Person 1: ...Or the Breck Girl. I mean he is pretty girlish. But, oh that Ann Coulter -- she always goes too far!

Then, Edwards made the mistake of compounding his error by having his wife call in to attack Coulter on Hardball. That's really the way to convince people that you're not as much of a wimp as they think you are -- by sending your sick wife out to fight your battles for you.

5) Fred Thompson's rejection of a Constitutional amendment to ban abortion: In the name of Federalism, Fred Thompson rejected a Constitutional amendment to ban abortion on Meet the Press.

At first glance, that might seem to be a minor matter since there is no chance of getting it passed any time soon -- but that was the very moment that the bottom started falling out of his campaign as more than a few social conservatives slowly began the migration from him to Huckabee.

4) John Edwards' $400 Haircut: Let me ask the same question a voter asked him on the campaign trail: "Senator, I was just wondering: since you're on this national poverty tour, how do you justify spending $400 on a haircut?"

Of course, you don't and that has summed up the silliness of John Edwards' campaign. He's a pampered, super wealthy lawyer who has built a whole campaign around being a supposed champion of little girls who can't afford a $10 coat at Wal-Mart. It sounds fake, it is fake and people know it's fake.

3) John McCain supports the Senate amnesty bill: At one point, John McCain was considered the front runner for the GOP nomination, but his support for the incredibly unpopular "amnesty" bill in Congress did so much damage to his campaign's poll numbers and fundraising that many political analysts wrote his campaign off for dead.

Since then, because of the weakness of the field, he has been able to climb back into contention, but his continued support for amnesty is like a 45 pound barbell tied to his back. If he doesn't get the nomination, it'll be because of his support of amnesty. If he does get the nomination and goes on to lose in the general election, it'll be because of amnesty. In other words, the biggest hurdle standing between John McCain and the White House isn't his Republican or Democratic opponents, it's his desire to make 12 million fence-jumping, social-security-number-swindling scofflaws into American citizens over the fervent protestations of most members of his own party.

2) Fred Thompson gets in the race late: For months and months, Fred Thompson sat on the sidelines writing columns and doing radio appearances as his poll numbers went up. He thought, with some justification, that there wasn't much of a reason to officially declare his candidacy when he was becoming more popular without getting in the race.

However, on the other hand, while Fred was waiting, the conservative media was picking other candidates to back, top talent was signing on with other campaigns, his supporters were starting to get impatient, and expectations were building to super human heights.

Then, when Fred finally jumped in the race in September of this year, he was mercilessly savaged while he -- and his campaign -- got up to speed under a microscope.

Had he gotten in earlier, say in July of this year, there wouldn't have been as much scrutiny during that first month and he would also have probably raised more money than any other candidate in the third quarter, which would have given him much needed cash and a sign that his campaign was "for real."

As of yet, Thompson's campaign still hasn't recovered from the poor first impression that he made because he got in the race so late. That could turn out to be the difference between Fred Thompson, the GOP nominee -- and Fred Thompson, the guy who was out of the race by the middle of January.

1) Hillary's drivers' licenses for illegals flap: The wicked witch of New York was cruising along, looking inevitable, when she mangled a question about drivers' licenses for illegal aliens in what was probably the single worst debate performance for a top tier candidate this year.

After that horrific performance, Obama started rising in the polls while Hillary's campaign started making unforced errors and playing dirty. If Hillary Clinton doesn't capture the nomination, that botched debate question will be the key moment that led to her defeat and even if she does become the Democratic nominee, the aftermath of that controversy has revealed to the GOP how fragile Hillary Clinton really is when she's challenged.