be debating the wisdom of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Hynes' use of the Harold Washington commercial to attack opponent Pat Quinn's management competence. Two factors interest me in this controversy. First, did it help or hurt Hynes' overall campaign? Second, Quinn and his allies' response to the ad was not to deal with its substance but to attack Hynes for disrespecting Washington's memory. If Quinn had had such a video showing Washington attacking Hynes, I wonder if he would have used it - or if Quinn's black supporters would have raised the same ruckus if the video showed Washington praising Quinn?

As for the Democratic Cook County Board President primary contest, the triumphant Toni Preckwinkle's joy in winning is probably matched by incumbent Todd Stroger, who came in last. By the end of this year Stroger's burden of replacing his famous dad, John Stroger, will be lifted and the younger Stroger will probably begin enjoying living his own life.

Next, the Illinois Constitution needs to be changed. Either governor and lieutenant governor candidates should run as a team in the primary or the latter should be eliminated. When both gubernatorial races are decided, I am sure neither nominee will be happy with his running mate. Either Democrat Scott Cohen or Republican Jason Plummer will be the state's next lieutenant governor. No one knows if they will be compatible with their respective gubernatorial running mates - or even if the latter know who these two guys are. Living through the Age of Blagojevich we know all too well that a lieutenant governor is always kneeling in the on-deck circle of power. It is madness that they achieve this position as an electoral afterthought.

Finally, some quick hits on the November elections:

• Illinois Republicans have a chance to take back the state mansion and pick up President Obama's Senate seat. These "daily double" victories would resurrect the Illinois GOP and make them once again statewide players. The foundation for such a happening rests with Republican Party unity, which has been missing for a decade and has contributed heavily to their continuous landslide statewide defeats.

• The contest between Republican Mark Kirk and Democrat Alexi Giannoulias will be one of the three most-watched U.S. Senate races in the country. Expect each party to go all out in manpower and money. Unfortunately this battle will likely get very muddy.

• Can anyone truly argue that electing judges is the best way to pick your judiciary? These judicial candidates roam around passing out buttons, rulers and pencils hoping to gain some recognition while others scheme to add an Irish flair to their ballot name to be more electable.

• And this for all my fellow political junkies: Was it not great to have an election night with no exit polls and no early predictions of the likely winners? What fun to wait for the actual returns.

• Paul Green is director of the School of Policy Studies and Arthur Rubloff Professor of Policy Studies at Roosevelt University.