Signing off 2013
Signing off 2013
2013 has been quite a year for American politics, and quite a year for Wake Up To Politics.
I reported on a presidential inauguration; a new Pope; a President's fight to craft his second-term legacy, with partisan battles on confirmations, gun control, and immigration; groundbreaking Supreme Court decisions on same-sex marriage; the IRS and Benghazi scandals; fascinating elections in New Jersey, New York, and Virginia; Chemical weapons in Syria and nukes in Iran; leaks from the NSA; a government shutdown showdown; a debt ceiling debate; the Obamacare rollout - and so much more!
My mailing list has increased significantly, I made the switch to MailChimp, and the Wake Up has been featured in Politico and St. Louis Public Radio (on the same day, no less). I began a new school in 2013, and the administration of said school has graciously allowed me to continue the Wake Up during 1st period. Together, we celebrated the Wake Up's 2nd birthday (which means it's now over 2 1/2 years old!!!) and my 12th birthday.
All in all, it's been a banner year. Every single day of 2013, I have woken up with a smile on my red-white-and-blue braces (actually, I got braces in 2013 too) because I get to not only wake up to politics, but I get to share it with you. I have treasured the dialogue - from comments to answers to corrections to questions - that I have had with all of you in 2013, and only hope that it will continue in 2014, which on the track we're going on, can only be yet a better year.
There will not be many changes to the Wake Up in 2014, although I am looking to bring back Whiteboard Wednesday for the Senate elections sometime soon! If there is anything that you think should be added to Wake Up To Politics in the new year, PLEASE EMAIL ME. Also, a subscriber recently suggested that the Wake Up do a Person of the Year like TIME, and I really like the idea, but it was too late to implement, since the Wake Ups had ended for the year. If anybody wants to do that, email me with your candidate for POY, and when I get back, I will tabulate results if a substantial amount of people write back, and we can do something similar to Time's.
Anyways, Thursday was the last edition of Wake Up To Politics for 2013, but I will be back on January 6. For the next week, I will be away on vacation, so I will not be checking my email during that time, but still email about things in previous paragraph. When I get back, I will respond to anything I missed and tackle remaining emails from before the break.
In the meantime, have a great winter break, a happy holidays, and a fantastic beginning to 2014.
Gabe Fleisher