Campaign 2012 - A Timetable Major milestones in the battle for the Presidency.
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Date	Event
5-14-12	Announcement	Congressman Ron Paul announced that he will no long spend any money in pursuit of the Republican presidential nomination - effectively ending his campaign.  He did say, however, that he will continue to seek delegates so his voice will be heard at the GOP convention in the summer.
5-8-12	Same-sex marriage, an endorsement and the defeat of an Indiana icon.	President Barack Obama announces that he favors same-sex marriage, just two days after Vice President Joe Biden "outed" the administration on the topic during a Meet The Press interview. Presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney opposes same-sex marriage.  Ironically, this came on the same day North Carolina voters passed a state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union between men and women.  Charlotte, North Carolina, will be the host city of the Democratic National Convention. Romney, now virtually uncontested for the nomination, is only 324 delegates away from clinching it. Rick Santorum e-mailed his supporters overnight and endorsed Romney for president. It's another Santorum endorsement that makes news, as a Santorum-backed Tea Party candidate Richard Mourdock defeats moderate U.S. Senator Richard Lugar in the Indiana Republican Senate Primary.
4-25-12	Announcements	Newt Gingrich indicates that he will suspend his presidential campaign one day after Mitt Romney rolled to easy victories in five states.  Gingrich also indicates that he will eventually endorse Romney.  In his victory speech, Romney hit President Obama with the James Carville's famous line from Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign. “It’s still about the economy, and we’re not stupid,” Romney said. Texas Governor Rick Perry, who backed Gingrich after he ended his own presidential bid, announced that he would endorse Romney.
4-10-12	Announcement	Rick Santorum announced that he is suspending his campaign for the presidency, effectively closing out the GOP primary season and cementing Mitt Romney's status as his party's presumptive nominee. Newt Gingrich remains in the race, but has acknowledged that Romney is the likely nominee. Ron Paul also is still a candidate, but is said to be assessing his situation. The former Pennsylvania senator's decision comes days after Santorum's youngest daughter, Bella, was hospitalized with a chronic and serious medical condition. Santorum's team said last night that Bella had been released from the hospital and Santorum was set to resume his campaign schedule. But in Gettysburg, Santorum said his family had conferred over the weekend and concluded it was time to bring his White House bid to a close. Santorum had fallen behind in Pennsylvania polls - leaving some to suggest he feared that a loss in the upcoming primary would effectively end his political career. (Story details via Politico)
4-3-12	Maryland, DC & Wisconsin Primaries	Barack Obama officially claims the Democratic nomination - no surprise since he is unopposed.  On the Republican side, Mitt Romney moved closer to the nomination with a sweep of of the evening's three primaries.  Rick Santorum told supporters in his native Pennsylvania that the state's upcoming primary will be the start of a "strong second half."
3-24-12	Louisiana Primary	Rick Santorum easily beats Mitt Romney, but doesn't significantly change the electoral math in which Romney has more than twice the number of delegates than all challengers combined. Newt Gingrich finishes a disappointing third, casting further doubt on the viability of his candidacy.
3-20-12	Illinois Primary	Mitt Romney easy beats Rick Santorum after trailing him in state polls just two weeks earlier.  A series of Santorum gaffes, including a statement that he "doesn't care about unemployment figures," and Romney seven-to-one advantage in campaign spending was the key to the former Massachusetts governor's victory.
3-18-12	Puerto Rico Primary	Mitt Romney completes his sweep of the U.S. territories, claiming more than 80 percent of the vote and all of the island's 20 delegates.
3-13-12	Alabama and Mississippi Primaries & Hawaii caucuses	A big night for Rick Santorum, who won by a comfortable margin in Alabama and narrowly won a three-way race against Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich in Mississippi.  Romney had hoped to win and Gingrich needed at least one win in his home region.  Despite calls from conservatives that he bow out of the race, Gingrich vowed to continue his fight for the nomination all the way to the convention. Romney's night was salvaged with a win in Hawaii. Romney still has more than delegates that his three challengers combined, 462-380. Candidates need 1,144 delegates to win the nomination.
3-10-12	Kansas, Wyoming, Guam and the Mariana Island caucuses	A split decision, as Rick Santorum easily wins in Kansas and Mitt Romney easily wins in Wyoming and in the two territorial caucuses.
3-6-12	Super Tuesday	With wins in six of the 10 contested states, Mitt Romney was Super Tuesday's biggest winner. In addition to the day's biggest prize, Ohio, Romney won his home state of Massachusetts, as well as Alaska, Idaho, Vermont and Virginia. Rick Santorum, who finished a close second in Ohio, won in North Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Newt Gingrich's only victory came in his home state of Georgia. Ron Paul, who many thought had a chance to pick of his first victory of the campaign, failed to win any states. Romney has garnered 364 of the 1,144 delegates he needs to win the nomination. Santorum has 164, Gingrich 103, Paul 53, and the long-departed Jon Huntsman has 2.
3-3-12	Washington State Caucuses	Mitt Romney heads toward the crucial Super Tuesday primaries on a four-state winning streak.  The former Massachusetts governor easily outdistanced former Representative Ron Paul 37.6 percent to 24.8 percent. Rick Santorum finished a disappointing third at 23.8 percent. Newt Gingrich finished last at 10.3 percent.
2-28-12	Michigan and Arizona primaries	Mitt Romney has his biggest night of the primary season to date, winning both the Michigan and Arizona primaries.  Rick Santorum had threatened to upset Romney in his native Michigan, but may have shot himself in the foot by focusing more on social issues and abandoning his economic platform. Santorum also drew criticism for a last-minute series of robo-calls urging Democrats to vote in the Republican primary. Those calls criticized Romney's opposition to President Barack Obama's auto industry bailout -- something Santorum also opposed. Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul did not seriously contest either state -- and vow to contest the March 6 "Super Tuesday" primaries.
2-11-12	Maine Caucuses & CPAC Convention	Mitt Romney rebounds with a victory in the Maine caucuses, outdistancing Ron Paul, who had heavily campaigned in the state. Romney also won a straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference. It was a stinging setback for Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, who were vying to be the conservative standard bearer.
2-7-12	Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado Primary/caucuses; Obama fund raising flip-flop	Rick Santorum pulled off a stunning three-state sweep. He was an easy winner in the non-binding Missouri primary with 55 percent of the vote.  Mitt Romney finished a distant second at 25 percent. Romney did not campaign in the state.  Santorum also won the Minnesota caucuses 45-27 percent over second-place finisher Ron Paul.  Romney finished third in Minnesota with 17 percent. In Colorado, Santorum beat Romney 40-35 percent. The biggest loser was Newt Gingrich, whose third-place showing in Colorado (13 percent) was his best showing of the night. Also on this date, Barack Obama abandoned an earlier pledge and encouraged donors to raise funds for a Democratic super PAC supporting the president. Obama had been critical of campaign financing laws, in particular a Supreme Court ruling that allowed the creation of super PACs. He had kept his distance from the group, Priorities USA Action.
2-4-12	Nevada caucuses	Mitt Romney easily beat Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul to further cement his front-runner status.  As was the case in Florida, Romney's vote surpassed that of  Gingrich and Paul combined. Rick Santorum continued to trail the pack. Gingrich wasn't competitive in Nevada, while Paul focused on the state's rural voters.
1-31-12	Florida Primary	Mitt Romney easily outdistanced the field to win the Florida primary, equaling the vote totals of his two nearest conservative rivals, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. Romney spent more than $16 million in a nasty campaign blitz that called Gingrich's electability into question.  Exit polls say the ploy worked - Romney won twice as many "electability" voters than the former House Speaker.All of the candidates, including distant fourth-place finisher Ron Paul pledged to continue to fight for the nomination.
1-21-02	South Carolina Primary	Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich wins the South Carolina primary with 40 percent of the vote, versus 28 percent for Mitt Romney, 17 percent for Rick Santorum and 13 percent for Ron Paul. Gingrich won despite an ABC-TV interview by his second wife in which she detailed the former speaker's infidelity. Gingrich turned the story into a protest against media bias - something that apparently helped win the sympathy of conservative voters.
1-19-12	Iowa Reversal & Announcement	An official recount of the Iowa caucus vote reverses the caucus-night decision: Rick Santorum defeated Mitt Romney by 34 votes. Also, Texas Governor Rick Perry suspended his campaign and endorsed Newt Gingrich.
1-16-02	Announcement	Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman suspends his campaign, endorses Mitt Romney and calls for party unity.
1-10-12	New Hampshire Primary	Mitt Romney easily wins with 39.4 percent of the vote.  Ron Paul is second with 22.8 percent, followed by Jon Huntsman at 16.8 percent.  Newt Gingrich, at 9.4 percent, and Rick Santorum, at 9.3 percent, had disappointing showings. Rick Perry, who skipped New Hampshire, picked up seven-tenths of one percent. All of the candidates vow to compete in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, January 21.
1-4-12	Announcement	Michele Bachman suspends her campaign.
1-3-12	Iowa Caucuses	Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum end in a virtual dead-heat, each with 25 percent of the votes.  Romney's margin of victory was a mere eight votes - the closest primary/caucus result in American history. Ron Paul comes in a strong third with 21 percent, followed by Newt Gingrich (13 percent), Rick Perry (10 percent), Michele Bachman (5 percent) and Jon Huntsman (1 percent). Perry, once the front runner, decided to skip New Hampshire's primary and focus on South Carolina. (See 1-19-12)
12-3-11	Announcement	Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain announced that he is suspending his presidential campaign. Cain's candidacy was damaged by allegations of sexual harassment and an alleged 13-year extramarital affair. He introduced his "Plan B" -- "continue to be a voice for the people" -- as he announced a new website, TheCainSolutions.com.
11-9-11	CNBC GOP Presidential Debate	Texas Governor Rick Perry severely damages his own campaign with a gaffe observers say is the worst in presidential debate history. Perry said that, if elected, he would eliminate three cabinet level departments.  After citing the first two (Commerce and Education), he couldn't remember the third (Energy).  After 53 agonizing seconds of fumbling around, the Texas governor was reduced to saying "oops." Perry immediately went into damage control mode, going into the media room after the debate an admitting that he had "stepped in it."
11-7-11	Cain Sexual Harassment Controversy	A fourth woman, Sharon Bialek, comes out to accuse Herman Cain of sexual harassment, and she is the first to give her name and to tell her story in detail. According to the International Business Times, "Bialek, a registered Republican who worked at the Education Foundation of the National Restaurant Association for nine years before losing her job in 1997, said she greatly admired Cain when she first met him at a restaurant association convention in Chicago in 1997. When she lost her job a month later, she asked Cain for help finding another job with the organization. She says they met for dinner in Washington, D.C., and he drove her to the National Restaurant Association headquarters before reaching up her skirt, trying to touch her genitalia, and pulling her head toward his crotch. She says that when she told him to stop, he said, "You want a job, right?""
10-30-11	Politico report	Politico reports that two women who worked at the National Restaurant Association while it was headed by Herman Cain in the 1990s had complained about sexually suggestive behavior by Cain and had received payments when they left the organization. Cain called the allegations of sexual harassment “totally false.” He verifies that one woman made such a claim and that the group paid her a financial settlement. A third woman tells the Associated Press two days later that she had experienced unwanted “sexually suggestive remarks or gestures” from Cain when he headed the restaurant association. She told the news service that she had considered filing a workplace complaint.
10/12/11	NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll	Presidential hopeful Herman Cain jumped to the top of the Republican field an NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll. Cain took first choice among 27% of Republican voters, while former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney followed behind at 23%. Previous front-runner Texas Gov. Rick Perry fell to third place in with 16% of the vote. Behind the top three, Texas Rep. Ron Paul came in at 11%, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 8%, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann at 5%, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman at 3% and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum at 1%. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.35 percentage points.
10/11/11	Endorsement	New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who resisted calls that he run for president, endorses the candidacy of Mitt Romney.
10/5/11	Announcement	Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin ends months of speculation by announcing that she will not run for the presidency in 2012.
9/24/11	Florida Straw Poll	Business executive Herman Cain stuns Texas Gov. Rick Perry in a Florida GOP straw poll, 37% to only 15 percent. Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, who did not compete in the straw poll, was third with 14%.
9/8/11	Joint Session of Congress	President Barack Obama urges Congress to pass his $447 billion American Jobs Act.  The president had originally wanted to give the speech one night earlier, but Republicans balked because of the conflict with the previously scheduled Reagan Library debate. The president gave his speech an hour earlier than usual to avoid a conflict with the opening of the National Football League season.
9/7/11	NBC/Politico GOP Presidential Debate	In his first debate as candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry refers to Social Security as a "Ponzi scheme." Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney rebukes Perry, noting that millions of senior citizens consider it a successful program. Pundits say former Ambassador Jon Huntsman had his strongest debate performance, and Rep. Michele Bachman had her weakest.
9/5/11	Labor Day (Traditional campaign kickoff date)	Headling into the fall pre-primary campaign season, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has a substantial lead in the polls over former front-runner Mitt Romney. Perry holds an eight-point lead over Romney in the Fix News Poll, six points in the Quinnipace University Poll, nine points in the Gallup Poll, and 13 points in the CNN/ORD poll. President Obama has a 42% approval rating in the Gallup Poll, up from a low of 38% in August 2011. According to the latest Gallup Poll (August 17), Romney leads Obama 48%-46% in a head-to-head match-up. Obama and Perry are tied at 47%. Obama leads  Rep. Ron Paul 47%-45% and Rep. Michele Bachman 48%-44% in head-to-head match-ups.
8/13/11	Iowa GOP Straw Poll	Rep. Michele Bachman (Minn.) wins, Rep. Ron Paul (Texas) second, Former Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty finished a distant third, drops out of the race. Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, considered the front-runner, didn't campaign and finished seventh. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who announced his candidacy on the same day in South Carolina, finished sixth as a write-in candidate.
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