When CFR.org started blogging on the U.S. presidential campaign back in May 2007, the foreign policy terrain appeared relatively uncomplicated. The war in Iraq looked to be the dominant issue. Under the surface, of course, were many simmering issues related to foreign policy and a surprising number emerged as flashpoints during the ensuing campaign – and provided rich mining for our blog – including immigration for the Republicans and trade for the Democrats. The assassination of a Pakistani prime minister and the outbreak of war between Russia and Georgia during the course of the campaigns brought concerns about U.S. policy toward Islamabad and Moscow to the fore. But the main surging issue turned out to be the economy. Like so many of the other issues there were cross-sections for domestic and foreign policy here, as underscored in this CFR.org Issue Guide.

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A large majority of Latinos turned out to vote for Barack Obama on Tuesday, exit polls showed. 67 percent of Latino voters picked Obama overall, while 31 percent voted for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in the national election. Hispanic voters helped deliver several crucial states to the Obama campaign, including Florida, Nevada and Colorado.

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Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) won a resounding victory over Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on Tuesday, leading an electoral surge (Politico) that gave Democrats the White House and strong majorities in both chambers of Congress. Obama finished his nearly two-year run by making history as the first African-American to become president, riding a message of change and reform that resonated with a country on the brink of recession and engaged in two wars. The election drew huge turnouts and exit polls showed the economy was the top issue (WSJ) for nearly two-thirds of voters. Iraq and terrorism trailed far behind the economy as concerns, each chosen by 10 percent of voters as the top issue. In 2004, U.S. voters rated both terrorism and the economy equally as their leading concerns.

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Latino voters, in particular Cubans, garner most of the attention when U.S. presidential races are broken down into influential ethnic groups. But some smaller ethnic groups this year provide interesting insight into changing voting patterns. Here is a look at a few of these groups:

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Voters across the United States are heading to the polls today to elect either Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) or Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) as the next U.S. president, capping a lengthy and historic campaign (USAToday). Attention in many U.S. papers turned to the numerous challenges that will face the next president. The Wall Street Journal evaluates the economic pressures that await the next president upon his inauguration in January.

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With one day to go before the United States presidential election, Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL) and John McCain (R-AZ) made their final push for votes. Both presidential candidates have op-eds in the Wall Street Journal on Monday laying out their policy agendas. Obama repeats his pledge to “end the Iraq war responsibly” while ramping up efforts to defeat al-Qaeda and “restore our moral standing so that America remains the last, best hope of Earth.” McCain writes that U.S. forces have dealth “devastating blows to al-Qaeda, especially in Iraq,” but warned about the unraveling of the situation there in the event of a premature troop withdrawal. Read more »

With the U.S. presidential campaign headed into its final weekend, Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL) and John McCain (R-AZ) made final pushes for votes, and analysts began looking ahead to the transition of administrations that will follow the November 4 vote. The Financial Times reports Obama’s campaign is sticking largely to its economic message as it enters the final few days of campaigning. The Los Angeles Times looks at McCain’s final days of campaigning in potential swing states Ohio and Florida, and says both candidates have sought to highlight differences in their economic plans.

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Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told a Florida crowd that national security dangers lurk and should not be ignored amid the financial crisis. He mentioned as one potential crisis “the success of the Iranian regime in its program of acquiring nuclear weapons,” which he said could threaten Israel or spark “an uncontrollable nuclear arms race across the region.”

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“The price of oil is declining largely because of the market’s expectation of a broad recession that would lower demand. This is hardly a good sign of things to come, and should only add to our sense of urgency in gaining energy independence. When our economy recovers, and growth once again creates new demand, we could run into the same brick wall of rising oil and gasoline prices — and now is the time to make sure that doesn’t happen. In Washington, we can view this period of lower oil prices as just one more chance to make excuses — and on the problem of energy security, we’ve heard enough excuses. Or we can view it as an opportunity to finally confront the problem.” Read more »

The Miami Herald reports today that the economy is trumping U.S. policy toward Cuba as the most important important issue for voters in South Florida’s three congressional races:

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