The year 2008 was suited to those of us who cover the news and who analyze it. It was replete with drama from the devastating natural disasters in China and Myanmar to those caused by human greed and negligence resulting in a global economic meltdown. There were genuine surprises including Sarah Palin's rapid rise from obscurity to rock star popularity on the national political stage and Barack Obama's victory over racism, conservatism, and the power of the Clinton and the Bush connections.

There were the personal defeats which reminded us of the heroes of Greek tragedy brought down by hubris. This year, the derailed careers belonged to a United States senator, perhaps a governor, and a city attorney. Ambitions were sabotaged as well when leaders promised more than they could deliver, and the best laid plans to benefit the public interest caved to the pressure of special interests.

Perhaps the strangest phenomenon of all was the fate of Proposition 8 in California. Its passage eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry, despite a ruling by the California Supreme Court less than six months earlier that same-sex couples had a constitutional right to marry. Thousands of such couples who did marry after the court decision and before the initiative passed are now in legal limbo. Interestingly, the California vote for change embodied by support for Barack Obama over John McCain (61% to 37%) did not carry over to Proposition 8 (52% Yes to 48% No).

Yes, it's the inconsistency and unpredictability of human behavior that keeps the news fresh, even when history seems to be repeating itself. So my New Year's wish is for 12 months of much better news even if we have to sacrifice some excitement.

After my interview (listen above) with Jan Goldsmith late in the afternoon of his second day as city attorney, I had a flashback memory. I remembered the feeling I had at the beginning of each new school year during my early education at P.S. 62 in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. As I entered my second or third grade classroom, I felt ready to tackle whatever scary challenges lay in store because I was equipped with a brand new, unsullied, untouched, pristine pencil box. Inside were my fresh, not-yet-sharpened No. 2 pencils with no tooth marks from nervous gnawing. With that kind of preparation, I was eager to confront the beat-up desk, tattered schoolbooks, chipped chalkboard, and scribbled-on walls left behind by last year's class.

When Mr. Goldsmith talked about what former City Attorney Mike Aguirre left behind after four years at City Hall, I did not hear dismay in Goldsmith's description of offices with lots of stuff around including boxes of reports and organizational disarray, all framed by stark white walls. He sounded as though he believes his new pencil box, complete with plans to train and reorganize, will be as effective as those No. 2 pencils.

I feel like Rip Van Winkle. But while that 19^th century New Yorker was out of it for 20 years, this contemporary Californian has been missing in action for the last two months. And what action it was! Since my last blog post was published on October 8^th, the economic crisis has deepened and spread. Sarah Palin was introduced to the world and then reluctantly faded from center stage. Senator Joe Biden morphed from Obama rival for the Democratic presidential nomination to vice president-elect. Hillary Clinton's ferocious competiveness for that nomination earned her a future as Secretary of State. And Barack Obama will be the next president.

In a perfect world, I would not have skipped a moment of those exciting eight weeks. But since neither the world nor life is perfect, 56 days virtually evaporated. It began as I watched my mother succumb to her final illness just a week before election day. My focus was totally on her during those last days and I became less careful about myself. One especially careless step resulted in several rib fractures. The combination of that injury and mother's passing suspended my involvement with one of the most exhilarating periods in election history.

My role had changed from news provider to news consumer on election night. While my colleagues were gathered in Golden Hall, the KPBS studios, at San Diego polling places, and in hotel ballrooms, scooping up information for our audience, I was watching and listening at home as Barack Obama's numbers climbed throughout the evening. The results became clear much earlier than expected and at about 8 p.m. in San Diego, the networks called him the winner.

The excitement of the nation and the world was palpable.  I discovered that I didn't have to be on the scene to "get it." I got it because of those reporters, commentators, technicians and thousands of professionals in the field. I felt a new and different appreciation for their work. Of course, I was sorry to have missed being there with them. But missing something special or someone special can be bittersweet.

Tuesday night's second presidential debate was an eye-opener, if you kept your mind open and your expectations not too high. Our analysis on These Days was an eye-opener for me because although I actually enjoyed the exchanges, several of our callers found the debate boring and uninspired. My comment at the end of our analysis to the effect that it's hard to be inspired when you are experiencing a hangover, was itself inspired by these observations from debate moderator Tom Brokaw:

Sen. Obama, as we begin, very quickly, our discussion period, President Bush, you'll remember, last summer, said that "Wall Street got drunk." A lot of people now look back and think the federal government got drunk and, in fact, the American consumers got drunk. (full transcript)

That's where the hangover comes in.  And hangover cures range from "the hair of the dog" to various nauseating concoctions. Unfortunately, with the credit market and lending institutions totally frozen, the dog's hair just isn't available to Joe Six-Pack. But here are some nauseating concoctions to contemplate. As the saying goes, choose your poison:

• Completely replace Congress. That means don't vote for any incumbents who were in office when the financial meltdown began and accelerated.
• Legislate paybacks from CEO's of failed lending institutions who earned eight or nine-figure salaries.
• Pull back our troops from overseas assignments and limit Pentagon spending to within the approved new, tighter and more restrictive budget forced by the financial crisis.
• Require any borrower to prove without a shadow of a doubt that he/she/they have the income to pay back the loan.
• Mandate one credit card per person with a low limit and to be paid off within a short deadline (one to two months).
• "Waste not, want not." Time for frugality, even though President Bush advised us to "go out and shop" after 9/11, according to Senator Obama's statement in that second debate.
• Dump those gas guzzlers once and for all and turn to public transportation or, better yet, walking and bikes.
• Give up the American dream and move in with your in-laws.

And do let me know if any of the above work. I'm rooting for all of us.

Each morning this week, nervous Americans awakened to news that yet another financial institution is in rough waters or has already hit bottom and been wiped out. We waited to see if the federal government would toss a life preserver to keep an insurance conglomerate or a massive lender or a decades-old brokerage firm afloat. Imagine that! Private enterprise looking to the feds to come to the rescue and bail them out - what a concept. 

Of course, the presidential candidates weighed in on the crisis. Senator Obama insists that the Federal Reserve must protect families that count on insurance (the AIG disaster), but not salvage the shareholders or management who profited during good times. Senator McCain acknowledges that regulation needs to be streamlined and is calling for a commission to study the problem. Meanwhile, he remains opposed to the federal bailout of AIG.

As the crisis deepens, the presidential rhetoric on the economy will develop new criticisms of the opposition, new ways of laying blame, and, we hope, new approaches to solutions. At this juncture, it appears that McCain is not defending deregulation even as Obama points to the flaws of economic policies which give Wall Street free rein.

The Republican candidate for vice president has been introduced to the nation as a tough, can-do female politician. And Sam Hardage is buying the image. Hardage is a long-time conservative Republican leader who chaired the local Republican party from 1995-1997 when its 1996 national convention, held in the San Diego Convention Center, nominated the ticket of  Bob Dole and Jack Kemp.

Hardage is a major funder of Republican campaigns and chairman of The Hardage Group where he earns his millions by developing hotels. His wife, Vivian Hardage, is a community activist who helped start a San Diego Republican women's club and the Vision of Children Foundation. The family's contributions to Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign helped assure her seat on the prestigious Del Mar Fair Board.

Just before the Republican National Convention began earlier this month, I phoned Sam Hardage to set up an interview at the site on the Convention's first day. Hurricane Gustav changed everyone's schedule that day when the convention was truncated to just two hours. But Hardage was punctual and found my space on radio row while I was checking out the convention floor and the schedules of some other San Diego delegates. It is uncharacteristic of me to be late for appointments and I was profuse in my apologies while he responded diplomatically. The interview began and I got my first in-person exposure to the official Republican delegate reaction to Sarah Palin.

Above: Click play to view the interview

Democracy Now's Amy Goodman was arrested earlier this week by riot police, and two of her colleagues were allegedly bloodied in an earlier fray.  We caught up with Amy afterwards and asked what happened.  She said police arrrested her without provocation, with her press pass in full view, and with nothing happening nearby that would put them in a highly defensive position.  Then Secret Service took her press pass, she said.

Above: Click play to watch the interview

As the Republican National Convention winds down, delegates and guests are taking in the last of the parties and arranging for transportation to the airport.  The estimated 15,000 journalists and media technicians are packing up their gear, preparing for the trip home.

Some can drive back to their stations in or near Minnesota.  Others fly as far as to coastal cities like San Diego and New York. Still others journey home to Pakistan or Kenya or Ireland.  Yes, there were large numbers of foreign print, web, and broadcast professionals at both conventions, including one team that shared our radio row spaces in Denver and St. Paul.  Generous and cooperative they were and I can't imagine better neighbors in tight quarters than the group from RTE (Radio Television Ireland).

So before we said goodbye, I couldn't resist doing my final interview with Fiona Hearst, the web writer for RTE, to find out why all this interest in U.S. presidential possibilities.

I think you'll find her responses candid, fascinating, and a charming window on the world outside of our borders.  Think "blood links" between candidates and the Irish, who has them and who doesn't, and why this is important to the Irish.  And when it comes to which issues interest an Irish audience, Fiona Hearst lists immigration, the economy, and, of course, the situation in the Middle East.  This definitely echoes some concerns right here at home.

Above: Click play to watch the interview

Former California Secretary of State Bill Jones had been out of public life for three years, but returned this year as the leader of California's delegation to the RNC because Senator John McCain asked him to take on this role.  He sees the tragic circumstances of Hurricane Gustav and the truncated first convention day as a sign of McCain's commitment to service above self.  But he acknowledges that the convention parties will still go on with some fund-raising efforts for hurricane victims added to the festivities.

Jones talks about the choice of Sarah Palin, the party affiliation of California voters, McCain's chances to take California, the candidate's position on illegal immigration, and President Bush's absence from the convention.  Bill Jones's recent hiatus from politics clearly has not tarnished his Republican credentials.

Above: Click to watch the interview

I caught up this week with San Diegan GOP delegate Patrick Ord, a long-time Mitt Romney supporter.  Ord has been behind John McCain since the senator's presidential momentum crescendoed, but he fundraised for Romney and still had his fingers crossed he'd be chosen as VP on the ticket. This of course before Sarah Palin was unveiled as the choice and confirmed last Friday, the day after Barack Obama's DNC speech.

One unique aspect of Ord's story is his intimate connection to a such a visible political figure: he was college roommates at BYU for three years in the mid 1990s with Mitt Romney's son, Matt, with whom he still regularly corresponds.

As a friend of the family, Ord has personal experience with a politician who ordinary citizens can only judge based on articles, videos, basic resume and legislative history.  This and Ord's shared Mormon faith with the Romney family contributed to somewhat of an upside-down path to political support: endorsement of character before policy.

We had a interesting chat about political messaging (what themes resonate), executive skills as they relate to governance, his thoughts on Palin, and faith's role in politics.