I've created a list of the top ten Alaska political stories of 2008. You can help create the final list.Please add other events I missed.
I'll get some help on evaluating the importance of the entries.
1. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin chosen to be John McCain's GOP 2008 presidential race running mate.
2. Exxon Valdez Supreme Court judgement severely reduces punitive damages.
3. High energy costs over two consecutive winters eviscerates Alaska's rural economy and social structure, even after years of warning that this would happen.
4. AGIA passes, but appears increasingly unrealistic and unfeasible.
5. Precipitous declines in oil revenue and Permanent Fund losses put Alaska's fiscal model at severe risk.
6. Alaska U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, convicted of seven felonies, narrowly loses his election a week later to Anchorage's mayor Mark Begich.
7. The combination of Palin's elevation to national attention, the investigations into her handling of public safety director Walt Monegan's removal, the national McCain campaign's temporary takeover of Alaska government communication offices, national media reporters' appearance here, and local bloggers' involvement in getting the story out creating a new narrative from the far north.
8. The defeat of all progressive ballot initiatives in the August Alaska primary, partially due to Gov. Palin's unprecedented partisan intervention in closing week ads (before she was selected to run with McCain on a higher level).
9. Incremental gains by Alaska Democrats and progressives statewide, in November, in spite of the Palin mania.
10. The disgusting moves by managers, editors and publishers in Alaska's most influential media outlets, as they looked their own survival in the mirror, saw a pitbull with lipstick, and kept on looking for more lipstick, long after it ran out. They used up seven years of lipstick and broke the mirror, too.
Anyway, that's my pre-Christmas take on a meme that usually doesn't get started until December 26th. If you think Progressive Alaska missed an important political development here in 2008, please comment on it. I probably missed one or more.