(Crossposted at <REDACTED>)

Let's be serious for a moment.

What is John McCain's path to victory?  Does he even have one?  If you look at Pollster.com's state of the race, you'll see that the numbers currently stand at 260 EVs for Obama, 179 for McCain, and 99 tossup.  In order to win the election, a candidate must have at least 270 electoral votes.  In other words, out of the 99 tossup EVs, Obama needs 10, while McCain needs 91.

It isn't completely hopeless for John McCain, though.  Let's examine how he might win this election.

Associated Press is reporting today that the budget deficit for FY2009 is projected to reach $490 billion--marking an impressive third time in President Bush's eight-year watch that he has broken this record (the first was the $374 billion 2003 deficit, immediately bested by the $413 billion 2004 deficit).

A Bush administration official said Monday the next administration will inherit a record federal budget deficit for next year that approaches $490 billion.

The official said the deficit was being driven to record levels by the sagging economy and the stimulus payments being made to 130 million households in an effort to keep the country from falling into a deep recession. A deficit approaching $490 billion would easily surpass the record deficit of $413 billion set in 2004.

Once upon a time, a long, long year or two ago, I was roundly and purely opposed to any sort of public funding for faith-based initiatives.  I had several long arguments with a friend of mine, another liberal atheist who nevertheless had a more pragmatic position on the topic.  As usually happens with this particular friend, I eventually saw the wisdom in much of what he was saying, and my own position has moderated since then.

In the same vein as Saintcog's excellent diary Why This Atheist Supports Obama's Faith Based Initiative, allow me to describe my experience at the Lakes Region St. Vincent De Paul food pantry today.

Here's a possibility nobody seems to have considered in all the Obama/FISA brouhaha.

Maybe Obama isn't jumping to the right for political expediency.  Maybe Obama isn't afraid of Republicans calling him soft on terrorism.  Maybe he's not cynically using the terrorism card to scare up votes.

Maybe he just honest-to-god thinks that the American people are safer if the legislation passes.