General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWho was the first presidential candidate you voted for in a General Election?
Mine--Walter (Fritz) Mondale in 1984
I withstood the Reagan landslide and voted Democratic, as I've done in every election since.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Jeff In Milwaukee
(13,992 posts)finecraft
(1,213 posts)Pool Hall Ace
(5,849 posts)Autumn Colors
(2,379 posts)TheDebbieDee
(11,119 posts)drug-addicted, Dominican Republic boy-chasing, loud-mouth that the word "ditto" brings to your mind!
hack89
(39,171 posts)iwillalwayswonderwhy
(2,603 posts)phylny
(8,386 posts)jehop61
(1,735 posts)1964
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)AllyCat
(16,222 posts)Chorophyll
(5,179 posts)It was my first vote as a punk college kid. And it was not fun. Still, I'd rather back a loser knowing I was trying to do the right thing for my country. Hell will freeze over before I'd vote for a non-Dem.
nichomachus
(12,754 posts)I had intended to vote for JFK, which was why I ran down and registered on the day after my 21st birthday -- November 21, 1963.
Lucy Goosey
(2,940 posts)...ouch.
life long demo
(1,113 posts)Because I wasn't old enough to vote for Pres. Kennedy when he ran the first time, but and you know the rest of that story. A lot of people don't know that you had to be 21 to vote at that time. Have never voted for a republican EVER.
barbtries
(28,811 posts)i can't even imagine doing so.
onehandle
(51,122 posts)...but I knew enough to know that Reagan was bad news.
GarroHorus
(1,055 posts)HockeyMom
(14,337 posts)csziggy
(34,137 posts)trof
(54,256 posts)Didn't register to vote until I was 30.
sinkingfeeling
(51,473 posts)20 year-old.
HockeyMom
(14,337 posts)We are the same age then!
sinkingfeeling
(51,473 posts)karynnj
(59,504 posts)Viking12
(6,012 posts)pinto
(106,886 posts)redgreenandblue
(2,088 posts)Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)femmocrat
(28,394 posts)With pride.
permatex
(1,299 posts)1969. Have since wised up.
Wounded Bear
(58,706 posts)permatex
(1,299 posts)you know, old age and all. Voted 68, he was inaugurated in 69.
RedStateLiberal
(1,374 posts)I'll never forget registering to vote when I turned 18. It was the end of the Reagan era and Bush I was president. They required at the time that I declare party affiliation. I knew very little about politics so I just 'went with the flow' and said Republican. Boy did I regret that once I really started paying attention but at least I can tell my conservative friends that I am a reformed Repub.
wendylaroux
(2,925 posts)mac56
(17,574 posts)shanti
(21,675 posts)I was 21, yes indeed! (just noticed there are a LOT of us on this thread)
Hell Hath No Fury
(16,327 posts)My first Presidential pick - Hubert Humphrey in 1968 when I was 8 years old. I didn't like Nixon because he had creepy eyes -- how right I was.
Still Sensible
(2,870 posts)JohnnyRingo
(18,641 posts)It was the first year 18 year olds could vote in a presidential election.
angel823
(409 posts)and proud of it!
Angel in Texas
Windy
(5,944 posts)NWmomma
(22 posts)Wounded Bear
(58,706 posts)Haven't voted Repub since.
littlewolf
(3,813 posts)Bluerthanblue
(13,669 posts)otherwise I'd have had to wait till '80.
PufPuf23
(8,836 posts)Bluerthanblue
(13,669 posts)if you're old enough to be told to fight for your country you should at least be eligible to vote for those who decide to send you off to fight. Even though they weren't drafting girls like me, they were drafting my friends and relatives.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)My first vote, and my last vote for a Republican.
Arkansas Granny
(31,528 posts)snappyturtle
(14,656 posts)maryellen99
(3,789 posts)Go Vols
(5,902 posts)Freddie
(9,273 posts)Absentee ballot from college. Boy I feel old.
Response to Freddie (Reply #36)
LeftishBrit This message was self-deleted by its author.
mike_c
(36,281 posts)BeeBee
(1,074 posts)but I voted for Reagan in 1984. I've changed a lot since then.
Jeff In Milwaukee
(13,992 posts)I once owned a "Starland Vocal Band" LP.
We all grow...
chemp
(730 posts)HERVEPA
(6,107 posts)Punkingal
(9,522 posts)Gothmog
(145,554 posts)Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)And every Democratic nominee since.
cyberswede
(26,117 posts)and McGovern was the first candidate I ever voted for - in 1st grade mock election. He won my school. *sigh*
moondust
(20,006 posts)DLine
(397 posts)Yes, I was a stupid 21 year old kid who thought Rush was right. Ive seen the light though.
Xyzse
(8,217 posts)I am the same way.
I am ashamed to admit to it, but yes, I'm still an Independent.
I have never listened to Rush though as I always thought him some jerk-wad blowhard.
However, I didn't know enough about Gore at the time, and when GWB said "I just want to do the best I can do for the country". I believed him. Sadly, he actually did towards the wrong direction. I didn't know enough in regards to background politics, just what was being broadcasted during the snippets of news I had at the time.
charmay
(525 posts)RebelOne
(30,947 posts)monmouth
(21,078 posts)RKP5637
(67,112 posts)life long demo
(1,113 posts)I'm in awe of you. I turned 21 in 1963.
Chemisse
(30,817 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)Jimmy Carter
39th President of the United States
January 20, 1977 January 20, 1981
Vice President Walter Mondale
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter
I remember the way things were under Carter. The EEOC, OSHA, and what it meant for many of us, more opportunity to improves our lives. A lot of people were complacent about the New Deal programs that were still protecting working people and keeping things in balance thought that those policies were set in stone.
We couldn't stop the Reagan Democrats from falling for the Hollywood actor's slick campaign. It was a heartbreaking loss, it's still very painful. Since then, most of the history of this country has been under GOP rule, the same theocratic mindset Reagan promoted. I and many other people lost an awful during those years.
I was working in political campaigns of all kinds in the sixties and seventies, walking the streets, manning the phone banks, organizing, traveling and being in protests and walking the walk in my personal and professional life. I can't say that I have ever been free of the effects of politics in my life, directly or indirectly.
xmas74
(29,676 posts)I missed 1992 by a bit over one month but I helped in the local campaign office.
asjr
(10,479 posts)Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)asjr
(10,479 posts)time I suppose most Republicans had yet to go into and out of the Liars Closet.
Pab Sungenis
(9,612 posts)Actually, voted for Gore in the primary but Dukakis in the general.
Response to WI_DEM (Original post)
NEOhiodemocrat This message was self-deleted by its author.
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)One of very few candidates I ever voted for and required no nose holding.
NEOhiodemocrat
(912 posts)I have voted in every election since then except in Nov 1977 when I had my daughter on election day.
Evasporque
(2,133 posts)Chemisse
(30,817 posts)ellenfl
(8,660 posts)ablamj
(333 posts)Carter 1980
George McGovern
and
Barbara Jordan for Congress
Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)I was living in Texas in the '60s and I remember her coming to speak at our church (I was a teenager at the time). She was wonderful.
scorpiogirl
(717 posts)Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)First election I was eligible to participate in and it was stolen from the candidate I voted for.
Ain't that something?
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)I had just turned 18 that spring.
skip fox
(19,359 posts)It was impossible to vote for Humphery because of the Vietnam War.
On edit: This was in Wood County (Bowling Green Ohio) and is recorded in the Bowing Green Sentinal Tribune. A write in ballot.
Plus I wrote in Eldridge Cleaver for Sherrif. Also so recorded.
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)skip fox
(19,359 posts)But as you probably know, much more than a comedian with a bag of jokes.
I saw him on television a few (?) years ago and he was still an activist and a man of principle.
Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)I could have voted in '68, but I boycotted because of Chicago -- a bit of youthful angst that I regret somewhat (Humphrey was an honorable man), but I was just so turned off by the whole thing.
AngryOldDem
(14,061 posts)NMDemDist2
(49,313 posts)Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)opps I mean
the other George
George McGovern
cpwm17
(3,829 posts)I first voted for Jimmy Carter in 1980
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)tallahasseedem
(6,716 posts)I still remember how excited I was!
denverbill
(11,489 posts)Iggo
(47,565 posts)I got better.
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)i was still influenced by my reich-wing religious nutbag upbringing.
I got better too. That was my one and only fuck up. In a voting booth.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)Although my first overall vote was in '94
jojog
(372 posts)I am from Tenn 4th. Voted in Al's first cong run
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)Flashmann
(2,140 posts)Both times...
prairierose
(2,145 posts)hifiguy
(33,688 posts)Never missed one since.
maveric56
(137 posts)I was a whole 20 yrs old.
LeftishBrit
(41,210 posts)Bertha Venation
(21,484 posts)hunter
(38,326 posts)Or not.
I voted for Mondale that year, but I wasn't enjoying the rest of my life. My girlfriend, who'd claimed she was separated and divorcing her fundamentalist freak husband, decided to quit school and go back to him.
Apparently his god don't like educated women.
My first vote was for Carter.
Bertha Venation
(21,484 posts)God does not in fact like educated women. At least not the fundies' god. I got my education after college. I'm too smart for their god.
Spirochete
(5,264 posts)I was 18, and they had just changed the law so I could vote.
UrbScotty
(23,980 posts)Best Kenyan Socialist Muslim president we ever had!
Voted for him too as my first.
XemaSab
(60,212 posts)LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)Oh my god we totally ruined Democrats' chances in California, always a crucial swing state.
PDJane
(10,103 posts)cordelia
(2,174 posts)woofless
(2,670 posts)I was fortunate enough to be in Sargent Schriver's backyard the day one of the Kennedy sisters dumped a beer over Neil Diamond's head. A grand time was had by all.
oops. edit year.
ieoeja
(9,748 posts)DainBramaged
(39,191 posts)Richard Nixon Spiro Agnew Republican 31,783,783 43.42% 301 55.9%
Hubert Humphrey Edmund Muskie Democratic 31,271,839 42.72% 191 35.5%
George Wallace Curtis LeMay American Ind. 9,901,118 13.53% 46 8.6%
Other (+) - - 243,258 0.33% 0 0.0
If 512,000 more had voted for him, the course of history would have changed. But, too many so-called Dixiecrats sat out the election or voted for Wallace that NiXXon won.
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)JustAnotherGen
(31,879 posts)swayne
(383 posts)Been following politics as a kid since the Nixon-Humphrey-Wallace election in 1968. Couldn't vote until 1980 and felt I could only vote for a real winner when Clinton came along....
cecilfirefox
(784 posts)Douglas Carpenter
(20,226 posts)vote
veganlush
(2,049 posts)benld74
(9,909 posts)gademocrat7
(10,669 posts)ocd liberal
(407 posts)I was 18, after all...
deutsey
(20,166 posts)I knew he was going to lose, but I wanted to be able to say that I voted against Reagan.
MrSlayer
(22,143 posts)I obviously had no clue about politics back then.
lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)But probably Mondale.
I was old enough to vote for Carter, but if I recall correctly, I changed addresses and didn't get registered in time.
bowens43
(16,064 posts)lpbk2713
(42,766 posts)kwassa
(23,340 posts)well, it was a write-in.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)old guy
(3,283 posts)dhill926
(16,355 posts)longship
(40,416 posts)nt
Mendocino
(7,505 posts)My RW parents almost disowned me.
Pyrzqxgl
(1,356 posts)However I worked for and walked precincts for Adlai Stevenson in 1956
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)I'm in the "too damn old to care what you think" group at DU...
treestar
(82,383 posts)2ndAmForComputers
(3,527 posts)Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)Did other people (65+) sit out the '68 election like I did?
life long demo
(1,113 posts)But LBJ was my first presidential vote. I wouldn't be surprised if many people did not vote that year, it was a bad year all around.
Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)I just couldn't get excited about Hubert Humphrey when I was 21.
oldhippydude
(2,514 posts)would have preferred Bobby... actually i 2worked for Gene McCarthy in Oregon, but by that time in the primary, most of us were becoming aware that it was Bobby or HHS... of course a week later,Bobby was shot changing the whole eqation... after the disastrous convention i voted for HHH
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)Brigid
(17,621 posts)He must be turning in his grave at the state of the GOP today.
Raine
(30,540 posts)mohinoaklawnillinois
(4,741 posts)Doesn't seem like 40 years ago though. Seems like only yesterday.
slackmaster
(60,567 posts)DearAbby
(12,461 posts)RagAss
(13,832 posts)Bobbie Jo
(14,341 posts)nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)depressing night. depressing decade.
scheming daemons
(25,487 posts)coalition_unwilling
(14,180 posts)on t-shirt).
Became politically active in the struggles against apartheid (starting 1978-9) and the nuclear freeze campaign (1984-6).
NoPasaran
(17,291 posts)Carter's born-again religion gave me the creeps. (Voted for him in 1980 for all the good it did, though.)
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)NMlib
(34 posts)An amazing man .....
Callmecrazy
(3,065 posts)I was young and wanted to make sure I picked the winner on my first vote.
emulatorloo
(44,182 posts)Chemisse
(30,817 posts)louis-t
(23,297 posts)sakabatou
(42,174 posts)stlsaxman
(9,236 posts)southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)Turbineguy
(37,365 posts)I felt betrayed when Watergate came out. Since then it's been only Democrats for me.
liam_laddie
(1,321 posts)MiniMe
(21,718 posts)barbtries
(28,811 posts)i was frustrated in 1972 because i was not old enough to vote for McGovern.
soccer1
(343 posts)Bettie
(16,124 posts)I was sad that night...but I felt proud that I had done my civic duty and voted.
I've voted Democratic in every election since.
muntrv
(14,505 posts)Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)I wasn't old enough to vote Kerry in '04.
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)for me.
Happy 90th birthday, Senator McGovern!
PAMod
(906 posts)We've had great people on our tickets my entire voting career and I've always been proud to be a Democrat - even in '84 when it wasn't vogue.
panader0
(25,816 posts)gopiscrap
(23,765 posts)JI7
(89,264 posts)MrBig
(640 posts)I really wanted John Edwards to be the nominee...how things change.