NEW YORK — The epic election that made Barack Obama the first African-American president was the top news story of 2008 — followed closely by the economic meltdown that will test his leadership, according to U.S. editors and news directors voting in the Associated Press’ annual poll.
1. Presidential election: Obama emerged from Election Night as a decisive victor and a symbol for the world of America’s democratic promise. But he reached that point only after a grueling battle with Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination and then an often-nasty showdown with the Republican ticket of Arizona Sen. John McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in the run-up to the election.
2. Economic meltdown: The bad news kept coming — collapses of Wall Street giants; huge stock market losses; plummeting home prices and a surge of foreclosures; desperate times for U.S. automakers. It added up to the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and will cost the federal government well over $1 trillion in various rescue and stimulus packages.
3. Oil prices: The global economic angst produced hyper-volatile energy markets. The price of crude soared as high as $150 a barrel in July before crashing to $33 this month. In the U.S., the average price for a gallon of regular gas peaked at $4.11, then plunged below $1.70.
4. Iraq: The much-debated “surge” of U.S. troops helped reduce violence after more than five years of war, but Iraq is still buffeted daily by bombings, ambushes, kidnappings and political uncertainty. A newly ratified U.S.-Iraqi security agreement sets a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal by 2012.
5. Beijing Olympics: China hosted the Olympics for first time, drawing praise for logistical mastery and condemnation for heavy-handed security measures. The games themselves were rated a success, highlighted by the record-shattering performances of swimmer Michael Phelps and sprinter Usain Bolt.
6. Chinese earthquake: A huge quake in May killed 70,000 people in Sichuan province and left 5 million homeless. Many thousands of children were among the victims — authorities said about 7,000 classrooms were destroyed in shoddily built schools.
7. Sarah Palin: Few Americans outside Alaska knew much about its governor when McCain picked her as his running mate. That changed rapidly. To her conservative admirers, she was a feisty, refreshing change from most politicians; to her critics, she was in over her head, and worthy of all the lampooning she endured.
8. Mumbai terrorism: Ten attackers allegedly sponsored by a Pakistan-based Islamic group terrorized India’s financial capital in November, killing 164 people in coordinated attacks on hotels, markets and a train station. India’s perennially uneasy relations with Pakistan were badly strained.
9. Hillary Rodham Clinton: She didn’t win, but Clinton came closer than any other woman in U.S. history to becoming a major party’s presidential nominee. Her determined primary campaign, waged vigorously even when it seemed a lost cause, inspired millions of women across the country — and helped persuade Obama to choose her as secretary of state.
10. Russia-Georgia war: The two nations waged a five-day war in August ignited by a Georgian artillery barrage on the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Russia responded with a drive deep into Georgian territory, causing severe economic damage and aggravating already troubled Russia-US relations.
Runners-up: Stories that almost made the top 10 included Cyclone Nargis, which killed more than 84,000 people in Myanmar; Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which wreaked deadly damage in the Caribbean and on the U.S. Gulf Coast; and the seesaw fate of same-sex marriage in California, where a court ruling approving it was later overturned by a ballot measure.
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