November 3, 2008 A look back at the longest election in American history Play video

(Alison King, NECN) - As the presidential candidates make their final campaign stops, it is instructive to look back at the different roads they've traveled. In 2000 John McCain was the moderate, independent-minded republican who kicked off that primary with a surprise win in New Hampshire,

Only to find himself less than six weeks later, conceding the nomination to Texas governor George Bush...

Then heading back to the US Senate.

David King: For the first couple of years he was still a maverick...

But Harvard Kennedy school professor David King says a few years later, when McCain began thinking about another run for the white house, there was a conservative shift in his voting record.

David King: He needed to court the right wing of his party and he learned from the re-election of George Bush in 2004 that you can win with the base. The base wasn't going to be with John McCain so he had to go to the base.

But McCain’s 2008 bid came to a crashing halt in the summer of 2007 as his campaign went through a major shake up and nearly went broke.

David King: He was left for dead because he didn't have the money to run and he was going up against someone with huge resources in Governor Romney and someone with huge enthusiasm in Mike Huckabee. He was left absolutely out in the cold. 55:47

That fall from grace allowed McCain to return to his comfort zone: running as a scrappy underdog... And once again - he walked

From there King says the primary and caucus schedule worked perfectly to McCain’s advantage...

David King: After the Florida primary where he got all of the delegates from Florida that were available the money started pouring in and the endgame was there. 56:16

By late august, on the eve of the republican national convention -- McCain surprised many by choosing the little known conservative governor of Alaska -- Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate. Palin was a huge hit at the convention and helped galvanized the conservative base.

David King: That was a crucial failure, a crucial time in the race when Governor Palin was selected to solidify the base... A base that wasn't going to go anywhere else and John McCain lost the center.

All of this coincided with the economic crisis that hit in mid-September.

ELAINE KAMARCK: The minute this economy went south, Obama's lead in state after state after state moved from margin of error into a significant lead and he never looked back.

Harvard Kennedy school's Elaine Kamarck, a democrat, says Obama’s rise was not a surprise to those who have been following him since his widely acclaimed key note address at the 2004 democratic convention in Boston.

Elain Kamarck: From the beginning, he was perceived with a great deal of excitement. He had a rock star quality about him. BUT - people assumed at that point that Hillary Clinton had this thing locked up.

Early on Obama appealed to the liberal base by stressing his opposition to the Iraq war - that Clinton had supported. But, throughout 2007, Obama couldn't shrink Clinton's double digit lead in the polls until the Iowa caucuses when Obama pulled off a surprise win.

Elaine Kamarck: This was an African American who could win in an all white state and I think it had two effects. One was that it moved the African American vote, solidly into the Obama camp...And the second thing it did was it proved that Hillary was not a lock.

Thus began the longest primary in u-s history -- a roller coaster of a race that ended with Obama squeaking out a win. At the democratic convention in august, more than 70-thousand people filled a Denver stadium to see Obama accept the democratic nomination.

Since then, Obama - who reversed his campaign finance position and opted out of public funds -- has raised record shattering amounts of money and drawn tens of thousands of people to his events. And according to many polls, a transformation may have occurred among many voters -- once skeptical of Obama’s race or inexperience -- who now see him as someone who's qualified to be president. Still both John McCain and Barack Obama say they aren't paying attention to the polls. McCain has defied long odds in the past and his campaign says they see a clear path to victory. For Obama there is caution against over-confidence or complacency. One thing -is- sure - the longest presidential election in American history is almost over.