Drum roll please, for our annual best and worst from the campaign season.

Best entrance: Republican gubernatorial candidate Ernie Fletcher arriving for campaign stops in a helicopter. Sure, it reeks of big money being thrown around. But it's a smart way to hit plenty of stops in one day. And whenever he landed in Northern Kentucky - on the football field at Dixie Heights High School, in the parking lot at Piner Elementary, on the helipad at Owen County Hospital - it was very impressive. And very windy.

Best patriotic moment: Political campaigns are deep in sappy, phony, contrived, made-for-TV patriotism. But the best patriotic moment came last Thursday at the Bellevue Vets, when Campbell County Democrat Linda Wood - standing in front of an American Flag and a memorial to military veterans - belted out a beautiful rendition of God Bless America. More than a few people were wiping away tears by the time she finished.

Best political speech: At the same event in Bellevue, Campbell County Democratic Party Chairman Terry Mann delivered one of the most inspiring - and loudest - speeches I've ever heard. Mann so fired up the Democratic crowd that Karl Rove would have signed up as a precinct worker had he been there.

Best ad: Ben Chandler's ad in which a dog was used to portray Fletcher at the beck-and-call of special interests. It was cute while making its point.

Worst ads: The spots run by the Republican Governors Association on behalf of Fletcher. Ads for psychic hotlines are more legitimate.

Dirtiest trick: Anonymous e-mails about a candidate's personal life. The lowest of low blows.

Dirtiest trick II: Spray-painting campaign signs. Get a life.

Best last-minute campaign move: President Bush visiting Kentucky on Saturday, three days before the election. Hard to beat that kind of stump appearance.

Worst timing: The Democrats have invested a lot of time bashing Bush and the Republicans for their economic policies, claiming votes cast in Washington by Fletcher - a three-term Congressman from Lexington - helped cost Kentucky 67,000 jobs. Then, four days before Election Day, the U.S. Commerce Department comes out with numbers showing that during the third quarter of this year, the economy grew at its fastest pace in 19 years.

Best ground game: Northern Kentucky Republicans. Watch them in action recruiting volunteers, organizing literature drops, turning out for party events and you'll see one of the main reasons why the GOP is dominating local politics.

Best I-told-you-so: Northern Kentucky's three judge-executives - Dick Murgatroyd of Kenton County, Steve Pendery of Campbell County and Gary Moore of Boone County - took some heat for backing Fletcher months before the contested GOP primary. If Fletcher wins, all three will certainly be rewarded with attention and money for their counties.

E-mail pcrowley@enquirer.

Crowley interviews Grant County Judge-executive Darrell Link and Owen County Judge-executive Billy O'Banion this week on ICN6's "On the Record", which is broadcast daily on Insight Communications Channel 6.