December 31, 2008 [LINK / comment]

Politics 2008: Year in Review

Most of us on the Right would just as soon forget the year, but we'll never improve unless we learn from our mistakes, so just like last year, here is my highly biased summary of the Top Ten big events in the world of politics this year:

1. Barack Obama's historic victory; GOP reaps what Bush sowed. (Nov. 5)
2. Mile-high hopes in "Dem-ver" -- Democratic convention (Aug. 28)
3. McCain-Palin: a winning team -- GOP convention (Aug. 29)
4. Wall Street Lays An Egg / Second thoughts about Palin (Sept. 16)
5. Primary fever in the Old Dominion; Mike Huckabee visits (Feb. 11)
6. Taetzsch wins in a landslide; I opt for discretion. (March 30)
7. Dr. Roller wins in a landslide (?); Kurt stages a "putsch." (Apr. 11)
8. GOP convention in Richmond; RPV picks Kurt Michael (June 2)
9. Democrat scandals -- Blagojevich, Spitzer, et al. (Dec. 19)
10. Mugabe clings to absolute power (Zimbabwe agonizes, May 2)

(Dates pertain to the blog post, usually a day or two after the actual event.) Aside from strictly news-oriented blog posts, I also wrote a number of analytical and interpretive pieces, including the following:

• Decision 2008: Foreign policy (Sept. 18)
• Dissecting Virginia's blue shift (Nov. 25)
• Cognitive dissonance in the GOP (Dec. 9)
• Offshore drilling: s-l-o-w fix (June 19)

In Memoriam

• William F. Buckley (Feb. 29)
• David Newsom (Apr. 6)
• Tim Russert (June 13)
• Tony Snow (July 12)

GOP Web sites

For the record, I have briefly summarized my past involvement with various Republican Party Web sites in a "science and technology" blog post today. "A word to the wise" is sufficient; more details to follow in the near future.