There just aren’t enough words to describe the first full year of operations here at Michigan Messenger. We’ve covered the highs and the lows, from the excitement of the presidential campaigns to the economic desertification of Detroit, and a host of topics between. Here are our top five stories of 2008 based on readership here at Michigan Messenger:

5. Gun shop that flew flag upside down apologizes, fires employee — November 11, 2008

To the surprise of many Michiganders, racism raised its ugly head in Traverse City, where a long-time gun shop employee protested the election of Barack Obama by flying an American flag upside down outside the storefront.

4. Rove tricks? McCain absentee ballots raise questions — September 13, 2008

Voters in a number of states, including Michigan, reported receiving absentee ballots in the mail from Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s campaign. The ballots were legal but raised questions, including in Ohio, where many may have been invalidated by some elections officials if a specific box was not checked off.

3. Shocking endorsement of Obama by conservative legal titan Fried — October 26, 2008

A number of conservatives endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, but the endorsement by former Reagan Justice Department official Charles Fried must have come as a particular surprise, based on the amount of readers this short piece garnered.

2. Obama campaign files suit over ‘voter-foreclosure’ plans — September 16, 2008

The Obama campaign fought back against potential voter disenfranchisement in Michigan and other states. Unlike the Gore and Kerry campaigns did in 2000 and 2004, the Obama campaign didn’t wait until after the election to deal with this threat.

1. Lose your house, lose your vote — September 10, 2008

Our biggest story of the year quoted the chairman of the Macomb County GOP as saying party officials planned to use a list of foreclosed homes to block people from voting in the November election.

Michigan Messenger also ramped up its use of video in 2008; here are the top five videos we produced and published this year:

5. ICE arrests — October 28, 2008
Todd Heywood obtained exclusive coverage of the ICE arrests at a popular local Hispanic restaurant in Lansing, including the actual black-and-white footage from a security camera inside the restaurant capturing the raid in progress.

4. DPS abandoned school — July 6, 2008
Minehaha Forman filmed an abandoned Detroit school, left to ruin as the city and its public school system slid deeper into economic crisis.

3. Protest at McCain’s midwest headquarters — September 12, 2008
Community groups ACORN. and Jobs with Justice organized a protest rally in front of the McCain campaign’s regional headquarters, located in a building owned and occupied by Trott & Trott, one of the largest foreclosure specialists owned by Republican bundler David Trott; Forman was on site to interview protesters who in some cases had had their homes foreclosed upon.

2. Obama in Farmington Hills, Mich. – Pt. 1 — September 9, 2008
Part 1 of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s campaign visit in Farmington Hills, Mich.

1. McCain gets burned, reacts with scary facts — July 18, 2008
Republican presidential candidate John McCain was grilled during a visit to General Motors’ Tech Center in Warren, Mich. When called out on his statements on Vietnam and Iran, the candidate offered up a rather odd reaction that did little more than encourage the audience to “be afraid, be very afraid.” Viewers must have been hungry for information about the candidate as this video was our most popular this year, with nearly 7,000 views.

We want to thank our readers for helping make our first full year a success. Your comments and emails have been helpful and contributed greatly to our work. We also thank our team — current members and alumni alike — who’ve worked so hard and with such passion for Michigan Messenger. We wish you and yours a safe and happy year ahead.