You're right, and my post was by no means meant to suggest otherwise. Large numbers of Southern voters supported either Douglas or Bell as a means of avoiding the rocks of disunion. I was referring to the ability of these men to see the consequences of Northern victory in a war they vainly tried to avoid.
By the same token, after the election large numbers of Northerners (like Fernando Wood, the Mayor of New York) were disposed to let the Southern states go their own way.