The Road to Denver
By Mark Halperin
2004
JULY 27 Obama enters the national collective consciousness with a stirring keynote speech at the Democrats' national convention in Boston
NOV. 2 Obama wins his U.S. Senate seat, resolves to keep his head down and learn the ropes
2006 OCT. 23
2007 JAN. 20 Hillary Clinton announces her candidacy via Internet video, declaring, "I'm in. And I'm in to win." (She was half right)
FEB. 10 Obama launches his presidential bid in Springfield, Ill.; 15,000 brave the cold. He likens himself to Lincoln and sells some hope
JUNE 13 A lip-synching Amber Lee Ettinger--a.k.a. Obama Girl--goes on YouTube to declare the most famous crush in modern political history
OCT. 30 Clinton flubs a question about driver's licenses for illegal aliens in a debate in Philadelphia. The beginning of the end of her inevitability
NOV. 10 Obama's closing speech at Iowa's Jefferson Jackson dinner blows away the field
DEC. 14 Bill Clinton tells Charlie Rose that voting for Obama would require a "roll [of] the dice"--the first of a series of remarks that turn the Clinton-Obama contest into a two-on-one battle
2008
JAN. 3 Obama wins the Iowa caucuses. John Edwards comes in second, Clinton third
JAN. 7 A stressed, vulnerable Clinton tears up at a New Hampshire diner; the media are suspicious, but voters seem sympathetic
JAN. 8 Clinton wins the New Hampshire primary
JAN. 26 As Obama wins the South Carolina primary, Bill Clinton compares him to Jesse Jackson, a remark seen by some as an effort to diminish his victory
JAN. 28 Ted Kennedy gives Obama the most important endorsement of the whole campaign
FEB. 5 Super Tuesday: Obama and Clinton basically tie, settling nothing
FEB. 9 Obama takes contests in Louisiana, the Virgin Islands, Nebraska and Washington, beginning a monthlong winning streak
MARCH 4 Clinton fights back from political death--again--by winning the Texas and Ohio primaries
MARCH 18 After his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, becomes the most controversial preacher in America, Obama delivers an impressive speech on race in Philadelphia
APRIL 6 Obama gives a speech to a group of rich people in San Francisco about the bitter, gun-toting, clingy people of Pennsylvania
APRIL 22 Clinton wins the Pennsylvania primary after weeks of public drinking and playing blue-collar house
APRIL 29 Obama severs ties with Wright "unequivocally" after the reverend's incendiary National Press Club appearance
MAY 6 Clinton wins the Indiana primary, but it's too late; Obama's victory in North Carolina effectively locks up the nomination
MAY 14 The day after Clinton wallops Obama in the West Virginia primary, Edwards endorses him at a surprise rally in Grand Rapids, Mich. Obama effectively locks up the nomination (again)
JUNE 3 Clinton wins South Dakota, while Obama wins Montana. The fist-bumping Obamas appear at a huge rally in St. Paul, Minn., to claim the nomination, but Clinton does not concede
JUNE 7 Clinton at last ends her campaign with a speech at the National Building Museum in Washington
AUG. 25-28 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION
Obama's Moment Read Mark Halperin every day on thepage.time.com
With reporting by Randy James, Katie Rooney