Joe Biden and Paul Ryan.
(Jim LoScalzo; Rick Wilkin/EPA)
Isn’t the vice-presidential nominee supposed to stand in the shadows? Not in 2012! The gaffe-prone veep posed with bikers, cameo’d on “Parks and Recreation,” laid sod for his daughter’s wedding and conquered the Internet with a glad-handing trip to Costco. Also: Said embarrassing things like “malarkey.” His Gen-X rival sported a game-changing widow’s peak, lowballed his marathon time, got testy with local reporters and bravely wore a backward baseball cap to a workout-themed photo shoot. Also: Bragged embarrassingly about his iPod playlist. We salute 2012’s No. 2’s: the sitcom dads of American politics.
(Read on for the Person of the Year Runner-Up and Honorable Mentions)
RUNNER-UP
The Kennedys
Jackie and Jack in 1963.
(Alexander Arroyos via AP)
A former White House intern shocked the world with her memoir of a JFK affair. Taylor Swift hooked up with RFK Jr.’s kid. Arnold vowed to get Maria back. And now the fourth generation cometh: Joe Kennedy III, just elected to Congress. It’s just never gonna end, is it?
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Clint Eastwood
(Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Clint Eastwood: He started the year with a provocative Chrysler ad that had us all wondering where Hollywood’s one-man Mount Rushmore stood on politics. By the fall, he and the empty chair made it clear.
Roseanne Barr: Was the failed candidate good or bad for the Green Party? Discuss amongst yourselves.
Kristi Noem: Already a career success, she still made a point of finishing her college degree — while serving in Congress.
Eva Longoria
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Eva Longoria: George Clooney grabbed the spotlight (VIP dinners, an arrest at the Sudan embassy), but the former Desperate Housewife and big-time Obama fundraiser emerged as the real Hollywood power broker. Also: Dated Mark Sanchez.
More Reliable Source 2012 in Review:
Zing! Best quotes of 2012: Bryce Harper, Martin Short, Ronan Farrow, Madonna and others
The Reliable Source Year in Controversies
The Reliable Source Year in Love: It’s Complicated
Last year:
The Reliable Source Person of the Year 2011: Anthony Weiner
Earlier in Reliable Source:
White House Christmas shopping; Sam Donaldson; Romney Christmas card; Taft Bridge lions
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