...that made you associate with whatever party you associate with? (Note that it's not required that your answer be an election in which you actually voted.)
For me, 1972. That's not to say that I would be a Democrat before then, but 1972 was THE election that contributed the most to my being a Republican today.
Neither. The corporations own both the Republicans and Democrats. It's money. Big money.
In my first presidential election — in 1992 — I didn't relate to either Team Red or Team Blue. I wasn't conscious of them. And I liked Ross Perot and voted outside the two major parties (with no regard nor regret). And afterward, I went with
performance, and I voted for Bill Clinton's re-election in 1996. Figured Al Gore would be fine in 2000 — but wasn't pitting Gore-vs.-Bush like so many. In 2004, I was believing the Dems not being as serious as the Repubs on war, I went with re-election of Bush. Then Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, and then I got tired of the excessive failings and embarassing, hypocritical scandals of the Bush/Cheney administration (and the party especially on many fronts), and I wanted the Democrats to win back the White House in 2008. Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton. Whomever.
Now, with Obama having Rahm Emanuel and Tim Geithner and Larry Summers and continuation of Ben Bernanke and Republican Lite policy (and the needless bipartisanship) — and their ignoring the progressives (who have gotten little or nothing in the past year, including with this thus far health bill) — is turning me. At this point, I don't care if the Dems — shockers! — lose the midterms. If this health-insurance "reform" bill doesn't have the public-insurance option, I will vote outside the two parties in the 2010 midterms. (I'm wondering if Obama and the Dems wouldn't mind losing them!) If I find myself further disappointed by Obama in 2012, he won't get my vote. But certainly neither will the Republicans — unless that party's platform, and the sounds of their loudest voices, changes. Right now, they're obsessed with power and I won't be supporting them with my vote. Pure and simple: I'm not required to
assist a political party with my vote just out of this "lesser of two evils" allowance.
