So here we are, with a year and a day to go before the 2008 presidential election. But what will we be talking about next November as we head to the polls?

I know it is supposed to be my job to prognosticate the future by throwing a dart at the wall and loudly proclaiming "This is where we will be!" -- but today I am turning over the prediction business to you instead. Because I am interested in what other people think the momentous issues of next year's election will be, no matter who is left running. So let me know what you think.

The questions are hard to answer, but easy to ask. Here's just a random sampling of what the possible "big issue" could be this time next year.

What will Iraq look like a year from now? Will Maliki still be in (nominal) charge of the Iraqi government, or will there have been a change in government? Will things be quieting down and will American troops be coming home in droves? Or will it be even more chaotic than ever, with a full-blown war happening between the Kurds in the north of Iraq and Turkey and Iran?

Speaking of Iran, will we have bombed them? Will we be in a shooting war with Iran at this point in 2008? Will Cheney have convinced Bush that bombing Iran makes sense at some point between then and now? Or will there be a manufactured "Gulf of Tonkin" incident which becomes our rallying cry to invade yet another country in the Middle East?

What will the situation in Afghanistan be like? What will Pakistan be doing? And what other international hotspot that nobody in America is paying any attention to will flare up out of control by then?

Will terrorists have attacked America again? Will Bin Laden still be on the loose? Or dead? Or in U.S. custody? Will Guantanamo Bay still be in business as a prison camp?

On the home front, what will gas be selling for per gallon? What will the economy be like? Will we be in a recession? Will the housing market have completely collapsed, or will it have bounced back? Where will the stock market be? What about the jobs market?

What will the big wedge issues be in the election? Gay marriage (probably not, that one's been to the well too many times it seems...)? Immigration? Mormonism? Torture? Taxes?

Will the Baltimore Orioles have just won the World Series? OK, I admit, I just threw that one in there to see if you were still paying attention. But what will the big sports news be? What Hollywood idiot will most of America be spending way too much time talking about? Will the writers' strike still be happening?

All that can be said for certain is that there are certain to be surprises between now and election day 2008. Issues that seem huge now will have been resolved and will be but a dim memory. Issues that nobody anticipated will be in the headlines. The only thing that really seems a safe bet from this far out is that an enormous majority of the American public will be breathing a sigh of relief that Bush's reign will be coming to an end.

But what do you think we'll be arguing and debating a year and a day from now?

Cross-posted at The Huffington Post

-- Chris Weigant