Funny. "This will probably get downvoted into oblivion" is my pet peeve. There's just something that irks me about a person who is putting up their opinion voluntarily seemingly knowing that it will not be reciprocated by others but provide a pretext hoping to fish guilt from others who may disagree. If you have an opinion stand behind it; take whatever berating you're about to receive in full confidence because what really matters if the community as a whole doesn't share the same outlook?
I don't think "This will probably get downvoted" is necessarily a fish for guilt.
To me, what it signals is that the commenter is aware of the unpopularity of the idea. They've given it a second consideration and still believe in it. By saying so, they're asking the reader to also give it a second consideration.
It's saying "this is more than a kneejerk reaction for me, please respond with more than a kneejerk reaction".
