Right now we're doing a poll to see who people think is the Sedalia Person of the Year. Because Tuffy the Clown is one of the nominees and leading vote getter right now, this thing has really blown up and made national news. I find it a little funny that as big as this thing has gotten and as clearly as I've been explaining it, there are still quite a few people who don't understand what our Person of the Year Award is about.

I've said it over and over: This is not the "Nice Guy Award." It's about the person who had the biggest influence on events in Sedalia in 2013 for better or for worse.

I see comments like "I can't believe you included Tuffy in this. Pathetic." Some people just don't get it. This isn't about who's the best person in Sedalia, it's about who made the biggest headlines.

This whole thing is based off of TIME Magazine's version of Person of the Year, which they've been doing since 1928. There have been several controversial winners of TIME's Person of the Year Award over the years. Here are a few examples:

  • Adolph Hitler, 1938. Leader of the Nazi party. Took over Germany and Austria.
  • Joseph Stalin, 1939 and 1942. Leader of the Communist party and Soviet Union.
  • Ayatollah Khomeini, 1979. Led the Iranian Revolution and established himself as Supreme Leader of Iran. Supporter of the hostage takers during the Iran Hostage Crisis.
  • Ben Bernake, 2009. The criticized Chairman of the Federal Reserve during the Financial Crisis of the late 2000s.
  • Bill Clinton, 1998. This president of the U.S. won the award the same year he was impeached after the Monica Lewinsky Scandal.

I'm not comparing any of our nominees to Adolph Hitler or anything like that. I'm just saying that the votes are about whether or not that person made an impact on our town. For better or worse.

We'll announce the winner of our Sedalia Person of the Year Award on the air on Friday, Dec. 20.

Editor's note: Our Sedalia Person of the Year Award is in no way affiliated with Sedalia's government, city council or city services. Nominations were based on suggestions from the public and our most popular news stories from 2013. Those who are unhappy with the results of this poll are encouraged to vote for who they think deserves the award the most and ask their friends and family to do the same.

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