Barack Obama and John McCain have emerged from back-to-back conventions with broad visions of where they would lead the country and competing ideas on a host of issues that will have repercussions throughout state government, right down to the local driver's license bureau.
States are looking to the next president to help resolve problems they must deal with day-to-day, from out-of-control medical costs to failing schools. The next president's policies will determine such things as how many uninsured Americans states can afford to send to the doctor, whether crumbling bridges get fixed, which states will be winners or losers in the race for new energy sources, and whether jobs will stay in state or go overseas.
Read the full report McCain vs. Obama: The Difference for States on Stateline.org.