Election 2008: what's at stake: whoever wins in November will face enormous challenges at home and abroad.

• Author: Sanger, David E.
• Position: Cover story

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The last time the United States chose a President while American troops were engaged in wars in two different parts of the world? It was in 1944, just as World War II was heading into its final months.

The last time that neither the Republican nor the Democratic candidate was serving as President or Vice President? 1952, when voters eager to end an unpopular war in Korea turned to a military hero, Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The last time a black man secured a major-party nomination and stood a good chance of winning? Never.

Take those three facts together and mix in anxiety across the country about a struggling economy and soaring energy prices, and it becomes clear why this is an election like no other in our history.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The 2008 contest between Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona and Democratic Senator Barack Obama of Illinois may be one of those rare elections in which voters make up their minds on questions of both substance and symbolism. Polls indicate that Americans are deeply unhappy with the country's direction--80 percent say the country is on the wrong track--and millions say they are unsure which way to turn for solutions.

IRAQ OR THE ECONOMY?

The big question for voters, as they face both an economic downturn and international threats, is whether to elect a young first-term Senator promising change and new ideas, or a longtime Senator with strong military credentials and a reputation as a bit of a maverick.

The campaign so far has veered from the momentous to the trivial. There have been serious debates about the war in Iraq and the ailing U.S. economy. But the airwaves and the Internet have also been filled with questions about Obama's not wearing a flag pin on his lapel (he's started wearing one) and jokes about McCain's age. (If elected, he would be 72 when he takes office and the oldest man to be inaugurated.)

One thing is clear, however: Whoever walks into the White House on Jan. 20, 2009, will find enormous challenges waiting for him in the Oval Office.

Seven years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, there is a gnawing sense that America's vulnerabilities are as great as ever. The C.I.A. reports that A1 Qaeda has regrouped in Pakistan, along the Afghan border. And a number of hostile countries are racing for nuclear weapons: North Korea exploded a primitive device two years ago, and Iran appears to be trying to develop at least the capability to build a bomb whose targets, they've suggested, would include Israel and American military forces in the Middle East.

The Iraq war has cost more than 4,000 American lives and $600 billion, and despite progress in recent months, the country remains far from the stable democracy President Bush envisioned. The two candidates have very different ideas about Iraq: Obama has promised to have all American troops out in 16 months, though over the summer he...