Predictions for 2012

[Mechaman]

Prediction: Somebody will die.

[Mechaman]

Okay, time for a very serious prediction:

Mitt Romney manages to win the Iowa Caucus.  However, his victory would end up being very pyrrhic one due to the amount of resources thrown into the state.  Ron Paul, who finished in a strong second, would have his resources low for the New Hampshire Primary.  Despite Paul's efforts Jon Huntsman, who had been campaigning in New Hampshire for months while everyone else focused on Iowa, manages to score a very decisive victory in the Live Free or Die state.
The victory would give Huntsman a huge boost as he is no longer perceived as an "anti-Romney" moderate and people look at his policy platform that is actually one of the most conservative platforms in the Republican race.  People have finally found their "anti-Romney".
Oh wait........there was also the last minute surge in Iowa of a controversial former Pennsylvania US Senator who got the endorsement of many evangelicals in the state.  This man, Rick Santorum, ends up having his own massive surge in the polls as evangelicals flock to him out of spite to the less socially conservative Romney and Huntsman camps.  Texas Congressman Ron Paul, representing the libertarian anti-war wing of the Republican Party, exceeds expectations and even wins a couple of states.  However, he still falls short in delegate count by the end of the primaries.  However he and his supporters aren't going without a fight.
The race for the Republican nomination goes to the Convention.

In an extremely heated Convention that brought back memories of the controversial 1968 Democratic National Convention the RNC 2012 is remembered for being perhaps the most divisive Republican Convention in US History.  What should be a convention enthusiastic to defeat an unpopular incumbent President is a convention of loud swearing, cat calls, middle fingers, and even a few vicious brawls.  After three ballots (with a record amount of hand wrangling for votes) Mitt Romney ends up getting the nomination that many predicted he was destined to get.  In an attempt to reconcile the unruly convention the Romneyites support the nomination of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal for the Vice Presidential nomination.  Though Jindal wins the nomination the effect was very limited as the Paulite brigade barges out of the building in disgust.  A few days later Ron Paul announces that he's launching an Independent third party bid with former Virginia congressman Virgil Goode as his runningmate.

Former US President Bill Clinton dies in June.  His death, though expected, is a shock to many in that he passes away before his predecessors Jimmy Carter and George HW Bush.  Millions of Americans, on both sides of the aisle, mourn his death.  The Democratic National Convention of 2012, evoking the memory of William J. Clinton, is a somber yet enthusiastic convention that gives the President and fellow Democrats a much needed boost in the polls.

President Barack Obama, despite subpar approval ratings and discontentment at record levels throughout the country, is re-elected President.  Although he won only 44% of the popular vote he managed to win more electoral votes due to the split amongst Republicans in the race.  His over 400 electoral vote victory would draw many comparisons to Woodrow Wilson's enormous electoral landslide in 1912 despite winning only 41% of the popular vote.

The Republicans, due to the fracturing within their own party, lose sixty seats in the US House, in effect almost erasing any gains they made in 2010.  Democrats also manage to pickup a few US Senate seats in light of the civil war within the GOP.  The Democrats, though not excessively popular, are at least seen as having a degree of unity that is almost completely absent from the GOP in 2012.  During an MSNBC interview Rachel Maddow asks Rand Paul that if the shoe was on the other foot would Romney have run third party.  In a moment that would put yet another sting in the GOP's armor Rand Paul would look at her sincerely and answer "no, he would've supported Obama".
The interview doesn't sit well with Romney Republicans one bit as pundits begin predicting that the Republican Party would be split up by the next Congressional elections.

By the end of 2012, not many people, including people on this forum, are certain about the future of the Republican Party.