Imagine, too, a scenario where the results deviated significantly from his predictions. In the past, the public, guided by the media, might have been satisfied shrugging it off as "god's will" or "people are just unpredictable" or even "pshaw, more conspiracy theories!" Now I like to believe there will be more pressure to investigate and rationally explain the source of that deviation. Are dead people really voting in Chicago? Were voting machines hacked in Cuyahoga County? I feel like Silver's counter-narrative -- and more critically, his methods -- have been an important contribution to a fair and open democratic process.