Whilst driving through the countryside today, I passed a sign urging passersby (which is what I was at the time) to do the following: "Elect Jesus as your Lord." With talk already swirling around the 2008 presidential election, I thought, the Lord election must be one of the most underreported stories of the day.

This is what I thought as I passed the sign.

Now I will attempt to fix that with a brief run-down of the contenders.

Jesus, or "El Jesus" as he is referred to in Latin countries, is the only candidate so far to have officially declared himself eligible for the 2008 deity election. He has not yet picked a running mate, although the Holy Ghost and the Father are the names most frequently tossed about. Word has it that Jesus may also owe Abraham and Job a favor or two, so they may be considered for some type of post, although not necessarily that of vice-Lord.

Jesus has also let people know that he's not messing around, stating that he's not applying for federal campaign funding money as he plans to exceed the $125 million limit to be eligible for tax-payer money. Jesus is said to comtemplating spending up to $100 billion.

“Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone,” Jesus said at a press conference.

“He who rules his spirit has won a greater victory than the taking of a city,” he added.

Allah is contemplating a run, but so far has only formed an exploratory committee. If he decides to run, he could enjoy a lot of campaign support as there are a lot of freaking Muslims out there. The prophet Mohammed would be a likely running mate, a prospect political cartoonists everywhere fear.

Allah has chosen to remain outside of the public eye, only issuing brief statements through his press secretary. His latest one, although brief, conveyed an apparently confident tone.

"Allah is god and Mohammed is his prophet," it read.

Unlike Jesus, Allah is no family man - he has no father and no son, according to the Qur'an

The Buddha's name has also been tossed around, but he would likely not be eligible, as Buddhism preaches that the Buddha (even the one portrayed by Keanu Reeves) is not a god.

The Buddha was busy achieving nirvana and could not be reached for comment by press time.

Ishvara (or Brahman) also enjoys tremendous popularity among Hindus, but has not yet discussed a potential run. Stay posted.