After which 21st century election cycle did you feel happiest?

[TDAS04]

2012 for me, Obama’s reelection.  I enjoyed that result even more than 2008, when I was bit disappointed my first choice—HRC—didn’t get it.  Also, unlike 2008, gay marriage passed at the ballot box, and had Obama’s support.  It seemed that the Obama coalition had a modest yet durable coalition, that a cool-headed, center-left approach towards governance would carry the day, that the progress would continue after 2016 under a President Hillary Clinton…(lol)

I didn’t pick 2020, even though Trump was by far the most loathsome candidate, due to uncertainty with the close contests of that dragged-out election night, Trump and his followers’ threats, and concern about the fragile Democratic control of government.

EDIT:  Yes, most of you are too young to remember all of them, just vote the one after which you felt best.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

I'm going to say 2014.  It was a Republican domination at all levels, and a huge pro-life constitutional amendment that I'd personally campaigned for passed in Tennessee (despite being BADLY outfunded).  It was also a really good night for me personally, with where I was in life.

2016 is the other obvious contender, but there was still some level of lingering disappointment that it wasn't a different Republican.  There was something special about it both being the only time I can remember a Republican trifecta being elected and about the element of surprise in the win, though.

2012 was the only Election Night that I can remember that actually went worse than my expectations.  But, that was because I allowed myself to only believe Gallup and Rasmussen polls (as 16 year old me knew no better).

[HillGoose]

imagine ever having felt happy

[Hope For A New Era]

i literally cannot remember an election night that was not disappointing, except for january 5, 2021

so i guess that

[darklordoftech]

imagine ever having felt happy

Weren’t you happy in 2002 and 2004?

[HillGoose]

imagine ever having felt happy

Weren’t you happy in 2002 and 2004?

i can't remember those years tbh but politically they were bangin it seems like

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

Election night '08 really was a unique moment of political optimism. Never experienced anything like it since.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Have only followed since 2012 , so the answer is 2014 and it’s not remotely close

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Election night '08 really was a unique moment of political optimism. Never experienced anything like it since.

[PSOL]

2020 was just a year of comeuppance for my enemies.

[CumbrianLefty]

Election night '08 really was a unique moment of political optimism. Never experienced anything like it since.

This, it seemed very comparable to 1997 over here.

(let's not go too much into the longer term aftermath in either case, eh)

[OSR stands with Israel]

Election night '08 really was a unique moment of political optimism. Never experienced anything like it since.

This, it seemed very comparable to 1997 over here.

(let's not go too much into the longer term aftermath in either case, eh)

The UK press actually compared 2008 To 1997

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-republicans-are-where-the-tories-were-in-1997/amp

[jaichind]

2016

[Never Made it to Graceland]

2016

Comical.

[Del Tachi]

Even as a partisan Republican, I cannot but get a bit giddy when considering the historical significance of 2008.  Electing a Black man as president is something we can all be proud of.

[Alben Barkley]

2020 was definitely the biggest “ding dong the witch is dead” moment, but 2008 was the most optimistic at the time.

Different vibes for me.

2018 was actually kinda a mixed bag. The Florida results combined with the FiveThirtyEight forecast rapidly moving towards the GOP sent me into a state of panic at first. That false alarm is why I knew NOT to panic when Florida went badly in 2020, however.

[Beet]

2012.

After 2008 I was happy for about a week and then the reality of the coming economic apocalypse sunk in.

[MarkD]

2018. It was the year I was rooting for the Democrats to win the House, because I was hoping that they would impeach Trump.

[7,052,770]

Probably 2020 because of the intense relief. I've saved my texts with timestamps from the night and reread them a few times just to relive the ascent from nervous optimism at 7 to "I think Biden probably has this" at 9 to "omg The Needle flipped Georgia to Biden it's over!!" at 11.

[FT-02 Senator A.F.E. 🇵🇸🤝🇺🇸🤝🇺🇦]

2020 for obvious reasons but 2012 comes in second. Not for obvious reasons though. See, I was in, I think elementary school at the time, and some girl was spreading a rumor that Romney was going to force everybody to wear tuxedos and fancy dresses. Naturally, being a little kid, I utterly despised putting on fancy clothes, so I had in essence became a diehard Obama hack thanks to her.

[dw93]

2012. It was the first election I was eligible to vote in (I was 19), I voted for Obama, and he ended up winning by a bigger margin than I expected. The Democrats were also able to net gains in the House and gain two seats in the Senate to boot.

After that was 2018, as I was happy there was finally gonna be a meaningful check on Trump.



Can't decide between what was the worst between 2004 and 2016.

[Vosem]

(Having only followed politics since 2007), 2010 seems like a unique moment of hope, when it seemed that the whole of American society was rising up against statism. It was the first set of electoral victories I really ever experienced and I've never had anything quite like them happen again.

[Ferguson97]

2020, that was like a huge weight being lifted off my shoulders.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Write-in: 2021 Georgia runoffs.

[THG]

2014. I agree with ExtremeRepublican’s take on 2016.

Hopefully 2022 and 2024 are even better.