The PAPER crew weighs in on what went down in '08.
• Julie Besonen, food editor
• Zandile Blay, blogger/market editor
• Mickey Boardman, editorial director
• Rebecca Carroll, managing editor
• Peter Davis, editor at large, "Status Update" blogger
• Dennis Dermody, Cinemaniac blogger/columnist
• Kim Hastreiter, editor and publisher
• Paul Johnson-Calderon, blogger/market editor
• Gary Pini, "Eight Items or Less" blogger
• Rebecca Prusinowski, "Shop of the Week" blogger
• Whitney Spaner, assistant editor
• Alexis Swerdloff, managing editor, PAPERMAG.com
• Elizabeth Thompson, "Bar of the Week" blogger
REBECCA CARROLL, managing editor
The Top 10 Barack & Michelle Obama Moments of 2008:
10. September 8, 2008: Michelle dances on the Ellen show with pure ease, groovy grace and wicked style, and without a trace of self-consciousness.
9. November 4, 2008: The image of Barack and his mother-in-law sitting on a couch, quietly holding hands while watching the polls on TV is the very picture of what family should be.
8. November 1, 2008: Beautiful photo of Barack walking off a private plane in Colorado as his daughters and Michelle rush toward him with nothing shy of complete and utter joy.
7. February 18, 2008: At a Milwaukee rally, Michelle says "for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country -- and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change." I don't care whether she meant it in a strictly political context or not -- you and me both, sister.
6. August 25, 2008: Raw footage on YouTube shows Barack watching Michelle give her DNC speech on TV from a hotel in Kansas City. When she is introduced, her name is spoken, he smirks with a sly cockiness, like the guy who got the girl every guy wants to date, and then afterward says, "I think she was pretty good," like a nerdy schoolboy with a crush. There's no better combination.
5. November 4, 2008: Barack and Michelle, along with their girls, vote in Chicago. The way they move together as a unit -- not too stuck together, but never too distant -- is genuine, reassuring and just plain sweet.
4. April 17, 2008: Barack responds in the New York Times to accusations that he had spent time "palling around" with "terrorist" Bill Ayers. "[Bill Ayers] is somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8 years old." Enough said.
3. October 16, 2008: At the Alfred E. Smith Dinner, Barack kills it with his self-deprecating, but not too self-deprecating speech. "My greatest strength, I guess it would be my humility... my greatest weakness? It's possible that I'm a little too awesome." He's right, and the whole country knows it.
2. November 4, 2008: Barack's "Hello Chicago!" shout-out before he starts his victory speech -- like a rock star greeting his screaming fans, yes, but to me, more like a man who loves his city and recognizes in that moment that it all started, this extraordinary journey and ascension to become the President of the United States, right there in Chicago. A native son knocks it out of the park.
1. June 4, 2008: Even better than the much talked and written about "fist-bump" between Barack and Michelle when he accepted the Democratic nomination in St. Paul, is the b-ball player's pat on the ass Barack gives Michelle as she leaves the stage. Nothing cements the respect of a fellow team player more than the ritual athlete's pat on the ass.
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