system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Star Wars] Could the Separatists have won the Clone Wars?

So this is less a question about the material/political/military ability for the CIS to have successfully beaten the Republic, and more a question about Palpatine's overarching scheme to control the galaxy. Considering that he was in control of both sides of the war (on the one side, directly as Chancellor, and on the other side indirectly as Darth Sidious), did he really care too much about which side won the conflict, since either way he would still be in control? Had the CIS won, would the Empire still more or less come into being as it was, just with a different logo and slightly different trappings (no Imperial Senate, no stormtroopers who were based on clones, etc.)?
gpt
Palpatine cared that the Republic won. There is one part of of Palpatine's plan which is extremely important: the public perception. He needs the public on his side.

This is a large part as to why droids and clones were picked for the fighting. Droids are brainless monstrosities - made propaganda extremely easy for the Republic. 

Clones are somewhat interesting. They're still human, but they're also not responsible for anything bad they do (especially with how Palpatine can twist stuff) - the blame rests entirely on the people leading them. Which happens to be the Jedi.

This is one aspect that's not written about often (although aspects of it can be seen via records from "The Clone Wars") as Palpatine managed to do it in a noticeable way. From the start of The Clone Wars to the end of it, the public's view of the Jedi morphed form peacekeepers, to war leaders (who seemed to become less happy with the Senate over time) to betrayers. 

Palpatine would have trouble keeping people in check if the CIS won.