Hope is on deck.
Barack Obama may become leader of the free world just as the Cubs win it all for the first time since the Taft Administration. Isn't it great to be alive?
The United States is in serious need of a cleanup hitter, and there is nobody better positioned to reach for the bat than the junior senator from Illinois. Obama is cool, competent and charismatic, and having him in the Oval Office may truly be a boon for humanity. Yet his ascendancy to the highest office in the land is only part of the puzzle.
So lets play two!
It is just as important for Obama to reside in the White House as it is for a World Series champion to make its home in The Friendly Confines. The Chicago Cubs and their long suffering fans deserve a pardon after 100 years of agony, and it looks like next year actually may be here. A championship on the North Side will prove that anything is indeed possible and that we are all on our way to a more perfect union.
But here's the rub. If you can only choose one thing to happen this fall - Barack Obama being elected president or the Cubbies overcoming their 100-year curse - what would it be?
I know that some of you may swing from the South Side, and that the non-ideological Chicago Huffington Post courts conservatives and progressives alike. However, a large swath of Chicago and Cubbie nation at large is in a serious pickle when asked to choose one beacon of hope over the other. Sure, baseball is only a game, but how cruel is it for one team and its global constituency to suffer the indignities of going home empty-handed year after year after year???
Some of you might point out that Obama has claimed to be a White Sox fan over the years. Yet just like previous stances on campaign finance reform and warrantless wiretapping, some positions are more firm than others as we get closer to the general election. As an aspiring politician seeking to win a state senate seat on Chicago's South Side, Obama made a few affiliations in which he has come to regret. While Reverend Wright and Weatherman Bill Ayers got all the pub in the primaries, just wait until the expletive-laden YouTube video of Ozzie Guillen sharing his views on NAFTA hits the cable news circuit.
The Friendly Confines welcomes Obama with open arms, and - like a 10-hour bender at Murphy's Bleachers - without any judgment.
As for the (potentially) bigger question about the fate of the free world - is John McCain really that bad? He may have jumped the shark when he began tolerating those fiendish agents of intolerance while embarking on this 2.0 run for the highest office. But if you're grading on a curve, compared to George W. Bush and his administration, McCain's track record of being at least quasi independent is still an improvement and recipe for an improved world.
Where can we find an answer to this cosmic conundrum?
As Major League Baseball is only in the early stages of instant reply, we will not be able to use video technology to determine who should win this photo finish. This is why, at ObamaCubs.com, we are asking you, the registered baseball fan, to decide. Make your vote http://obama08cubs.wordpress.com/survey/ today and don't be afraid to go with your heart. We know you will make the right decision.
In Chicago, of course, we are used to voting early and often (although only one vote per IP address). Polls have already opened for the big showdown. While Obama's 56% to 44% lead (as of August 16) is outside the margin of error, with less than one percent of precincts reporting it is still far too early to call. Be a part of pop culture zeitgeist and add yet more formula to Chuck Todd's electoral calculus.
Make your vote now!