WASHINGTON (AP) — Afghanistan’s presidential election on Saturday gives the U.S. a new chance to fix relations with Kabul, which are in deep discord after more than 12 years of war and repeated fallings-out between the White House and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

While many Americans have given up hope that Afghanistan can ever prosper in peace, tens of thousands of Afghans, hoping for change, are flocking to campaign rallies across their impoverished country, which continues to face a stubborn insurgency.