CNN had a video package from South Carolina where Christians at a restaurant got the chance to speak about their faith and how it shapes their political views, especially as its citizens where preparing to vote in their 2012 primary.

Paraphrasing what the lead respondent in the video said, a nice grandmotherly white lady said something to the effect of: I can’t pray for Obama because he’s not a Christian.

We’re going to let the whole ‘Obama is not a Christian’ line slide. Apparently the fact that the President has been going to the same church in Chicago since he moved to Illinois doesn’t matter. Also, the fact that the President has said he is a Christian doesn’t matter either.

Let’s talk about praying, and who you are praying for. This woman said her pastor told her to pray for our leaders, but she couldn’t pray for Obama. Despite the fact that he is the President of the nation she lives in, the way he operates shows that he is clearly not a Christian, and she just couldn’t do it.

That should be the number one reason to be praying for him. If you don’t think the President is being reasonable, you should be praying for him to gain reason. If you don’t think the President is being rational, you should be praying for him to become rational. If you think the President is taking the nation down the wrong path, you should be praying that he finds a way to see the error of his ways and change.

You should not be praying that someone better will take the place of Barack Obama as our 45th President of the United States who might fix what’s already been broken. You should be praying for the 44th President to find a way to fix it.

If you are being held captive by your enemies, should you be praying for them to die so that you can be freed? What if they all die while you are still locked away and are unable to escape? No, you should pray that your enemies find a way to see the light and gain understanding. You should pray that your God will show them a better way of living, and show them that they should set you free, and protect you from those who would not allow you safe passage home.

Sound far-fetched? When was the last time you wished bodily harm to a co-worker or supervisor who was doing you wrong? Would it make a difference if you instead prayed for deliverance from the situation or even a sense of peace to overcome those who are fighting against you?

I don’t want to belittle the lady I saw on CNN, her beliefs, or her personal right to pray or not pray for whomever she chooses. But I choose to pray for her, because I believe that everyone could use an extra few words towards the positive sent to the man upstairs.

I am a Christian, and I hope that would qualify me for a prayer from her.

Tomorrow is the Iowa Caucuses. We can now say that the nation is officially getting to work in choosing who we want to be our next leader.

But regardless of whether you currently plan to vote for the current guy or one of the half dozen viable other guys or girl that want to take the current guy’s place, there is one thing I know for certain. Candidate coverage is already in the gutter.

I watch a fair and balanced (pun intended) amount of cable news on CNN, FOX News, and MSNBC. Yes, I think FOX News and MSNBC are biased and play up to their base. Yes, I think CNN does a good job of playing in down the middle, but that strength does come off as a weakness when it comes to drawing in an audience. But all these networks are doing a horrible job of telling me the facts about any of the candidates, and when they do deliver straight facts, they throw in some sort of added slant to make sure you don’t forget that they all have a flipside that might be enough to nullify any positive points you might want to endorse.

I am a registered Republican. My Presidential voting record stands at Clinton, Clinton, Bush, Bush, Obama. I was politically immature, and cannot truly explain my choice in Clinton over George H.W. Bush, but I want to believe it falls in line with all of my choices since. The baggage of the man I chose was obvious, but the man I chose also offered up some sort of plan that could bring about growth and change. And while I did vote for Barack Obama and his horrible plan in 2008, I felt like I had no choice but to because his opponent John McCain offered no plan.

And while my vote for 2012 is not locked on Barack Obama, none of the half dozen viable opponents are currently offering anything that even closely resembles an alternative that I would want to put my faith into. At least not from the information I’m getting from the election coverage so far.

But that may not necessarily be the job of these networks. Their main function in this day and age is to get viewers, just like any other television network. And how they bring in those viewers is their business, except when they say their business is in information.