What was your first election night?

[MABA 2020]

2016 was my first US election and what a one to start off with

[Anna Komnene]

First one I remember watching the result was 2000. It was hard not to be aware of it with the whole Florida fiasco tbh. I was in a club that went to clean up some local beaches, and I think I broke my school teacher's heart when I told her I was worried what would happen to the environment if Bush won.

[McGarnagle]

I remember seeing Clinton, Bush Sr. and Perot debate on TV in 1992 when I was three. I don't remember anything about '96 for some reason - except that episode of The Simpsons where Kang and Kodos are Clinton and Dole.

I remember 2000 and all the confusion that went with it. I was eleven and it was the first time I paid any attention to politics. I also remember 9/11 and the aftermath vividly - it happened less than a month after I turned twelve.

After seeing Bush invade Iraq and learning it was under false pretenses, I really wanted Kerry to win. 2004 was the first election I paid close attention to and wished I could vote in. I even went about making a prediction map - but I missed Ohio, New Mexico and Iowa. I'd been expecting Kerry to win and was very disappointed. I was in ninth grade, and the next day I had to put up with a bunch of aggressive jock bully kids celebrating Bush's victory. Bunch of assholes.

I watched the DNC during the 2004 election, and saw Obama's keynote address live as it happened. Me and my mom turned to each other and said, "That guy's gonna be President one day. What a speech!" We were assuming it would be later on like in 2012 or 2016 or 2020 - we didn't know it would be as soon as 2008. I voted for him in the primary, then on Election Night. I was 19 and wasn't old enough to drink yet, but my folks kindly allowed me one glass of champagne to celebrate.

I was less enthused with Obama in 2012 than I was in 2008, but still was happy to vote for him to prevent Romney from getting in. I still celebrated it as a victory. Little did I know that bigger problems were around the corner.

November 8, 2016 was, to say the least, not a fun night. Hopefully November 3 will be.

[KYRockefeller]

1996.  I thought Dole would win because I wasn't watching the polls very much as a young kid, so I was pretty shocked when Clinton destroyed him as much as he did (as an adult, I can see why!).

[NOVA Green]

Hmmm... as a Dude in his Mid '40s...  (Assuming we are talking PRES elections).

1.) 1980--- don't recall watching that on TV let alone on the radio.... Tons of John Anderson signs floating around.

2.) 1984--- Watched all of the PRES and VP debates on a small B&W TV in the garage...

Pretty sure the TV got shot off early once it was clear that Reagan was gonna dominate everything.

3.) 1988--- Was in the Democratic Party HQ with maybe (100+) watching the results live (Working Class and couldn't afford cable) in my mid Teens... Election results start coming in and we start seeing 60-40 type numbers in NC, GA, & VA.... evening goes downhill from there...

4.) 1992--- Was in the dorms in a college in the Midwest and wander drunk into the TV room at the Student Union every hour or so, and although I was gratified to see Bush Sr go down, wasn't a fan of Bill Clinton, and voted either Perot or the "Green Progressive" for PRES in '92...

Could go on about every single PRES election results I remember from '88-'16 in much greater detail and various states coming in, but yeah who really want's to hear all of that?

[SingingAnalyst]

I don't remember anything about '96 for some reason

I even went about making a prediction map - but I missed Ohio, New Mexico and Iowa. I'd been expecting Kerry to win and was very disappointed. I was in ninth grade, and the next day I had to put up with a bunch of aggressive jock bully kids celebrating Bush's victory. Bunch of assholes.

November 8, 2016 was, to say the least, not a fun night. Hopefully November 3 will be.

1996 was boring; that's why you don't remember it.

Making a prediction map at 15 is pretty impressive! Sorry about the jock/bully experience.

On Nov. 8, 2016 I slept from midnight to 3 AM so I missed a lot. I do know most of my friends hated Trump, but many voted 3rd party. The meltdown on FB the next day was palpable.

[TheTide]

I love the assumption that almost no one here is over 30. Maybe it's true, but still kind of amusing.

Anyhow, 2004 for me. Not closely, but I wanted Bush to lose. 2008 I followed closely, even if I was a bit rusty on some of the finer details.

[smoltchanov]

1964. Using radio in Moscow, Russia (then - soviet Union))))))

[Frodo]

1964. Using radio in Moscow, Russia (then - soviet Union))))))

Were you rooting for President Lyndon Johnson? 

[Holy Unifying Centrist]

2024 will be my first election night! My parents say I am too young to watch 2020

[ProgressiveModerate]

2024 will be my first election night! My parents say I am too young to watch 2020

Man that's gotta suck! I already made a deal with my parents to let me stay up for 2020 because they know how invested in it I am

[limac333]

The first election night that I stayed up for was 2000, with Tim Russert and his whiteboard doing electoral math.

[Calthrina950]

2008 is the first election that I actually remember. My late mother (who passed in 2009) was an enthusiastic Obama supporter, and I remember us going to the DMV, where I dropped her ballot in the box. We were very excited that night as the returns came in and Obama was projected the winner. 2012 was the first election in which I paid more substantive attention, and I remember when Obama was projected to have won reelection.

I went and told my father about it, but he wasn't that moved-in contrast to my mother, he was never an enthusiastic Obama supporter, has been very critical of him in recent years, went for Trump in 2016, and only voted for Obama in 2012 because of my stepmother's pleas. 2016 was the first Election Night I watched all the way through, and I remember my excitement when Hillary Clinton lost (which is ironic in hindsight).

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Didn't follow 2008 or 2012. Remember some coverage about the first black president to be elected in 2008 and when I rebelled in school, i had to make a task about the Republican primaries of 2012 as a sanction lol, so that's the only thing i remember about 2012. In 2016 i paid closely attention to the American presidential election, mostly because of Bernie Sanders. Sanders politically activated me, and is the reason why I chose to be a member of PVDA. Without Sanders, i wouldn't have paid attention to the election, would likely not have been a member of PVDA and would not be here on Atlas.

I followed the 2007, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2019 Belgian elections on TV. I also followed the Dutch election in i think 2018 as well. And followed the British elections of 2015 (not having a preference for Cameron or Milliband), the Brexit referendum and the election of 2019 as well, and briefly followed the last French election on french television as well.

UK, USA and Belgian elections are most interesting, because esp. in the latter they don't immediately project who is the winner. In Belgium, there is no exit-poll data, there is even little polling. You need to be happy if you get more than 4 polls a year in Belgium.

[MATTROSE94]

2004, though I vaguely remember some details about the 2000 election. I know that my mother voted for George W. Bush, wheres my father voted for Al Gore.  In 2004, I recall my mother voted for George W. Bush for re-election and my father voting for John Kerry.