We’ve almost made it to the end of 2011 – and if you are like me, I look ahead to 2012 with great anticipation.

Thanks for stopping by The Western Word for the final Caught My Eye of 2011.  May you, your family, and friends enjoy the New Year’s celebration!

Please…please don’t drink and drive.

If this is your first time visiting, Caught My Eye is my weekly column where I take a look at some of the stories I did not have time to write about during the week.  I sometimes offer commentary, too.

This week I share some 2011 lists, a swap for VP, banished words, a turkey, I peek inside my political inbox and share, and much more!  Since you’re probably not going to get much work done today, take a few minutes and enjoy today’s column!

Obama/Clinton 2012:

Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich wrote on his website:  “My political prediction for 2012 (based on absolutely no inside information): Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden swap places. Biden becomes Secretary of State — a position he’s apparently coveted for years. And Hillary Clinton, Vice President.”

I always enjoy reading Reich’s opinions and he’s right; Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would make an almost unbeatable team for 2012…

2011 in Sports:

Check out Yahoo! Sports’ list of the top 10 sporting gaffes of 2011 HERE.

2011 in Fashion:

For the 20 worst celebrity fashion disasters of 2011, click HERE.

2011 – The best stuff:

You can view the best stuff of 2011 HERE.

Banished Words of 2012: 

Words like “amazing” and “man cave” are hereby banished from use in 2012.

I think they missed “epic.”

Tribune Turkey:

The Great Falls Tribune has turkeys.  Here’s a photo to prove it.

Sometimes the jokes just write themselves…

Jack’s Political Inbox:

Most of the e-mails received this week were to encourage me to donate to campaigns since the end of year deadline is quickly approaching.  The Associated Press even did a story about the year-end fundraising in Montana – you can read it HERE.

Here are some of the e-mails that Caught My Eye…

–Jon Tester’s staff, both official and campaign, were busy this week sending e-mails.  The one from the campaign with the subject “Last Chance” caught my eye.  They wrote, “It’s your last chance to fight the special interests in 2011 – click here to contribute $20.11 now!”

That method of using the year as the amount to donate has been used before…but it’s still cute…

-The Jon Huntsman for President Campaign sent me an e-mail with the subject “12 Days To Go” writing, “With just 12 days left before the New Hampshire primary, your immediate financial support will make a real difference on the ground.  He was quoted saying “They pick corn in Iowa. They actually pick presidents here in New Hampshire.”

I like Huntsman…

-The Barack Obama Presidential Campaign used Joe Biden in one e-mail to raise money with the subject, “Here’s what I need you to know” where he writes, “We’ve come a heck of a long way since 2008, but we’ve still got a lot of work left to do if we want to see this country go where we all know it needs to.”

The best chance of Obama winning another term is to have Hillary Clinton as his running mate…

-The Friends of Steve Bullock for Governor campaign sent me an e-mail with the subject “62 Hours” saying “We raised $11,550 in just two days and are now only $3,450 short of our goal. Before the end of the year we need to raise the additional $3,450 to have the resources we need.”

Bullock seems to be the “all-American” candidate…

-The Denise Juneau for State Superintendent of Public Instruction campaign sent an e-mail with the subject, “Just a few days left” where Team Juneau writes, “The end of another fundraising period is upon us. Denise has been working hard the last few months to raise money to win her re-election campaign. You can help us make one last push this quarter as we head into 2012.”

Juneau will be very hard to beat in 2012…

-The Jeff Essmann for Governor campaign sent a non-fundraising e-mail with the subject, “Essmann to Bullock: Time to do your job” where he released a statement saying that Bullock “decided to turn a blind eye to the enforcement of a Montana law to crack down on high-interest lending” regarding an online loan business that is run by the Chippewa Cree tribe on Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation here in Montana.

Most folks don’t quite know how to take Essmann…and they don’t know him…

Powerbroker?  Hardly.

The Hill reports “Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has signaled he is finished with playing powerbroker in Kentucky Republican primary battles after knocking heads with the Tea Party in 2010.”

Mitch McConnell is a weak and timid leader.  It would have been nice if he stayed out of politics altogether.

Most Viewed Caught My Eye:

The January 28, 2011, edition of Caught My Eye was the most viewed Caught My Eye for 2011.  You can read it HERE.

I will be writing about my most viewed columns of 2011 next week…

Twitter:

I am getting close to 500 followers on Twitter!  You should follow me (@TheWesternWord) because you never know what I might Tweet!

End of Year Suggestion:

Don’t forget to stretch…