Ah, isn’t it sweet? As our beloved Red Sox captured their first World Series ring in 86 years, it reminded me of something. It reminded me of the power of faith. Faith is what made that victory as sweet as it was. If we would’ve just kicked the hell out of every team we played then the victory wouldn’t have meant as much. But we didn’t just pound everyone. The Red Sox never gave up and they gave their fans exactly what they wanted, a World Series cut from the hearts of Yankees fans around the globe.But it wasn’t easy to have faith; to face the impossible and make it possible is not something easy to get behind. We did, though we had faith in our 25 idiots who refused to quit.

As Tuesday approached, we were being asked to vote for president and again our faith was tested. There were two candidates that tested our faith in the entire democratic system. It became a race of uncertainty. If Bush has won then maybe we’ll have the largest deficit in the entire history of our country, or maybe we achieve a level of security that is unforeseen in American history. If we have elected Kerry then maybe we face an America that has no identity due to having no clear stance in any policy, foreign or domestic – or maybe America becomes a country that leads the globe into a new age of understanding and tolerance that sets the precedent for the entire world.

Bottom line is this; we leave the voting booth with faith that our decision is the best one possible. That our decision will make our families safer, make the world respect us, and make our lives just a little bit better.

Which of these two men will do it? Hell, I don’t know. If I could predict these things I would be facing a lucrative career with Dion Warwick. But, alas, I don’t and hence rely on faith. I have faith that my fellow countrymen and women will do what’s best, and that is simply to get up and vote.

I mean, it’s pretty self-evident that I don’t have a preference to who wins, since in my opinion they both suck equally and it’s more of a question of who sucks less. And to those who might care, I don’t think that Ralph Nader is a viable candidate, I think he’s just going to detract votes from the Democrats and put his face and name in the paper.

But regardless of all the promises and smearing what it comes down to is this: you have to have faith. I mean, where would we be without faith? It took us 86 years of faith to reach the nirvana that is being World Series champions. Let’s just hope it doesn’t take 86 years to not elect an asshole.

Jay Upton is a Mass Media columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].