A total of 14 primaries and caucuses have been held in eight states since the U.S. race for presidential nomination kicked off on Jan. 3, and the number of contenders has reduced from 15 to seven in the past month.
The following are some key dates in the first month of the presidential race:
Jan. 3
-- The 2008 presidential race started with the first caucuses in Iowa.
-- Mainly supported by young voters, Barack Obama from Illinois won the Democratic caucuses, followed by former senator John Edwards of North Carolina. New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton surprisingly ended at the third place.
On Republic side, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee beat other rivals, thanks to overwhelming support by evangelical conservative voters, followed by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Arizona Senator John McCain.
-- Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Chris Dodd dropped out of the race after seeing their lame performance in the Iowa caucuses.
Jan. 5
-- Romney swept Wyoming Republican caucuses, which was virtually skipped by other candidates due to its limited influence.
Jan. 8
-- The first primary for the 2008 presidential nominees was held in New Hampshire.
-- The nation was shocked to see Clinton, who was ranked at the second place in the previous polls, exceeded Obama at the last moment, proving her prevalence among white female supporters. McCain prevailed again in the state where he has won a primary in 2000, a result from his experience in the national defense affairs and effective appeal to independent voters.
Jan. 10
-- Former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson who was vying to become the country's first Hispanic president quit the race for the Democratic nominee. Having served as the U.S. ambassador to U.N. and the energy secretary, he was considered a hopeful of State Secretary in the Democratic administration.
Jan. 15
-- Michigan staged its presidential primary.
-- The state lost all of their delegates to the Democratic nomination convention for violating the party's rule by moving forward the primary before Feb. 5. Republicans lost half of their delegates for the same reason.
-- In the comparatively irrelevant contest, Clinton and Romney build momentum with their victories.
Jan. 19
-- Both of two parties kicked off their first races in the west respectively with the Nevada caucuses. But most Republican candidates focused on the South Carolina primary, the party's first race in the South.
-- Latino voters helped Clinton gain the third victory in Nevada. In South Carolina where a large number of conservative voters have played decisive role all the time to Republican candidates, McCain, a moderate, surprisingly two conservative rivals, Romney and Huckabee, in its primary.
-- Duncan Hunter, Republican candidate and House Representative from California, left the race.
Jan. 22
-- The actor-to-politician Fred Thompson dropped out of the Republican race.
The former Tennessee Senator was the last one to join the game. He decided to terminate his bid for presidential candidacy after his lame performance in South Carolina primary, where he was expected to sweep conservative voters.
Jan. 25
-- Democratic candidate and House representative from Ohio Dennis Kucinich gave up his bid for candidacy after seeing no hope to reverse his status as the second-tier contenders.
He also failed to win the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination.
Jan. 26
-- For the second time in a month, South Carolina was put under spotlight when Democratic candidates competed for the presidential candidacy in the state.
-- As previous polls showed, Obama led Clinton by over 20 percentage points, with overwhelming support by black voters who account for more than half of the total. Edwards did not repeat his victory in 2004 in the state and his birthplace.
Jan. 29
-- Florida took its turn to hold primaries for two parties.
-- Although the number of delegates was reduced by half for moving primary date ahead of Feb. 5, Florida Republican primary was still vital to candidates because its "winner-take-all" rule. The race was irrelevant for Democratic candidates since all of state party's delegates were stripped.
-- McCain retained his lead in the Florida primary, closely followed by Romney. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has devoted most of his campaign fund and time in the state, ended at the third place. On Democratic side, Clinton was ranked as the top candidate in the state where female and Latinos take up a large share of Democratic voters, although she could not be rewarded with any delegate.
Jan. 30
-- Edwards stepped out of the race without saying which one of the rest candidates he would endorse.
-- Hours later, Giuliani announced in California that he would also quit the game and endorse his rival McCain.
Feb. 1
-- Boosted by the victory in the Maine Republican caucuses, Romney hoped he could continue the momentum to the Super Tuesday.
Feb. 5
-- On Super Tuesday, or national election day, a total of 24 states and American Samoa will hold primaries or caucuses.
-- Showed from the previous races, economy and Iraq are expected to remain priorities to voters of both parties. In particular, Democratic voters care more about healthcare and Republicans concern on immigration and security issues.
Source: Xinhua
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