Images from the Republican presidential nominee's long and unpredictable road to Election Day.

John McCain announced his second campaign for the presidency on Feb. 28, 2007. Ever since, it's been a wild ride. Over the past 18 months, the Arizona senator's campaign went from an enthusiastic launch to near bankruptcy in the summer of 2007. By the fall of 2007, McCain had returned from the political brink and was the presumptive front runner in the Republican race, only to lag behind in January's Iowa caucus. But he surged back into the lead with primary victories in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida. The campaign surprises continued when McCain chose the little-known Alaska governor, Sarah Palin, as his running mate in August. And then in September, he decided to suspend his campaign briefly and return to Washington, D.C., to deal with the financial crisis. Images from the McCain campaign's long journey from photographers Christopher Anderson and Khue Bui, on assignment for NEWSWEEK.