New president must face a range of crises

THIS morning, as the fog of uncertainty begins to rise (and there’s no guarantee of that), either John Kerry or George Bush will emerge as the leader of the world’s most powerful nation for the next four years.

Yesterday, when asked about the challenges, Bush merely said he was confident that he would carry the nation and lead the US for four more years. Separately, Kerry gave a more down-beat, more realistic assessment.

"I'm not pretending to anybody that it's a bed of roses. We've got some tough choices," he told supporters in Wisconsin.