Unanswered questions about the presidential campaign

The truly fascinating aspect of the 2016 presidential primaries is not what we know but rather what we don't know.

Though highly unlikely, what happens if Mrs. Clinton is indeed indicted for her email shenanigans? Or what happens if Mr. Trump falls just short of securing the nomination on the first ballot of the GOP convention?

Political pundits are having a heyday speculating on the latest conspiracy theory about both political camps.

Because of the ultra-high unfavorable ratings of both Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, is Paul Ryan the heir apparent who will rise from the ashes at the 11th hour and walk into the nomination?

Trump this weekend charged that Cruz and party leaders had "fixed" the outcome in Colorado using illegal tactics and bribes.

Mrs. Clinton charged that her socialist opponent Bernie Sanders was lying about her record, and Sanders fired back in kind.

So it returns to the beginning. We know perhaps more than we actually need about each candidate.

What we don't know is just how this saga is going to end.

Every pundit can craft a tale about the eventual end to this long campaign and every tale may have a nugget of truth.

You may be willing to bet money on the outcome but few would be willing to bet the farm on just how Campaign 2016 will end.

However, I think I can accurately predict a loser when the campaign rhetoric has finally ended. The legacy of the one and only Barack Obama will have taken a beating before the dust settles come November.

None less than former president Bill Clinton has already fired the shot by saying it's time for the past seven-year nightmare to come to an end. Clinton said America has suffered at home and on the world stage under the current leadership in America.

That may not motivate the president to take an active role in the campaign should Mrs. Clinton win the nod. But the former president's words echo what most American feels and believe.

One pundit characterized Mr. Trump in the best possible description I have heard yet. The pundit said Trump was an "overcorrection" of Obama.

How true. Most Americans want to reverse much of the misery brought by the Obama White House, but perhaps Trump takes that reversal a bit too far.

We know the players. We know the rhetoric. We've heard the myriad possible convention scenarios.

What we don't know is just how this story will end.

Mike Jensen is the editor of the Standard Democrat in Sikeston, Missouri.