You have no idea about the reality of the spiritual world. The battles that are fought and won there decide the outcomes here. You may not understand it but it is the truth. Pray first because the battle does belong to The LORD.
Please allow me to expand on my comment. While I stand by it - “Prayer don’t win elections” - as a Roman Catholic who takes his faith seriously and attends Mass several times a week, I do have some appreciation for “the reality of the spiritual world.”
I begin and end every day with prayer. I pray that our country, founded by devout Christians, will return to its spiritual roots. I pray for another “Great Awakening.” But the election of 2008 brought to power an administration antithetical to Christian governance. And there is a very strong possibility that this administration will return to power in 2012.
God does not change. But people and countries do. Look at England, once a bastion of the Christian faith. Today it is a secular wasteland. More people attend mosques than Christian churches. Published reports have indicated that the Christian way of life is disappearing all over Europe.
The same fate is befalling the United States of America. I pray that this will change, and I work daily to do my part in bringing about this change. But countries come and go. Only God is eternal.