There is no shortage of cynical pols, biased journalists or incompetent government officials, so when we see genuine excellence and devotion to public service, we should give credit where credit is due:

Best primary preparation: Hands down, this goes to Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), who studied, traveled, appeared countless times on TV, wrote op-eds on foreign policy and projected a serious demeanor. He handled his politicized indictment with aplomb and appropriate indignation. He showed uncommon humility. We won’t know whether he can sustain his momentum and overcome past impressions, but he and his staff set a standard for conscientious and self-reflective preparation.

Best interview: No interview this year compared to Diane Sawyer’s interrogation of Hillary Clinton. It was focused, substantive and aggressive — the first of many to reveal Clinton’s considerable shortcomings.

Best national security experts: Here two former officials deserve praise, ex-CIA director Michael Hayden and former attorney general Michael Mukasey. They persuasively debunked misunderstandings and out-and-out falsehoods about the NSA data collection program and the CIA’s use of enhanced interrogation techniques. When the White House won’t defend its intelligence agencies, Hayden and Mukasey’s willingness to educate the public and defend necessary tools in the war against jihadist terrorists is both critical and admirable. (Why, by the way, doesn’t former CIA director Gen. David Petraeus to do the same?)

Best truth tellers: Former defense secretaries Leon Panetta and Robert Gates each wrote books critical of the Obama administration. Vilified by the president’s flacks, they nevertheless laid bare the many national security deficiencies in the Obama White House, thereby enhancing the public’s understanding and Congress’s opportunity for appropriate oversight before it is too late to do anything about it.

Best losing candidate: No one compared to Virginia Republican Senate nominee Ed Gillespie, who ran an upbeat, serious and specific campaign focused on the needs of working and middle-class Americans. He ran on an Obamacare alternative, a specific energy plan, tax and regulatory reform, concrete education reforms and fiscal discipline. With his devotion to substance and sunny demeanor, he came within a whisker of beating the heavily favored incumbent, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.). Gillespie should write a book (“Republican Campaigns for Dummies”?). Whether he runs for governor or helps others to win election in 2016, he provided a much-needed example for fellow Republicans.

Best winning candidate: Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) became the happy warrior of 2014, soundly defeating Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and nearly singlehandedly destroying the nonsensical “war on women” attack on Republicans. If he is as good a senator as he was a candidate, then the party, the Senate and the country will benefit.

Best oversight grilling: Congressmen and U.S. senators are notoriously bad at questioning officials and sustaining a coherent line of argument. But in dismantling Seecretary of State John Kerry’s testimony and the entire Obama foreign policy, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was unparalleled. Watch for yourself.

Best Democrat on foreign policy: Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) kept up the heat on the White House on Iran, decried Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and denounced the president’s decision to normalize relations with Cuba. As co-author of the most bipartisan and extensive Iran sanctions bill, he will be front and center in 2015 and will get the chance to see colleagues vote on his measure. It is not easy to criticize a president in your own party, but Menendez stayed true to his convictions, a rarity inside the Beltway.

Best lawyering: Kudos go to the winning legal teams in Hobby Lobby and the recess appointment cases at the Supreme Court. The legal strategists who will have their oral arguments at the Supreme Court in March on the Obamacare challenge to subsidies for the federal exchanges are likewise to be commended. If lawmakers are getting worse over time, the conservative Supreme Court litigators are getting better and better.