I think Bush will win.
I hope Bush will win.
I pray Bush will win.
But what if Bush does not win?

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A friend of mine, a yellow dog Democrat, likes to tell me that Bush will never be his president.

Swallowing my disgust, I always answer him emphatically, "I pray every night that Kerry will not win. But if Kerry does win, he will be my president."

If Kerry wins, and I pray he does not, he will be my president because our death struggle with Islamofascism trumps everything else. Unlike too many of our left-wing citizens (such as the gracious author of this comment) who would accept, hope for, and even work for an American defeat if it would aid the defeat of George Bush, I would find no consolation in a failed Kerry presidency.

If Kerry wins, and I pray he does not, I shall never seek consolation in the words "I told you so" because a failed Kerry presidency would mean that my beloved country's fight against the terrorists would also be a failure.

If Kerry wins, and I pray he does not, I will do everything in my meager power to encourage him to fight the terrorists vigorously.

If Kerry wins, and I pray he does not, I will do everything in my meager power to ensure that, insofar as our struggle against the terrorists is concerned, Kerry's presidency is not merely successful, but is magnificently successful.

If Kerry wins, and I pray he does not, if he will lead I will follow. No, I will not silently follow him off a cliff. But I will not try to drive him of a cliff, and I will not cheer if, despite my best efforts, he goes off a cliff on his own.

If Kerry wins, and I pray he does not, I will still criticize and oppose him openly and strongly on domestic issues. Yet even on domestic matters I will not join in any criticism that significantly weakens his capacity to lead this nation in war. As to his leadership in the war, before criticizing him, I will use my best judgment to determine whether my criticism is more likely to contribute to positive change in war policy or will simply publicly undermine his capacity to lead the nation in war. If the latter, I will moderate my criticism and seek a discrete way to offer it more effectively.

If Kerry wins, and I pray he does not, I shall never forget what matters most, my beloved country, this "last best hope":

Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We . . . will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We -- even we here -- hold the power, and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free -- honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just -- a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.

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Now please go vote for George Bush, and make this post the most irrelevant thing I've ever written in my entire life.