Herewith some idiosyncratic, perhaps eccentric, observations on the electoral contests so far in this presidential cycle.

1. Turnout is down. In the first five contests — the Iowa and Nevada caucuses and the New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Michigan primaries — Republican turnout was down 7% from 2016, the most recent cycle with serious contests. That’s based on precincts currently reporting and the ace New York Times number crunchers’ estimates of as-yet uncounted votes.