But for him, that is a far smaller hurdle than what awaits if he wins: one last chance to live up to the hope that ushered him into office, one last chance to earn the prize he has already won.
"I must tell you every time I do one, you say to yourself, 'God I hope this is the last one, " he said.
And hopefully -- one can hope that Republicans will at the last minute change their mind about deciding to try to score political points out of this.
One reason for hope is the bargaining session last Saturday.
Museum staff worked for a whole year without pay before they lost every hope last October, gathered one more time at the fountain in the museum's botanical garden, threw a coin into it and made a wish that the institution will reopen soon.
Dementieva eventually secured a 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-4 victory over Safarova to go one better than last year when she lost to home hope and now retired Amelie Mauresmo.
But there is one poignant irony: having penned encyclicals on the Christian virtues of hope and charity, his papacy did not last long enough to complete a planned one on the subject of faith itself which is so dear to his heart.
Plaything for our future robot overlords? (Let's hope it's not the last one.) The success of the mission will depend on a couple things, namely: how the return trip goes (it should make it back to California's Vandenberg Air Force Base via autopilot... sometime) and whether the thing can be re-launched quickly enough.
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Is it perhaps too much to hope that one good thing will come out of last night's confusion: lasting humility from TV pundits?
They rise every morning and, as one gamblers says, "step up to the plate" in the hope that one day will be better than the last.
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Normally the last thing one thinks about is vitamins when you want a drink, so hope this makes a point here.
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One shipping company announced last month it would bypass the region altogether, sailing instead around the Cape of Good Hope and adding thousands of kilometers to its voyages.
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But they seemed to symbolise one thing now within East Timor's grasp - real hope for the future and with it peace at last.
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