Results have been announced of the winners of the final poll conducted by the Des Moines Register prior to Monday’s caucuses in Iowa.

They include Donald Trump for the Republicans . . .

and Hillary Clinton — just barely — for the Democrats.

Now the Trump supporters will no doubt start their Happy Dance, and those Republicans who might prefer an ABT candidate — Anyone But Trump — might enter a state of dejection. However, everyone should consider the following video. It explains how the Iowa caucuses work, how each party differs, and how the history of eventual outcomes for the winners have been radically different between the two parties.

https://youtu.be/uYAdGOhfNRc

Then there’s the sticky wicket of accurately polling for caucuses. TIME Magazine listed six reasons why political watchers should view any Iowa polling with the proverbial grain of salt:

• Precinct breakdown tends to dilute the numbers of voters in high population areas vs. those in rural areas. Candidates are awarded the same number of delegates from a precinct whether originating from 100 college students or 15 farmers.
• Pollsters prefer to obtain the opinion of previous caucus-goers, but that information is not easily available, as it’s retained by the individual parties. Furthermore, most voters in Iowa do not caucus.
• Turnout is unpredictable, and this year it may be particularly tricky. More about that later.
• A better predictor of outcome in Iowa has historically been the ground game rather than polling.
• Iowa voters have historically been an undecided lot up until the last minute.
• Even the last poll can be inaccurate. As Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute said, “They’re accurate for today. Tomorrow, those polls could be meaningless.”

And about that unpredictable turnout, to which I alluded above:

A winter storm is moving into Iowa from the Intermountain West on Monday night, covering nearly the entire state. According to recent research from AccuWeather Business, inclement weather has served to deter swing voters in primaries. Women voters tend to be more affected by bad weather, causing fewer of them to caucus than men. Young voters between 18 and 24 tend to turn out more in sunny weather. So while Bernie Sanders looks like he’s chomping on the heels of Hillary Clinton, the snow just might keep Bernie’s college devotees in their dorm rooms with some brews and their cell phones.

So Trump supporters, chill. For those of us who support Ted Cruz, or Marco Rubio, or even Ben Carson, keep calm and set your eyes on the eventual prize. In the words of that great baseball legend Yogi Berra, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”

Play ball, Iowa!