A Prayer for President Barack Obama

This month marks what would have been the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 80th birthday (January 15).

Five days later, Americans will inaugurate a President who, without the influence of Dr. King's life on American society, it would have been inconceivable to imagine: an African-American. I must say in fairness to the subject that, without the colossal failure of unregulated laissez faire capitalism, I'm not sure Americans would have elected Obama; on the whole, we haven't matured quite enough to see beyond self-interest. In the absence of catastrophe, even the smarter candidate might have lost to a candidate like McCain.

This is a video prayer I put together. It is neither a celebration of the Obama Presidency (because it hasn't happened yet), nor an anthem of triumphalism. It is not meant to be, in and of itself, a political statement -- although I am aware that to some Americans any prayer for hope and change is distinctly political, especially in a world of mass-produced hopelessness and mediated stasis.

I sincerely hope for the best for the United States of America, and am buoyed by Americans' openness to change that I saw during the campaign. This is a prayer that we get the America -- the best America -- that we deserve, the America inherent in MLK's deam and Barack Obama's promise of change.

God knows we need it.

The Way Things Look to Me...

I've been checking the state-by-state polls over at fivethirtyeight.com and usaelectionpolls.com (both sites aggregate scores of multiple polls taken in each state) on a daily basis and keeping tabs on the interactive electoral map at 270towin.com. From where I'm standing, it looks like nothing short of a catastrophe (a terrorist attack? a US or Israeli attack on Iran? some catastrophic event culminating in a Presidential declaration of martial law under the Patriot Act?) can keep Barack Obama from being elected the next President of the United States of America.

As I write this, Obama has a solid lead in 22 states -- and the District of Columbia -- accounting for 269 electoral votes (17 points in California, 7 points in Colorado, 17 points in Connecticut, 70 points in the District of Columbia, 21 points in Delaware, 33 points in Hawaii, 13 points in Iowa, 20 points in Illinois, 20 points in Massachusetts, 23 points in Maryland, 11 points in Maine, 8 points in Michigan, 10 points in Minnesota, 12 points in New Jersey, 9 points in New Mexico, 21 points in New York, 14 points in Oregon, 9 points in Pennsylvania, 20 points in Rhode Island, 25 points in Vermont, 13 points in Washington, 10 points in Wisconsin). Essentially, any other win in any other state would guarantee him the Presidency -- in other words, in order for John McCain to win, he has to win every other state beyond these solidly blue states. (click on the map for a larger image)

However, in addition to those solid states, there are another 5 states (Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, and Virginia) where Obama is leading by 3-6 percentage points for an additional 69 electoral votes. A win in any of these states gives Obama the Presidency. A win in all of them would give him 338 electoral votes.

Even some toss-up states originally expected to go to McCain are moving in Obama's direction, and in a few of which Obama has taken the narrowest of leads (Missouri by about 1 point, Indiana by about a half point, North Carolina by about a point-and-a-half).

Here's how it looks to me right now, according to the state polls I've seen, and giving McCain the benefit of the doubt by leaving Nevada, Missouri, Indiana, North Carolina, and Florida as "undecided":
It's Obama 306/McCain 163.

My American Prayer

Sent to me by my old friend Richie Cole (of St. Rita's Brassmen) , Dave Stewart's new music video expresses hope for the future under an Obama Presidency.

Yes we can, baby.