Presidential election memories

[TDAS04]

1996:  I was 9.  I had nothing against Clinton, but I rooted for Bob Dole because Abraham Lincoln and many other of my favorite presidents were Republican (I knew all the presidents by then).  I watched a debate with my parents, and Dole blinked a lot.  I was sad when he lost; my mom was hospitalized with pneumonia on Election Day, and I caught pneumonia the day after.

I did pay attention to the primaries that year also.  The first campaign ad I noticed was for Steve Forbes; it mentioned Ronald Reagan.  I thought it was cool that a Buchanan was running, since that was the name of a past president, not realizing how crappy both were.  I remember my Dad saying Pat Buchanan won New Hampshire.  Also, I did get to see part of a debate on TV among Dole, Buchanan, Forbes, and Lamar Alexander.  My grandma grew tired of it and turned it off.  I was disappointed, but didn’t say anything.

I also noticed the senate race that year.  A Tim Johnson ad accused Larry Pressler of “throwing mud” and “running a dirty campaign.”  I don’t quite remember how literally I took it.

2000:  Not such a Republican anymore after learning more about what the parties stood for.  I began watching the news regularly that fall, moreso after the election as I was glued to the TV during the Florida fiasco.  I secretly rooted for Al Gore, but acted like I didn’t have a preference.

2004:  I was still interested, but didn’t watch as much news because I was stressed out at school during 11th grade.

2008:  By then, I was completely honest with myself about being a liberal.  I payed close attention from the 2006 midterms to Obama’s inauguration.  I waffled quite a bit between Obama and Hillary.  Once that was over, I got firmly behind Obama and enthusiastically voted straight Democratic ticket.

2012:  I was even more enthusiastic about voting for Obama this time.  He had endorsed gay marriage, and I disliked Romney more than McCain.  My parents and I were very happy on election night.  It was also wonderful to see gay marriage finally win at the ballot box.  Things looked up for the country.  On with continuing the progress by electing Hillary in 2016.  LOL

2016:  Ugh.  (Though my personal life began to get more productive.)

2020:  This should be much better.

Question to the OP:  Did you grow up in Georgia?  Goldwater and Wallace would have carried your state then.