I don't know about you, but I have chosen to ring out the year 2008 with a toast here at the neighborhood gas station.

Exactly a year ago, on the last day of 2007, I was paying $3.01 a gallon for the same gasoline I'm now buying for $1.36.

Accentuate the positive, right?

As with most years, you can go either way with 2008. Some days it was good, some days it was awful.

And call me crazy, or call me Paula Abdul — and maybe it's the $1.36 gas talking — but despite the economic downturn, the ongoing problem in Iraq and the annoying trend of people not buying as many newspapers as they once did, I think it ranks as one of America's finest years ever.

The names of two people characterize the year for me: David Archuleta and Barack Obama.

One was a local story that went national; the other a national story that went local.

Both reflected favorably on the country's increasing color-blindness.

Archuleta lived a high school junior's dream — he got to miss most of the school year at Murray High and have his teachers cheer for him.

He made it to the final two of "American Idol," when 97 million votes were cast nationwide and the pride of Murray got 44 percent of the total, or about 43 million votes — not enough to beat David Cook, but plenty enough to launch him on a music career that doesn't figure to end any time soon.

At no time did Archuleta's heritage appear to be a factor.

It was all about the music.

Likewise for Obama, who in November became the first African-American to be elected president of the United States.

Of more than 125 million votes cast — in a presidential election that proved to be even more popular than "American Idol" — Obama received 66 million-plus votes, above 53 percent, and if his race was an issue for some, it is a mathematical fact that it wasn't for the majority.

Obama might turn out to be a terrific president or he might turn out to be terrible, but this much is for sure even before he is sworn in: He was elected because of his politics, not his heritage.

I'm not suggesting racism doesn't still exist in America. But by most indications it is fading.

Toleration on all fronts seems to be on the upswing.

A lot was made during the presidential primaries about Mitt Romney not being electable because of his Mormon religion, which may be true, but, still, somebody cast 4.5 million votes for him in the primaries, which adds up to more than all the voting-age Mormons in the country combined.

The fact is that Romney stepped out of the contest well before it was over, and he still won 11 states and took second place in total votes to John McCain in the Republican race for president, light years better than Joseph Smith and Orrin Hatch.