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President Barack Obama, who made history in 2008 by becoming the first African-American elected president, would like to notch another historic achievement next year.

He will try to win re-election while likely saddled with a higher unemployment rate than any other president seeking a second term in 76 years.

Mr. Obama undoubtedly would prefer to forgo that distinction, but there is no escaping the harsh economic backdrop that will mark the campaign of 2012. The economic malaise sets the stage for a presidential contest that analysts in both parties expect to be very close, and a much tougher haul for the president than his election in 2008, when he became the first Democrat in 32 years to win a majority of the national vote.