Rollercoaster-like presidential primaries near conclusion

Five months ago, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) was viewed as the inevitable Democratic presidential nominee, while conservatives were wary of their party’s front-runner, Rudy Giuliani.

Many on the right are still circumspect when it comes to the GOP front-runner, although the former New York City mayor has withdrawn from the race. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was seen as politically dead last summer, is on the cusp of representing the Republican Party in November.

{mosads}Clinton, meanwhile, is seeking another New Hampshire-style comeback in Texas and Ohio next week. If she loses either state, Democratic strategists say, there is no chance she will be able to catch Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

The following are the recent highlights of the presidential primary races.

September

• Thompson skips New Hampshire debate, and announces candidacy on “The Tonight Show”
• Hagel says he will not run for president
• Thompson’s roll-out panned by conservative columnists George Will and Bob Novak on the same day
• President Bush says he expects Clinton to win Democratic nomination
• Clinton appears on all five Sunday talk shows
• Gingrich opts against run
• Obama’s wife, Michelle Obama, suggests her husband needs to triumph in Iowa to win nomination
• Clinton holds tenuous lead in Iowa polls, winning New Hampshire handily as Romney leads the GOP field in both states and Giuliani leads in national polls

October

• Conservatives vow third-party challenge if Giuliani wins nomination
• Clinton out-raises Obama in third quarter as Giuliani is victor on GOP side
• Gore wins Nobel Peace Prize, appears unlikely to launch White House bid
• Brownback bows out
• Sen. Mel Martinez (Fla.) steps aside as Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman
• RNC threatens states not to move up their primary dates
• Clinton’s momentum stalls as she stumbles in debate in Philadelphia

November

• Pat Robertson endorses Giuliani
• Brownback endorses McCain

December

• Obama moves ahead of Clinton in Iowa polls
• Mike Huckabee closes in on Mitt Romney lead in Iowa
• Union-Leader in New Hampshire endorses McCain
• Hostage situation occurs at Clinton campaign site in New Hampshire; no one is hurt
• Huckabee surges in polls
• Romney’s highly anticipated speech on his Mormon faith is well received
• Oprah Winfrey stumps for Obama
• National Review magazine endorses Romney
• Des Moines Register’s Democratic and Republican debates fall flat
• Huckabee criticizes Bush’s foreign policy, triggering Romney attack on Iowa front-runner
• Register endorses Clinton, McCain
• Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) endorses McCain
• Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) bows out, endorses Romney
• Focus of presidential campaign shifts to foreign policy in the wake of the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto
• Huckabee momentum appears to stall as he pulls negative Romney ad, but then shows it to the media

January

• Obama, Huckabee easily win Iowa caucuses; Clinton finishes third. Sens. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) drop out
• Romney wins Wyoming, targeted by other GOP candidates at New Hampshire debate
• Edwards, Obama team up to criticize Clinton at debate in New Hampshire
• Obama takes huge lead in New Hampshire polls
• McCain leads over Romney in New Hampshire
• Clinton gets choked up at New Hampshire café while answering voter question on “how she does it”
• Obama, McCain favorites to win New Hampshire
• Clinton vows that campaign will continue beyond New Hampshire
• In stunning upset that defies pollsters and pundits, Clinton wins New Hampshire; McCain beats Romney
• Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) endorses Obama
• New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) bows out
• Black legislators, including House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), balk at Bill Clinton’s “fairytale” comment about Obama; Clinton campaign scrambles to clarify remark
• Obama goes on offensive, says Sen. Clinton’s remark on Civil Rights Act sought to diminish legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
• McCain takes first place in national poll as Giuliani slips to fourth; Obama trails Clinton, 42-37
• Romney wins Michigan
• McCain beats Huckabee in South Carolina; Romney wins Nevada as Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) comes in second. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) withdraws from race
• Clinton wins Nevada
• Clinton, Obama and Edwards engage in fierce debate in South Carolina as they argue who would be best to face off against McCain
• Ex-Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) bows out
• Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) drops out
• Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) endorse McCain
• Obama trounces Clinton in South Carolina
• Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) endorses Obama
• McCain defeats Romney in Florida
• Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) bows out
• Giuliani drops out; endorses McCain
• California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) backs McCain

February

• McCain is big winner on Super Tuesday, though Huckabee, surprisingly, wins a handful of Southern states
• Obama wins more states than Clinton on Super Tuesday while Clinton wins more delegates; Democratic race up for grabs
• Clinton confirms she loaned her campaign $5 million
• Clinton, Obama vote for Senate economic stimulus package that narrowly fails; McCain misses vote
• Romney drops out, subsequently endorses McCain
• Huckabee wins Kansas and Louisiana while McCain wins Washington
• Obama wins several states, including Kansas, Louisiana, Maine
• Obama and Clinton delegate counts about even
• Clinton changes her campaign manager
• Obama, McCain win Virginia, Maryland and D.C.; Obama now deemed front-runner in Democratic race
• Bush endorses McCain
• Some Republicans want Huckabee to drop out
• Obama accused of plagiarism after using lines in a speech from Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D), who is one of Obama’s top campaign advisers
• McCain, Obama easily win Wisconsin
• New York Times publishes a 3,000-word article mostly based on anonymous sources that suggests McCain had an affair with a lobbyist eight years ago; story is widely panned
• Obama wins his 11th straight contest
• Clinton campaign says it can win race by winning Ohio and Texas on March 4; dispute over role of superdelegates intensifies
• Clinton leads in Ohio polls by single digits while Texas is a dead heat
• Old Associated Press photo of Obama wearing Somali tribal dress over his clothes emerges on the Internet; Clinton denies involvement in leaking of photo
• Dodd endorses Obama

Andrea Alford, Jessica Malmgren and Daniel Hayner contributed to this report.

Looking for previous highlights?  Check out October 2006 through October 2007 .