Both candidates are United States senators with little experience as executives, so their ability to manage the crisis has become a central issue in the election. At the beginning of the campaign, many observers predicted that Iraq would be the major issue in 2008.
Au début de la campagne, beaucoup d'observateurs ont prédit que la guerre en Irak serait l'enjeu majeur en 2008, mais c'est la crise financière qui est passée sur le devant de la scène.