by John Mark Reynolds [author, academic]

The election is not yet. Much can still happen in this crazy year, and I am not in despair but (as a commentator) four things about the nation and election look true to me right now:

First, let me state the obvious: Senator Obama is winning.

As I have often repeated: this is a Democratic year. John McCain was always running up hill with a fifty pound pack on his back. He might make it, but the stock market crash and credit crash added another one hundred pounds each. Senator Obama ran an uneven campaign, was a tough sell to the American public (compared to other Democratic choices), but he is well on his way to the White House.

Second, the world will not come to an end if Senator Obama wins. My family will go on being my family, my students will continue to be wonderful, and this grand Republic will still be a great place to live. Some of my correspondents are in a panic about President Obama, but they should not be. Some men grow in office. Some presidents, see Lincoln, surprise voters by revealing hidden depths. As John McCain pointed out recently, Senator Obama is a good man, a patriot, and very smart.

We should be hopeful people and begin to pray for him and his choices.

Third, to quote (roughly) one of my favorite bits of economic wisdom from that American classic It’s a Wonderful Life: “Potter’s not selling, Potter’s buying.” In the holiday film, the town plutocrat, Potter by name, buys up the bank and most of the other assets at the start of the depression. Most of the town loses their heads and allows him too much control of the local economy. Only George, marvelously played by Jimmy Stewart, keeps Potter from ruining the town by refusing to sell the Savings and Loan to Potter.

We need some brave Georges to stand up to the panic and Potter right now.

People need to stop rushing around (Panic! Sell! Doom!) and start thinking ahead to the recovery. What assets can be saved? What will we do during the recovery? When the recovery comes (and it will) what will be the next good place to invest?

Finally, California is the Gettysburg of traditional marriage. Proposition Eight, which would restore sanity to the system, was losing and will be outspent badly, but lately things have turned around. There is a chance that the rest of the nation will not have California rewrite marriage laws. Pray for us and send money to groups supporting traditional marriage so that traditional churches and Christian education can be left alone in the more left-of-center days to come. ExileStreet

copyright 2008 John Mark Reynolds

John Mark Reynolds is the founder and director of the Torrey Honors Institute and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Biola University.His personal website can be found at www.johnmarkreynolds.com and his blog can be found at http://scriptoriumdaily.com.

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