Politics

1 of 27

Next Photo

(Peter Foley / EPA)

Email

1.	Republican pundits open fire on Sarah Palin
2.	Indiana prison escape: Officials hunting for 3 inmates
3.	The end of Obamania
4.	Activists push ballot initiative to end state benefits for illegal immigrants and their U.S.-born children
5.	Clamor grows over CIA secrets

Thursday: The day in photos

Running with the bulls in Pamplona

Remembering Michael Jackson

Military operation in Afghanistan's Helmand province

Fans mourn Michael Jackson

Best and worst: Presidential campaign 2008

By Patrick Kevin Day, Joseph A. Kapsch, Stephanie Lysaght, Todd Martens, Denise Martin and Jevon Phillips, Times Staff Writers

The presidential campaign sure has been a long, strange trip full of lots of highs and lows. It's almost hard to fathom that just months ago most Americans had never even heard the name “Sarah Palin.”

And Palin is hardly the only overnight phenom to emerge from this race to the White House. The cast of characters includes Gayle Quinnell, a.k.a. "crazy McCain lady"; Samuel "Joe" Wurzelbacher, a.k.a. Joe the Plumber; and many more.

In this retrospective, we take a look back at some of the best speeches, worst gaffes and biggest shockers of this election season.