By Dave Begel Contributing Writer Published Jul 28, 2016 at 11:03 AM

The opinions expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the opinions of OnMilwaukee.com, its advertisers or editorial staff.

It is now official: Democrat Hillary Clinton will oppose Republican Donald Trump in the race to be the next President of the United States.

Experts and pundits all over the world are trying to predict who is going to win and what is going to happen. I’m not an expert like all these other people, but I do know one thing.

Nobody is going to win this race.

That’s right. No winner. What we will end up getting is a survivor.

If you believe the polling, and you must have at least some belief, that overwhelming majorities of voters don’t particularly like or trust either Clinton or Trump.

Think about that for a moment. Most of the voters don’t like either one of these candidates.

Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama inspired passion in large chunks of the voting public. Trump and Clinton inspire "meh." Nobody really wants either of these two to be the president.

Oh, there is some "first woman president" stuff behind the Clinton train. And there is some passion – angry though it may be – chugging along behind Trump. But there are no big waves pushing either of these people along.

Winning is something other than what's happening here. We recognize winners. These two don't seem like winners. 

No matter how hard she tries, the Republicans have built the mistrustful narrative about Clinton so skillfully that she can’t seem to shake the opinion that she’s a scammer, cutting corners, not always being forthright.  

Trump is a loose cannon rolling around on the ship of state. People have nightmares thinking about him with his finger on the button.

These two candidates both prove and disprove a couple of famed aphorisms.

She proves that "any little girl can grow up to be president."

Trump disproves that "you can't fool all the people all the time." 

Our votes are precious things. We value them and guard them. We should use them to actually vote FOR something or someone.

Make no mistake about it, I hope Clinton becomes our next president. I think she’s much smarter and more experienced and I think she will be a pretty good president. I think it's past time that we have a woman president.  

Plus if Democrats get out the vote it may actually have an impact in the state legislature, which has a ton more impact on our lives than the president does.

But I’m worried, very worried, about Trump.

First of all, Democrats seem to be dismissing him as some kind of bumbling fool. He is a bumbling fool, but be careful of who you dismiss.

I think Trump is going to focus his attention on Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Lots of electoral hay to be made in those four states that have all elected Republican governors recently.

I also fear that all those millions of people who roared to support the Bernie Sanders movement may just decide to stay home. Or vote for somebody else. The whole Sanders thing was a surprise to everyone and it had all the hallmarks of revolution. Sanders had people crying with love. Nobody seems to be crying with love over Hillary or Trump.

That doesn’t mean there is no time or room for tears, however.

It’s kind of sad that we are at this point where nobody really wants either of these candidates to be the president. Trump has a devoted following, no doubt about it.

And he did win the nomination by berating and beating 15 other candidates, each of whom was probably more qualified for this job than he is.

Despite the Sanders insurgency, Clinton’s drive to the nomination seemed more like a coronation march instead of a tough battle. Especially now that it’s been revealed that the Democratic National Committee, indeed, did seem to be in favor of her.

Like I said, I think there is room for tears.

Let’s cry for America.

Dave Begel Contributing Writer

With a history in Milwaukee stretching back decades, Dave tries to bring a unique perspective to his writing, whether it's sports, politics, theater or any other issue.

He's seen Milwaukee grow, suffer pangs of growth, strive for success and has been involved in many efforts to both shape and re-shape the city. He's a happy man, now that he's quit playing golf, and enjoys music, his children and grandchildren and the myriad of sports in this state. He loves great food and hates bullies and people who think they are smarter than everyone else.

This whole Internet thing continues to baffle him, but he's willing to play the game as long as OnMilwaukee.com keeps lending him a helping hand. He is constantly amazed that just a few dedicated people can provide so much news and information to a hungry public.

Despite some opinions to the contrary, Dave likes most stuff. But he is a skeptic who constantly wonders about the world around him. So many questions, so few answers.