Top 10 Stories of 2007

As the nation turns its eyes toward 2008, the most important political story of the year undoubtedly was who would win the presidential election. The battle for the Republican nomination closed 2007 on a hot note, as candidates geared up for the first primary in Iowa. Unlike previous presidential campaigns, the 2007 season was all about the conservative vote. Clearly, whoever went on to win the GOP nomination in 2008 would have won the hearts and minds of US conservatives in 2007.

Many of the positive developments related to the war in Iraq went largely unnoticed in 2007. For the most part, media outlets chose to concentrate on the "Surge" of 30,000 troops sent into the country in the early part of the year. By December, however, it appeared the tactic was finally working as more than 5,000 troops were set to return home. The good news was largely ignored by the media, and as the year came to an end, troop levels continued to fall.

Sparked in large part by the presidential candidacy of Colorado Congressman Thomas Tancredo, immigration came to the forefront of US politics in 2007. Tancredo, who is staunchly opposed to any kind of amnesty for illegals, made the issue a key plank in his campaign platform. The debate proved divisive, but a bill designed to give relief to resident aliens as they pursued citizenship went down in flames. Tancredo gave up his bid for president, saying he had fulfilled his desire to put immigration on the national agenda.

The assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto shocked the world by both its brutality and its timing. Questions remain as to whether she was the victim of a shooting or a suicide bomber. Regardless of the manner of her death, her murder came just as the Pakistani people were getting ready to elect new government leaders. Although US conservatives widely supported Pakistani President Perevez Musharaaf in the months leading to those elections, they universally condemned Bhutto's death as an act of terror. Bhutto's death may have a bigger impact on 2008, but its sinister nature and the story's widespread ramifications make it one of 2007's top stories.

A shocking plunge in the real estate market left Congress and Wall Street scrambling to find who or what was responsible for the drop. Was it the legacy left by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan or the economic policies put forth by President Bush and his allies in Congress? The jury is still out, but the verdict may come down hard in 2008. Either way, its relevance for conservatives makes it worthy of a top 5 spot in our list of most important stories of 2007.

Between President Bush's hardline remarks about Iran (Bush claimed that if the country continued to pursue nuclear power, World War III was imminent) and President Ahmadinijad's unapologetic remarks about the Holocaust (Ahmadinijad claimed the Holocaust was fiction propogated by the Jews), 2007 came in with a termendous amount of international tension. As the year progressed, it appeared Iran wasn't going to back down from its desire to become a nuclear state. Only when it became apparent that Iran wasn't even close to generating nuclear power, did tensions finally ease. Although a confrontation didn't happen in 2007, who knows what 2008 will bring? It's just one more reason conservatives have to advocate a strong national defense.

A rash of firings in the Justice Department ended with the resignation of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, who was appointed by President Bush after John Ashcroft resigned at the close of the president's first four-year term. Gonzalez was submitted to questioning by a Senate review panel, but refused to admit any wrongdoing. President Bush reluctantly accepted Gonzalez's resignation, saying his "good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons." Conservatives everywhere saw Gonzalez as more of a scapegoat than a culprit, however.

Perhaps the greatest impact of the War on Terror has been on international oil prices. Prices at the gas pump in America are as high as they've ever been, even surpassing the ones of the early 80s, which spiraled the US economy into a recession. Conservatives have advocated more oil production -- even if it is generated domestically, but have been thwarted in these efforts by liberals. Will 2007's rising oil costs launch another national recession? Only 2008 will tell.

Historically, conservatives have not bought into the "sky-is-falling" rhetoric put forth by liberals about global warming. In 2007, however, former Vice President Al Gore managed to convince the nation that global warming was a real problem, and even conservatives couldn't argue with his reasoning. Nevertheless, conservative Republicans believe there are vastly different solutions to the problem than the ones being put forth by liberal Democrats. Still, acknowledging the problem and putting it on the national agenda makes global warming a top story for conservatives in 2007.

In June 2007, Idaho Sen. Larry Craig was arrested for lewd conduct in a Minneapolis, Minn. men's bathroom. In August, he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, and in October announced he would not seek re-election in 2008. The story was embarrassing for conservatives because Craig, a Republican, had called himself a conservative for as long as anyone could remember. Craig was battered by the liberal media as a hypocrite and not one conservative came to his defense -- an indication that conservatives have had it with hypocritical lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The story makes our top 10 list because of it serves as a reminder of what conservatives don't want to see in US politicians.