2006 contained quite a few surprises

For political junkies, 2006 has been fascinating — filled with surprising, discouraging and heartwarming moments. As the year concludes, we provide some observations.

Biggest Political Surprises of 2006

Pignanelli: If you encounter a Democrat (not always easy in Utah) and catch him/her when not gloating or acting defensive (also not easy), he or she will likely admit that no one expected turnover in control of the U.S. Senate. I certainly did not.

Locally, the biggest shocker was the endorsement of Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson of former Republican councilman Keith Christensen. This move violates all the mayor's self-righteous proclamations, thus proving my theory he is pursuing a disingenuous hidden agenda (no surprises there).

I have maintained serious reservations about the direction of President Bush and his administration. However, he has exhibited leadership (under a loose definition) by pursuing his goals with disregard to public opinion. Therefore, it was eye-opening and disappointing for him to postpone — and even transfer —decision-making on the Iraq war to a collection of unelected "wise men/women" of the Iraq Study Group.

Webb: My biggest surprise is how quickly Mitt Romney rocketed to the top tier of Republican presidential contenders. I thought he would be an attractive candidate but assumed he would languish in the middle of the pack. Instead, thanks to luck and some very smart moves, he is a clear No. 2, behind only Sen. John McCain and ahead of such GOP luminaries as Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich. Romney has assembled a national-caliber team of heavy political hitters from across the country, and he's going to be a real force. Of particular interest to Utah, Romney's candidacy will focus a great deal of national and international media attention on the LDS Church.

I admit to being surprised by the breadth of the Democrats' election triumph in Congress and in many states. Even with all evidence pointing to a big Democratic win, I declined to believe it. And while Democrats didn't really win Congress as much as Republicans lost it, the Democrats deserve credit for taking advantage of Republican self-inflicted misfortunes.

A more minor surprise was the abrupt fizzle of John Jacob's ill-fated primary race against a clearly at-risk Chris Cannon in the 3rd District. Cannon remains vulnerable to a strong Republican challenge, and folks are already lining up to run.

Most positive events of 2006