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on the right are still circumspect when it comes to the GOP front-runner, although the former New York City mayor has withdrawn from the race.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.

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 .