Great, Another Guy with a Year-End Award Post

And yes, that guy is me. Some random thoughts on the good and the bad of 2005:

Best Move of 2005: John Roberts appointment as Chief Justice
With the passing of William Rehnquist, President Bush was provided with an opportunity to nominate somebody who would effectively administer the Court for a long time to come. Roberts was the perfect selection. He embodied the temperament needed to be Chief, and simultaneously was already well known by the time of his appointment. The President could not have made a better choice, and he was rewarded with a decisive confirmation process.

Worst Move of 2005(2 of 2): Harriet Miers nomination to the Supreme Court
Months later, I still cannot explain how the thought process behind this nomination. It was an embarrassment to the administration, and put the Republican base squarely at odds with the administration. It caused a lot self-inflicted problems for the President and his administration.

Worst Move of 2005(2 of 2): Rafael Palmeiro's testimony to Congress on March 17th.
No player had farther to fall than Palmeiro after his testimony. When Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa gave vague non-answers to the committee, Palmeiro steadfastly denied any involvement. And then in August, the walls came tumbling down. Now, he is just another 39-year old free-agent with a load of baggage.

Strangest Move: Martin O'Malley thanking MD4BUSH
While noting that the entire MD4BUSH is a bizarre saga in Maryland political history, I still cannot wrap my hands around the concept that Martin O'Malley thanked the individual who spread the long-standing rumors about his personal life. Why did O'Malley thank him? I think it has less to do with exposing the Ehrlich Administration, as O'Malley says, and more to do with the potential political benefit to his campaign. What is even more bizarre is that as the saga goes on, it looks more and more life a Democratic operative was behind MD4BUSH. Are they connected to the O'Malley camp? I can only imagine the ways this could backfire for the O'Malley camp.

Luckiest Retired Athlete: Jim Rice
Jim Rice had a very good career for the Red Sox. Just look at his numbers. Problem was those numbers for years had been overshadowed in the minds of Hall of Fame voters by the home-run era. With all steroids now fresh in the minds of voters, and a week class of first-year eligibles, Jim Rice may finally make the Hall of Fame.

Biggest Jumble: The 3rd Congressional District
The 3rd District gets the nod over the Democratic Senate primary because in that race there are two frontrunners, and several other candidates trying to establish themselves. Here, there are currently ten candidates running or seriously considering a run for Congress in this Democratic primary alone. Andy Barth may have the name recognition, and Sen. Paula Hollinger may have enough experience and the political connections to lap the field, no candidate has an overwhelming advantage over the others at this point. With so many candidates, there is a good chance a battered and bruised Democrat could emerge on shaky ground in November. Now if only we could field a candidate on our side...

Guy I Feel Bad For 2005: Rick Neuheisel, Ravens Quarterbacks Coach
Rick Neuheisel has had one of the more unfortunate falls from grace as a coach in recent times. Head Coach at Colorado. Head Coach at Washington. Then came the gambling scandal, making him a pariah at the college level. He tried to get back into coaching, before agree to take the job as the Ravens Quarterbacks coach. With Jim Fassel, he was going to finally get the most from Kyle Boller. Despite the last two games, the jury is still out on his performance in that role. Additionally, he has been passed over for two college head coaching jobs, one at San Diego State, and the other at lowly Temple. Sure, the problems he found at Washington were his own doing, and it looks like he will keep his job with the Ravens. But these days, Neuheisel can't seem to catch a break.

Best Run Campaign(Local Division): Frederick Mayor Elect Jeff Holtzinger (R)
A campaign that must have done something right, if it was only not to be incumbent Mayor Jennifer Daugherty or Democratic primary winner and former Mayor Ron Young. His campaign was so much of being the anti-politician against Young that even he was amazed he won. Sometimes, simplicity wins out.

Best Run Campaign(National Division): Paul Hackett for Congress (D-OH)
Hackett did not win, but boy did he make a lot of noise about being an Iraq war veteran running as a Democrat. Ironically, for all of the fuss the left made about his candidacy, his public message was more along the lines of a Moderate Republican. And while he may have lost the race, he has managed to parlay his fame and his success into his current standing as a frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.

Worst Run Campaign(Local Division): George Kelley for Mayor of Annapolis(R)
What can I say that I have not already said? It should really be a bad sign for your campaign, though, when your consultants are busy jockeying for press clippings instead of trying to improve your standing.

Worst Run Campaign(National Divsion): Jerry Kilgore for Governor(R-VA)
Kilgore's entire strategy seemed to be "You Liked Mark Warner, and Tim Kaine is not Mark Warner." Amazingly, that blasé message seemed to work until Kilgore went for the knockout with his death penalty ads and, failed as I predicted. In a state like Virginia, Kilgore should have won easily. Kaine's views do seem to be out of touch with a large percentage of Virginia. The Kilgore people also knew that they had an extremely popular sitting Governor (Warner) to combat. So when they went heavy-handed with their negative spot it was doomed to fail. Combine that with a reticence to bring in President Bush to help with a tightening campaign until it was too late, and you have a situation where the Kilgore camp literally clutched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Best International Development: Free Elections in Iraq
Agree with the war, or disagree with the war, but I do not think anybody can argue that a freely elected government in an Arab nation is anything but a sign of progress.

Worst International Development: Vladimir Putin's "Reforms" in Russia
Unfortunately, this story does not get a lot of attention here in the United States. But Vladimir Putin has been slowly and surely reconstituting a Soviet-style state in ostensibly free Russia. More and more controls on the press. The trial and conviction of Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Further controls on political parties. New control over international NGO's. The resignation of Economic Minister Andrei Illarionov. And that says nothing of Putin's involvement in the Ukrainian Presidential Election and disagreements with the Ukrainian Government over gas pipelines. Russia is the largest nation in the world, has a wealth of untapped natural resources that particularly interest China, and has one of the two largest nuclear arsenals in the world. With the war on terror, we do need a Russia rockced by political instability, nor do we need a Russia that is belligerent towards Western Democracies.

Scandal of 2005 That Will Explode in 2006: If you think that you have heard a lot about the Jack Abramoff scandal now, just wait until Abramoff takes his plea deal. The fur is going to fly, famous names will be named, and a lot of people are going to find themselves on the business end of a federal investigation. Many members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle (don't be fooled by the media into thinking that this is only a Republican scandal) are going to be brought done by Abramoff. Ron Gunzburger thinks that this is the biggest Congressional scandal since ABSCAM, and he is probably right.

To those of you who have read in 2005, thank you. Keep an eye here in 2006!