The Editorial Year

When asked to define the greatest challenges confronting political leaders, the late British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan answered, "Events, my dear boy, events."

Turn back the clock. As 2007 opened, no one predicted that the most searing story for Virginians would occur on a sylvan campus in Blacksburg. The massacre not only dominated discourse last year but generated controversy and fed frustration during the past 12 months. And although 2008's status as a presidential-election year was set by law, the campaign's contours and climaxes proved not only surprising but captivating. Moreover, while problems associated with subprime mortgages surfaced in 2007, only Cassandras and desert monastics foresaw the Dow's collapse and economic turmoil. During the fourth quarter, the word "bailout" appeared in print more often than during all the years since Guttenberg.

The Times-Dispatch's opinion pages addressed these signature events, as well as a host of others.

This department produces daily Editorial and Op/Ed pages, plus the Sunday Commentary section. The diverse items include editorials, columns by our own writers, columns by syndicated authors, columns by guest contributors, letters from readers, cartoons, artwork, and -- alas -- occasional corrections, clarifications, apologies, and a boast or two. We maintain blogs -- Barticles by award-winning Deputy Editor Bart Hinkle, and the Board Room by various staff members; we also record podcasts. We intend to enhance our online presence. Log on.

The election found Virginia a battleground for the first time since Bull Run. Barack Obama turned the state blue. Our stable of columnists said everything that could be said about the campaign, and a little more. Charles Krauthammer and Ross Mackenzie (retired Editorial editor of The Times-Dispatch) boosted the GOP ticket with zeal. Kathleen Parker -- a mainstream conservative -- questioned Sarah Palin's qualifications. Factionalists threatened to burn her at the stake. Garrison Keillor ridiculed the "current occupant" and celebrated himself, albeit in stylish prose. Ellen Goodman's preference for liberals, particularly female ones, reassured her base. George Will stayed aloof. He also analyzed trends with a clarity that throughout the year grew increasingly rare among the partisan right. On the eve of the vote, Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine and Republican Attorney General Bob McDonnell made strong cases for their respective parties on our pages.

We endorsed John McCain. Obama's win, however, produced not sour disappointment but good cheer. When Obama takes the oath of office later this month, he will inherit the biggest mess since Ronald Reagan's inauguration in 1981 and perhaps since Franklin Roosevelt assumed the presidency in 1933. Fear itself is not the only thing to fear. To the contrary, it may be that greater fear in previous years would have nurtured the sobriety and introspection that might have lessened the fears abroad in the land.

After the election, an angry Republican wrote to say our endorsement of McCain was phony and that, as liberal [expletives], we obviously wanted Obama to win; a post-election call, this time from a Democrat, denounced our editorial congratulating Obama as phony and informed us that we were bitter losers and we could go to you know where.

The 2008 campaign produced an innovation we hope will become a tradition. The paper teamed with Renee Serrao -- an extraordinary teacher in Chesterfield -- to sponsor two campaign forums at Cosby High School. The Center for Politics at the University of Virginia supported the project. In the first session, former Sen. and former Gov. George Allen spoke for McCain and the Republicans; in the second, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee (and potential gubernatorial candidate) Terry McAuliffe spoke for Obama and the Democrats. Students in government classes asked questions of both, and wrote their impressions of the exchanges. The Commentary section ran selections of the students' work.

The Cosby forums complemented the newspaper's Public Squares, which last year assumed a new format. The citizenry continued to participate in the discussions but the evenings opened with invited speakers with expertise in the agenda. The first gathering of the revised regime explored drilling off Virginia's shore. Panelists spoke for and against. Commentary published excerpts. Other Commentary highlights included assessments of two extraordinary electoral careers. Allen and former Sen. and former Gov. Charles Robb shared their memories of Sen. John Warner. Former Rep. Tom Bliley wrote of Doug Wilder, particulary in relation to the drive for a popularly elected mayor. Associate Editor Bob Rayner gave an account of a Wilder valedictory conversation with the department. An editorial assessed Virginia's most consequential political figure of the second half of the 20th century. A few weeks before, Wilder committed news with a Commentary column that revealed his reasons for not endorsing a successor. Rayner also talked about the election on C-SPAN and public television.

Regarding the meltdown: An October Public Square addressed "Tough Times." Commentary ran an analysis by former U.S. Treasury Secretary (and Richmond resident) John Snow. Numerous columnists and letter-writers volunteered their views. A Dec. 14 special editorial detailed "America's Economic Strengths." Also in Commentary, Executive Assistant Robin Beres wrote about the mercy missions of the Navy's hospital ships and other manifestations of grace. Editorial Editor Todd Culbertson meditated on a Christmas trip to Paris transformed by season and sentiment into a homecoming in Bethlehem,

Publisher Tom Silvestri commanded our fleet. He moderated the Public Squares and from time to time took to the Commentary section to explain something about this newspaper and the information industry as a whole. Resident cartoonist Gary Brookins continued to draw the news, and to supervise a monthly cartoon caption contest. Martin Rhodes illustrated Commentary and the Op/Ed page. As pagination editor, Patsy Arthur produced pages suitable for reading. Cindy Paris edited Op/Ed, whose offerings included two series -- "Religious Literacy" and "Viva the Vital." As its name suggests, Religious Literacy approached religion from a variety of viewpoints. Representatives from across the faith spectrum explained traditions, practices, and beliefs many take for granted or but dimly perceive. Viva the Vital explored that cultural phenomenon known as the baby boom.

Op/Ed packages explored the credit panic, transportation, the Crupi report, the arts, and contention in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. Former Op/Ed Editor Bob Holland provided insight on issues relating to education. During the General Assembly's session, Dels. Jennifer McClellan (a Democrat) and Chris Peace (a Republican) gave weekly Commentary reports on the mysteries at the Capitol. Cordel Faulk, another former colleague, wrote about his passion -- politics.

We applauded Rep. Eric Cantor's rise as Republican whip in the U.S. House. His wife, Diana, serves on the Board of Directors of Media General, our corporate parent; she took the board position many years after we first endorsed her husband. As the election approached, we reiterated our conviction that national security defines the federal government's primary obligation. Questions relating to defense and foreign policy played the decisive role in our endorsement process, and ever will. Ideal candidates had a post-9/11 perspective prior to 9/11. We criticized the so-called card check bill, which would allow labor to strong-arm workers into joining unions. We will press our opposition again this year. Many of Obama's Cabinet selections pleased us. During the transition, he has bolted to a promising start.

Matters closer to home included stress on state and local budgets. A dramatic hike in tobacco taxes did not strike us as particularly wise -- especially as Philip Morris rates as one of the region's strongest companies. We urged greater regional cooperation, a theme so persistent that it qualifies as a cliché. We applauded athletic victories and academic success but reminded Richmond that its schools are not what they must be if the city is to attract families. Last year, as in the past, our doubts regarding Henrico's laptops went unresolved. Our farewell to Wilder's term noted that Richmond has not decided how strong it wants its mayor to be. We embraced greater mayoral rights and responsibilities. Hizzoner ought to be directly involved in education, for instance. We tried to cut through the nonsense that distorts perennials such as gun control, and we reminded officials that transparency defines prudent policy. Keep meetings open; release documents before pressure intensifies. Information made available belatedly or begrudgingly heightens suspicions.

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Journalism is a noble calling. To deal with words is always to be inspired -- always to be humbled, sometimes to the point of despair. Perfection, expressed in a sentence of majestic simplicity sublime, appears in the first verse of the first chapter of the Gospel according to St. John and nowhere else. All that follows has been mere approximation. We consider ourselves blessed, nevertheless. Despite steady reports of wordly corruption and perpetual strife, this is a wonderful world filled with wonderful lives. Humans are created for love. Today we say, as every day we should say, Thank you.