GOP primary campaign 2012: Moments

Less than a full day after a disappointing third-place finish in the Iowa straw poll, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced he was leaving the campaign. He came in well behind winner Rep. Michele Bachmann and close second-place finisher Rep. Ron Paul.  (Charles Dharapak / Associated Press)

Sharing a debate stage for the first time, Rick Perry, right, and Mitt Romney sparred in a series of testy exchanges over jobs, Social Security and the proper tone of a candidate who presumes to lead the country. The session at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley was the first to include the Texas governor, who supplanted Romney as the presumptive GOP front-runner, and was the focal point throughout most of the evening -- though not always happily. At one point, the oft-targeted Perry compared himself to a piñata.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

A gay soldier’s question about the end of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy elicited boos from the audience at the GOP debate, and a promise from Rick Santorum to reinstate the policy if elected. In a video submission, Stephen Hill told the Republican presidential candidates that he “had to lie about who he was” when he was deployed to Iraq in 2010 because of his sexual orientation, and feared that he would “lose my job.”  (Fox News / YouTube)

Sarah Palin confirmed in October what many had expected: She would not seek the Republican nomination for president in 2012. The decision ended months of speculation about Palin’s intentions, during which time she teased the media and potential supporters with the prospect of a bid. She mounted bus tours in the Northeast and in Iowa and gave speeches at political events.  (Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images)

And just like that, all of Rick Perry‘s past debate struggles were forgotten. But only because he had topped them all, and then some. The Texas governor began talking about his tax plan, and how he’d reduce government regulations as president. It unfolded like this:

“It’s three agencies of government when I get there that are gone: Commerce, Education and -- the, uh -- what’s the third one there? Let’s see ...” Perry said.

Take two.

“Commerce, Education, and -- uh. The, uh ...”

Mitt Romney tried to assist. “EPA?”

“EPA! There you go,” Perry said, laughing (at least on the outside).

Moderator John Harwood pressed Perry: Was it really the EPA he was looking for?

“No, sir. No, sir.”

Take three.

“I would do away with Education. The, uh, Commerce. And let’s see. I can’t. The third one, I can’t,” he said.

“Oops.”  (Jeff Kowalsky / EPA)

In the closest finish in the history of the Iowa caucuses, Mitt Romney, right, edged out Rick Santorum by eight votes in the first battle for the Republican presidential nomination in early January. Sixteen days later, a final Iowa vote count gave Santorum a 34-vote edge.  (Stepe Pope / EPA; Tannen Maury / EPA)

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, the only woman in the field of GOP presidential candidates, dropped out of the race a day after finishing sixth in the Iowa caucuses. Above, she makes her announcement with her husband, Marcus, at her side.  (Scott Olson / Getty Images)

Mitt Romney rolled to a convincing victory in the New Hampshire primary. Granted, the primary amounted to a home game for Romney. He owns a house in New Hampshire and was governor of neighboring Massachusetts for four years. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas was a solid second and Jon Huntsman Jr. was a weak third, with barely half of Romney’s share of the vote. Photos  (Elise Amendola / Associated Press)

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who parachuted into the 2012 Republican presidential contest on a surge of upbeat expectations, exited the contest in January, two days before a South Carolina primary in which he was trailing far behind the leaders.  (Allison Joyce / Getty Images)

Stephen Colbert, fake conservative, cable TV personality, and the most famous Charlestonian since that guy from Hootie and the Blowfish, returned to South Carolina to make a little mischief before the state’s Republican primary in January. And, he brought a friend. Herman Cain, the GOP presidential candidate who dropped out of the race in December amid accusations of sexual harassment. Cain sang gospel and made corny references to his 9-9-9 tax plan during the Colbert-sponsored send-up of a political rally at the College of Charleston.  (Richard Ellis / Getty Images)

Asked about his ex-wife’s claim that he wanted an open marriage, Newt Gingrich theatrically responded with a blistering critique of CNN‘s John King (who had asked the question), the network and the media in general. “I am appalled you would begin a presidential debate with a topic like this,” Gingrich said. “I am tired of the elite media protecting Barack Obama by attacking Republicans”  (David Goldman / Associated Press)

Newt Gingrich surged to victory in the South Carolina primary, riding a pair of strong debate performances to overtake Mitt Romney and stop his seemingly relentless march to the GOP nomination. Romney finished more than 10 percentage points behind the former House speaker, with Rick Santorum and Ron Paul a distant third and fourth, respectively.   (Erik S. Lesser / EPA)

Mitt Romney rode one of the most negative primary campaigns in modern presidential politics to a landslide victory in delegate-rich Florida, but the Republican contest is likely to rumble on for weeks. Romney buried Newt Gingrich under a merciless fusillade of attack ads. By various estimates, Romney and his allies outspent the Gingrich forces by a lopsided margin of — about 5 to 1 — and virtually every Romney ad in the last week of the campaign was harshly negative.  (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

Mitt Romney spent years cultivating voters in Nevada and his efforts paid off with a commanding victory that not only pushed him closer to the GOP presidential nomination but laid a strong marker in a state that both parties will fight to carry in November.  (Julie Jacobson / Associated Press)

Rick Santorum speaks in St. Charles, Mo., on a night that he won a primary in Missouri and caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado, poking holes in Mitt Romney’s aura of inevitability.  (Jeff Roberson / Associated Press)

Despite a good showing on Super Tuesday -- winning Virginia, Vermont, Ohio and Massachusetts -- Mitt Romney did not put the race away by any means. Rick Santorum also had a good Super Tuesday, spiced by victories in Tennessee and Oklahoma and a surprise win in North Dakota. Newt Gingrich won Georgia. Above, Santorum attends a rally in Ohio, where he narrowly lost to Romney.  (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

“Well, I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign,” Mitt Romney campaign aide Eric Fehrnstrom said the day after Romney’s victory in Illinois. “Everything changes. It’s almost like an Etch-A-Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and we start all over again.” And afterward, everything did change, with the Etch-A-Sketch comparisons taking over the campaign trail.   (Steven Senne / Associated Press)

In a somber news conference in Gettysburg, Pa., Rick Santorum said he was suspending his presidential campaign. “While this presidential race is over for us, for me…we are not done fighting,” Santorum said. “We are going to continue to fight for those voices…. There’s a lot of greatness, a lot of greatness in this country.” Santorum was considered the only remaining GOP candidate who potentially could prevent Mitt Romney from winning the 1,144 delegates needed to secure the GOP nomination.  (Jeff Swensen / Getty Images)

The tenure of an openly gay spokesman for Mitt Romney‘s campaign lasted less than two weeks. On April 19, Romney’’s campaign announced it had hired Richard Grenell, 45, as its foreign policy spokesman. On May 1, Grenell tendered his resignation, citing a “hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues that sometimes comes from being on a presidential campaign.” Grenell, an unabashed supporter of gay marriage who has a longtime partner, was attacked by evangelical Christian conservatives who, like Romney, oppose gay marriage. They said Romney was compromising himself on the issue by hiring Grenell. Story  (Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)