No apologies required. I’m just amazed at the number of replies my comment elicited. I would have considered Ayers a wordsmith, but I don’t any more. That was a silly mistake, and any good editor would have caught it. My guess is that the editor assumed Obama wrote it and didn’t dare correct a ‘black’ author. If not that, then I have no hypotheses.
According to merriam-webster, "eminently," is defined as, "to a high degree: very":
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eminently
Sample usages provided include "eminently worthy," "eminently sensible," and "eminently qualified."
In this light, "eminently practical," is not in the least, an inappropriate usage.