by Matt Barr

2005 politics in review

The McLaughlin Group last week highlighted its panelists' "award winners" for 2005. I found a rundown of picks from Hotline on Nexis, and some of them aren't in the linked transcript, which is odd. So some of the below you won't see if you click through. Anyway, here are my picks in their same categories.

Biggest Winner: I say John Roberts, agreeing with Pat Buchanan. (Tony Blankley, noting he hopes he's 2006's biggest loser, said al-Zarqawi, which is just creepy. I wonder if he picked bin Laden in 2001.)

Biggest Loser: I suppose I could needlessly spin people up and say Terri Schiavo -- McLaughlin actually picked Tookie Williams -- but I'll say Ohio Republicans as a group. Add up the beatings Bob "Bob" Taft, George Voinovich, Mike DeWine and Jean Schmidt took and I'll put them up against any one of the panel's picks -- Chirac and Schroeder, Harriet Miers, Tom DeLay, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Even the Party's presumptive gubernatorial successor, Attorney General Jim Petro, had a lousy year.

Destined for Political Stardom: Remarkably, not one panelist picked Barack Obama. I'm going to go out on a limb and say Benedict XVI.

Destined for Political Oblivion: I can't conceive of a future with Mitt Romney in it. Lawrence O'Donnell seemed to get Jeanine Pirro right (the show was taped Dec. 15).

Best Political Theater: Tom DeLay's mug shot. Most unintentionally entertaining political theater: George Voinovich's rendition (am I allowed to use that word, Sen. McCain?) of Tears of a Clown.

Worst Political Theater: Occurred very early in the year, and I'm surprised no one mentioned it. It was Sen. Frist telling a photographer to "get some devastation in the back" as he was being shot on a tour of tsunami-wracked areas.

Worst Political Scandal: They seem to mean "worst scandal" as "really bad thing," not "phoniest, most made-up scandal," which is good, because otherwise there would be entirely too many legitimate candidates. Oil for Food.

Most Under Reported Story: McLaughlin actually, swear to God, said "The declining morale of the front-line combat troops in Iraq." I think Buchanan was close with the economy, but I'm surprised how little attention Ben Bernanke's ascension to the Fed chair got.

Most Over Reported Story: Lots of good picks from the panel, Natalee Holloway, Michael Jackson, bird flu, but I think the runaway winner is Cindy Sheehan Across America.

Most Defining Political Moment: Brownie doing a heckuva job. Really encapsulated the atrophy that set in in the administration this year, and foreshadowed Harriet Miers. Eleanor Clift and Lawrence O'Donnell both picked Katrina-related moments. I think Buchanan might be proven most right, though: He said the Paris riots and the London bombings, the "war of civilizations comes to Europe."

Bummest Rap: I'm attracted to the choice of both Blankley and O'Donnell, that President Bush got the bummest rap for allegations he lied about WMDs in Iraq, but the President ought to expect a lot of heat. I think the person upon whom was heaped the most undeserved scorn was Harriet Miers. She should never have been put in the position she was. To the extent critics of the nomination were denounced as elitists, they didn't get off easily either.

Fairest Rap: John Kerry was excoriated for promising to release his military records -- unbelievably, he refused during the campaign -- and then dragging his heels for months. Then he released them only to a friendly hometown paper or two, and won't make them public. He deserved even more scorn than he got over that nonsense.

Best Comeback: I think the fact Howard Dean still has a high-profile role in the Democratic party is remarkable.

Enough, Already: It looks like they're after a person, here, sort of the opposite of best comeback. Though McLaughlin said Desperate Housewives. I'll say Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame. We should have stopped talking about them two years ago.

Boldest Political Tactic: It's hard to argue with Buchanan and McLaughlin's pick of Ariel Sharon's whole year.

Best Idea: Looking at the panel's choices -- making the Narnia movie, appointing Peter Pace as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs -- I don't know how deep I'm supposed to get, here. I'll go dark a little and say the best idea that occurred to a lot of people in 2005 is that relying on government to keep you safe and rescue you from a natural disaster is... imprudent.

Worst Idea: I think George Pataki is still considering running for President as of this writing.

Sorry To See You Go: It would be selfish to say John Paul II, who welcomed suffering and death and who I've no doubt is delighted to be where he is. In fact, I won't say anyone who died, I'll say my favorite ballplayer, Frank Thomas' falling out with and exit from the White Sox, not even sharing in their first World Series win in a bazillion years after all he meant to the team.

Fifteen Minutes of Fame: The panel covered all the good ones -- Cindy Sheehan, Mark Felt, Michael Brown -- so I'll just add this Farris Hassan person.

Turncoat of the Year: What kind of a political climate do we live in where Eleanor Clift can say Joe Lieberman? At the risk of Stifling Dissent, I'll say the NSA "whistleblowers."

Most Honest Person: Can I say Lieberman?

Most Overrated: McLaughlin took some heat, quite deservedly so, for picking "the threat of radical Islam." The most overrated thing you could think of? Really? On the theory that if you're regarded as a "kingmaker" your candidates should have won at least one election, I'll say Marcos Moulitsas and his band of merry men.

Most Underrated: I'm with O'Donnell on Rudy Giuliani: "underrated only by professional Republicans as a presidential candidate simply because he's pro-choice. Rudy Giuliani will show that the Republican Party can nominate a pro-choice candidate." I think Giuliani will be an excellent choice in this category in 2007, but for 2005 I'll pick Clarence Thomas. Some libertarians and conservative Court-watchers are starting to realize the heft this man has, and as soon as he can routinely write for a majority he'll come to be regarded as a historically fine Justice.

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