What a year, huh? Bet you never thought we’d see a year like 2024. A felon elected to the presidency? No problem! A president who was running for reelection dropping out of the race about three months from Election Day? Sure, why not? 

Well, it’s time to pick out the winners from the losers because, well, I’ve been doing this for decades and I might as well keep going. As always, if you don’t like this list, complain to Amy Walter at The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter. 

Big winner of 2024

The nominees:

1. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
2. President-elect Donald Trump
3. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro
4. Russian President Vladimir Putin
5. Taylor Swift

And the winner is…

You thought I’d start off with an easy one, right? Shapiro wasn’t on the national Democratic ticket, but he received good reviews for his speaking and his pragmatic views. He immediately became someone to look at for 2028. But it’s a dead heat between Trump and Putin, and I’ll put a pinkie on the scale for Trump, who carried all seven of the swing states and clobbered his Democratic opponent.

Big loser of 2024

The nominees:

1. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y.
2. Vice President Kamala Harris
3. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
4. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
5. Democracy

And the biggest loser is…

Both the people of Ukraine and Democracy.

Upset winner of 2024

The nominees:

1. Sen.-elect Dave McCormick, R-Pa.
2. Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.
3. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash.
4. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb.

And the winner is…

Tough choice. Here is my thinking: McCormick ousted an incumbent, Democrat Bob Casey, but given the general drift of the election, that really wasn’t much of an upset. 

Rosen and Bacon were both pronounced politically dead at one point, but they ended up winning. Gluesenkamp Perez, who was on my upset list two years ago, somehow won again. It’s hard to pick one upset winner. How about a three-way tie with Rosen, Bacon, and Gluesenkamp Perez all winners?

Worst hair by a politician, political analyst or political consultant in 2024

The nominees:

1. Frank Luntz
2. Trump
3. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa.
4. Stuart Rothenberg
5. James Carville

And the winner is…

Fetterman and Carville are bald, so they can’t really compete in this category. Luntz and Rothenberg, on the other hand, are in a dead heat. Luntz’s toupee is terrible, and Rothenberg should get a toupee. But the clear winner is Trump, who wins this category every time.

Donald Trump’s best buddy

The nominees:

1. Mike Lindell, the pillow guy
2. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
3. Rudy Giuliani
4. Elon Musk
5. Hulk Hogan

And the winner is…

Musk, of course.

Worst flip-flopper about Trump

The nominees:

1. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
2. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
3. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas
4. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
5. Vice President-elect JD Vance

And the winner is…

This is almost an impossible choice. All the nominees turned from tough on Trump to his lap dog. What a bunch of losers. I’ll make it a five-way tie.

Worst animal controversies during the campaign

The nominees:

1. False claims of Haitians eating dogs and cats in Ohio
2. Kennedy’s brain worm
3. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem shot her dog and her goat.
4. Kennedy dumping a bear carcass in Central Park
5. Vance’s “childless cat ladies”

And the winner is: That stubborn brain worm. It explains a lot about Kennedy.

Worst Trump appointment

The nominees: 

1. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., for attorney general
2. Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, for director of national intelligence
3. Pete Hegseth, for Defense secretary
4. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, for U.S. Ambassador to Israel
5. Kennedy for HHS secretary

And the winner is: All of the above?

Best/Worst Trump grift

1. Trump sneakers
2. Trump watches
3. Trump gold coins
4. Trump Bibles
5. Trump something else in the future that I can’t even imagine

I don’t know which the winner is, but I’m pretty sure the loser is the people of the United States of America.