Reply #1: No, as long as we are a nation where there are many religious people who desire some similar belief

[RaleighNCDUer]

out of their leaders, an atheist has no fair chance of being elected president.

As you said,"you can't throw a rock in American politics or culture without hitting a somebody who has strange and sometimes completely irrational religious views."

I, for one, refuse to tolerate that crap. They make my life difficult and sometimes dangerous.