The U.S. economy will grow in 2012 but a very slow clip and fraught with potholes along the way, says Roger Altman, chairman at Evercore Partners.

"I think it's going to be a very complex year across the board. I think we'll have a slow, painfully upward U.S. economy with slow improvement in labor markets and very modest growth at 2 to 2.5 percent," Altman tells CNBC.

"You have secondly, the enormous risk and volatility posed by Europe — where the watchword is uncertainty — and third you have some developing uncertainties about China and China's growth and finally, of course, the overlay of a U.S. presidential election, which I, myself, expect to be extraordinarily close."
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Republicans will launch a referendum-style campaign asking voters if they want four more years of President Barack Obama, while the Democrats will argue "we may have had our problems but we are better than that guy."

Roger Altman (Getty Images photo)

"Almost all elections in the modern era are negative," says Altman, a deputy Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, says of the 2012 campaign. "I just think it's going to be a really close and actually quite fascinating election."

An Associated Press survey of economists echoes Altman's sentiments.

The economy will grow 2.4 percent while unemployment rates won't fall far from their current level at 8.6 percent, the survey finds.

A meltdown in Europe poses the biggest threat to an otherwise tepid U.S. recovery.

"If it were a big enough downturn, given the size of Europe, it could bring the world economy down into recession," says Allen Sinai, president of Decision Economics, according to the Associated Press.