Do you remember your first time? I do.

[trumad]

It was in 1976 and I was certainly nervous about doing something that I had never done before. As I stood behind my buddy in line, I could see the curtain up ahead and had no idea what to expect behind it. Once I entered, I saw how easy it was. I simply punched it out and left fully satisfied that I had just performed one of the greatest things that I could ever perform in my life.

I voted for a Democrat. (Jimmy Carter)

Since then I have voted ever single time straight party line Democrat and I am proud of every single vote. From an early age I looked at the Republican Party as a Party of Me, not We. In my mind I have never been wrong.

28 years ago I made the right decision, and today, 28 years later, I’ll do it again.

Word!

[Birthmark]

1. '76 was my first, too.

I voted for Ford...but I didn't enjoy it. :)

[JuniorPlankton]

2. Kick!

:kick:

[On the Road]

3. I Actually Have No Memory of It

I don't even remember what year it was.

[michigandem2]

4. 1992 William Jerfferson Clinton

was energizing and exciting and made me excited in politics and our future...I voted for him twice and then for Al Gore

I never thought I was a party line type of person but this election cycle made me realize I am liberal..I am a Democrat..and I am proud of it!

[frank frankly]

80. that sounds like me, too, melissa

i felt the spirit in 1992!

[Worst Username Ever]

5. 1996, Bill Clinton

It was the first time I was old enough to vote in a presidential election.

[Was_Immer]

10. UM the 1994 election must have been somewhere in Redneck ville

Cause we didnt have a presidential election in 1994.

Well maybe somewhere in the south. They are slow with news.

[Worst Username Ever]

16. Edited, thanks!

I was wondering why no one else showed up at that elementary school gym but me.

[Itchinjim]

6. 1980, Jimmy Carter and I don't regret it.

James E. Carter is one of the finest men this country has ever produced. The world would have been a much better place had he won in '80.

[Morning Dew]

7. '76 for me as well. I did it in front of my own parents, GULP !

Still, it was a beautiful thing - and my guy, well, that fella I turned out for, with his beautiful smile and that southern charm, he left me and went to Washington.

[deutsey]

8. '84...Mondale

I knew he was going to get creamed but I wanted to be able to say that I voted against Ronald Reagan.

[Was_Immer]

14. Did you actually like Mondale?

I couldnt stand him. WTF was he thinking about saying he'd raise taxes in his acceptence speech???

[deutsey]

17. No.

As I said, I wanted to say I had voted against Reagan.

I definitely had huge problems with Mondale and the way he ran his campaign.

"Where's the beef?" That was the most inspiring campaign slogan they could muster up? :eyes:

[trumad]

21. It's better than the lying RayGun who actually did raise taxes

....

[Was_Immer]

24. I agree, a monkey would have been better than senil-gan

But I didnt like Mondale! Why did the voters pick him in the primaries. Who else ran in the primaries anyone remember?

I think we could have won that election with a different candidate.

P.S. Look at the way mondale ran the recent senate campaign in place of wellstone. Did he learn NOTHING. Geeze.

[Morning Dew]

36. Oh, please.........

Wellstone died (was murdered) less than two weeks before that election. Mondale got drafted to fill the slot. With the memorial taking place a week before the election, that's how long he had to campaign - with even 1 month, he would have won it.

Go ahead, fault him for the shitty '84 campaign but not for that. Mondale is and was an honorable man.

[Minimus]

53. that was my first too

my sister and I still joke about being the only ones standing in line at the polls to vote for him. Everybody was riding the Reagan bandwagon.

No regrets. I am proud to say I have never voted for a repub.

[chelsea0011]

9. '76 was my first argument with poll workers

I wanted to write-in Eugene McCarthy who didn't qualify for the ballot in New York. I was told I couldn't write his name in. I finally got my way and was handed a seperate write-in ballot. I now wonder if it ended up in the trash.

[milkyway]

11. '76 was my first time also. I voted for Eugene McCarthy. Voted for him

again in '80, and Jesse Jackson in '84 and '88. Clinton was the first Dem I voted for, and voted Clinton again and then Gore. No change in goals from my younger years, just a change in philosophy on how best to get there.

[Mizmoon]

12. 1988 - voted for Ron Paul

I don't remember why, though.

[flygal]

52. 88 here too - voted Dukakis

[SW FL Dem]

13. 1976 Here Too!

I proudly voted for Jimmy Carter and have voted a pretty much straight Dem ticket since then.

[H3Dakota]

15. 1984 here...

I was finally old enough to vote... I wasn't nervous at all - excited more than anything. Voted Democrat even though the candidate wasn't my first choice..

[bowens43]

18. My first time was very similar to yours, also 1976.

My first time was also in 1976 (I had several 'first times' that year). Jimmy Carter was the man. Because he was my first he will always hold a special place in my heart, my mind and my soul. I have NEVER done it for a Republican and probably never will.....

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

19. 1972 for me. Voted for the Honorable George McGovern

and have voted Democratic ever since. Never voted for a puke and never will.

[LibDemAlways]

35. Me, too. The voting age

had been lowered to 18. I was 19 and proud to be voting for the anti-war candidate who, sad to say, was defeated by a repuke crook.

Less than two years later Nixon resigned in shame.

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

20. 1992

I was a young kid and higher than a f*ckin kite... We sneaked in through the fence to see Clinton at a rally in Costa Mesa, CA. It was wild. Bruce Hornsby, Linda Ronstadt, Whoopi Goldberg and the Sister Act nuns all performed. Thousands were there... I didn't think it was possible for a Democrat to win the presidency, so I was amazed when it happened. My vote was absentee. First time I actually went to the polls was to boot Pete Wilson in '98.

[0007]

22. Hooray for you!

I was cognizant of the election in 1944 between FDR and Dewey. Two years too young to vote in the 1952 Eisenhower & Stevenson election. I voted for JFK my first time against Nixon in 1960.

[Trailrider1951]

23. 1972, I voted for McGovern

I knew he was going to lose to Nixon, but there was no way I, a college student at the time, was going to vote repub. LOL, I still have my campaign button from that year, you know, the green one with the dove on it. I've been voting Democratic ever since.

[upsidedown]

25. 1996 -- Clinton

I had just turned 18 the month before and was so excited to be voting for the first time. Complete opposite of my brother -- He just became eligible to vote this year, but says he couldn't care less about this election. There's so much more at stake this year than in 1996, yet he refuses to vote. I will never understand it.

[LizW]

26. My first vote was for Carter, too

I voted at our little rural polling place (the country store in our community) on one of those old lever-type machines. Back in the rear of the store, the farmers were sitting around the wood stove, and everyone who came in to vote stopped to chat.

My mom and dad worked the polls and I had been hanging out there on election days as long as I could remember, watching the neighbors go behind that mysterious curtain. I was so excited when it was my turn.

In 80 I lived in a largely minority district. I was the only white person in the polling place when I voted. That was interesting.

In 84 I voted absentee. Can't remember why, but I didn't like it so much. I get a kick out of going to the polling place.

In 88 I voted at the clubhouse of my apartment complex in Montgomery, Alabama. It was raining, and that was the only time I've ever had to stand in line to vote.

Since we've lived here, I've always gone to the polls and have taken my kids with me. We've voted at two different fire stations, but now vote at the local mega Baptist church. I still think it's weird to vote in a church with the sun shining through the stained glass and washing my ballot with colors. However, they have good snacks and coffee! ;)

[American Tragedy]

27. 2004 is my first time!

I've been waiting for years.

I'm just the last of many generations of bleeding-heart liberals. :) My parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and others voted for Roosevelt, Stevenson, Kennedy, McGovern, Carter, Mondale, Dukakis, etc. Grandpa says that voting has never been more important than now. Other than a couple misguided inlaws, my HUGE Catholic extended family is voting for John Kerry!

[SW FL Dem]

31. Welcome to DU!

and congrats on your first vote!

[American Tragedy]

37. Thank you!

I'm bringin an entourage too, even though the state is hopelessly red, though you wouldn't necessarily guess it from looking at the signs and buttons in the city.

[myrna minx]

28. 1990 for Senator Wellstone

and 1992 for President Clinton!!! I went to a HUGE party that night. :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[Norquist Nemesis]

29. 1980 - Carter

When Reagan won, I felt a great sadness I couldn't explain. That was when I was 21 and had not yet learned to trust my gut.

Now I understand it was my intuition telling me something had gone seriously wrong with the direction of this country.

[lastliberalintexas]

59. I was 8 and I cried the next day

I wasn't old enough to stay up to see the election called that night! But our local paper had the tear stained face of Mr. Carter on the front page the next day. It was an awful feeling.

[sevendogs]

30. 1968

This was before college students could vote at their colleges. I drove home to Manhattan to cast my vote for Hubert Humphrey. I was sad because I had previously worked not only for Bobby Kennedy's Senate campaign in NY when I was in high school, but had worked at his NYC campaign headquarters for his Presidential campaign.

I actually shook Bobby Kennedy's hand 4 times, one of them at the airport in NY the night that LBJ announced that he would not run for re-election.

Guess that I am old. I have voted for every Democratic nominee for President ever since. Obviously, I have only been successful a few times. I just thought of it....Carter, Clinton and, now, Kerry. All of them have the same initial sound..."k".

Well, I will go with superstition....who cares as long as that person is not back in the WH.

[lastliberalintexas]

60. Welcome to DU, sevendogs

And to all the other newbies on this thread! :hi:

[ClassWarrior]

32. The day after my birthday, 1979. Minor local race.

1980 was my first big-ticket election.

24.

[demokatgurrl]

33. 1976 for me too, Jimmy Carter, I was 20 yrs old. n/t

[Gildor Inglorion]

34. Of course....it was 1964 (OK, I'm older than dirt)

I voted for LBJ on an immense paper ballot in a little rural "Lawground" in the middle of one of Gilmer County, GA's, militia districts. I have voted straight Democratic ever since, and the only votes I regret are for ol' sorry-ass Zell Miller and the current incumbent of Georgia's 10th District, who is a foul turncoat whore former Democrat who turned repuke. I didn't vote for Lester Maddox, by the way; certainly not in the primaries, and in the general elections, I just didn't vote in the races in which he was running.

[AngryOldDem]

38. 1980 -- John Anderson. Remember him?

[RetroLounge]

51. Yes I do. I voted for him also.

Met him at University of Illinois, Chicago, and was most impressed.

RL

[bill]

67. remember?

I worked on the campaign and passed out lit in northern NY. An impressive guy.

[Oreo]

39. 92 Clinton

I was living in NC under the Helms regime

[bburton11]

40. 1992

I was so excited to vote for Clinton.

[PDX Bara]

58. Congratulations!

On your first post! And welcome. You'll learn a lot and enjoy most of the discourse. This is where I get my most up-to-date news.

[cmf]

41. '96 Clinton, by absentee ballot

My first time going to the polls to vote (I had been many times as a child with my mother) was for Gore in '00.

[Modem Butterfly]

42. 1992 William Jefferson Clinton

Where have you gone, Joe Dimaggio
A nation turns its lonely eyes to you...

[Eurobabe]

43. 80, and I ain't telling you who

y'all'll skewer me. I was young and stupid, what can I say? Hey, at least I saw the light!!!

[B3Nut]

44. This year will be my first time...

....voting for a Democrat in a national election. Used to vote the elephant, but no more. Dem all the way this year. Bush needs to go back to Texas.

Todd in madtown

[ieoeja]

45. 1980

I voted for George Bush. Later that year I voted for Jimmy Carter during the general election.

[semillama]

46. 1992 - Clinton

Clinton 1996, Gore 2000.

The first election I remember is the 1980 election. I remember going to a John Anderson rally with my folks. I also remember when Reagan was shot, thinking "good!" - i must have been about 9 or so.

my folks then voted Mondale and Dukakis before I had my turn.

[Mizmoon]

83. I always remember Anderson

because I remember the title of a Time aticle about him. It was:

John Anderson: Can this Aardvark Fly?

[GreenPartyVoter]

47. Clinton was my first time. Nader was my second.

[liberal N proud]

48. 1980, and I was stupid enought to vote for Ronnie

It cost me help for college tution and 4 years without work.
Only time I ever voted reupube.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

49. This will be my first vote, a vote for Kerry.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

50. Got it on with George McGovern in '72

The polling place was at a neighbor's house up the block. Our family were the only Democrats that voted there, and they used to kid my mom and dad about getting in two Democratic ballots just for them. When the three of us went in to vote, Dad joked that they'd have to start ordering another Dem ballot. I was very proud.

They laughed and said something about how my folks kept turning them out (a veiled reference to the size of our Catholic family). My parents laughed and said something about that was part of the plan. It was all friendly, but on the way home they used some colorful words about people who vote GOP...the same words I had heard them use since I was old enough to understand that Republicans are selfish and greedy, and Democrats are generous and caring.

In a way I am glad that neither of my parents lived to see the evil and horror of the past four years. This year I am voting to restore their legacy of social equality and economic strength, so I can pass it on to future generations.

[skygazer]

54. My first Presidential election was 1980

I was 19 but I couldn't vote - I went into the hospital late on the evening of Monday, Nov. 3rd to have my daughter.

Voted in the '82 election and every election since. I don't think I've ever voted for a single Republican though I've voted for various independents and of course a Socialist - Bernie Sanders.

It was not the least bit intimidating for me - I grew up in Vermont where Town Meeting is still the form of government and I'd been going to Town Meeting with my parents since I was a little kid. It was a rite of passage to attend and cast my ballot.

[CBHagman]

55. I cast an absentee ballot in 1976.

To give you some idea of my motivation, I got my voter registration card just as soon as I was able, much sooner than I got my permanent driver's license.

I turned 18 in October of 1976 and voted by absentee ballot. Confession time: I voted for Gerald Ford. By 1980 my head was getting screwed on straight and I voted for Carter.

[loudestchick]

56. '88 - Dukakis

Even then, I didn't understand how people could trust a CIA man. voted Dem in every election since.

[lastliberalintexas]

57. 1990

Of course, it wasn't a presidential election year, but it was the first time I was eligible to vote. And I got to vote for Ann- in a primary, run off, AND general!

*sigh* Those were pretty decent days in Texas...


on edit- As for presidential, it was of course 1992. I supported Tsongas, but I really don't remember anymore if he'd already dropped out by the time of our primary. And I voted for Clinton in Nov.

[RunningFromCongress]

61. This IS my first time

in a presidential election, I've been voting in locals for the last 2 years

[prayin4rain]

62. Last election was my first time. It was very easy and fun.

I voted for Nader, but I live in Texas so I thought maybe I could help the Green Party. This year I will definitely vote Kerry of course. But yeah good times.

[musical-dem]

63. same for me!

Voted in '76 in a small town in northern New Jersey. The poll workers there gave me a lollipop because I was a first time voter. Voted a straight Democratic ticket and have done the same every since -- including voting this past Saturday here in Miami!



:bounce: :kick:

[shanti]

64. 1976 here too!

proud voter for jimmy carter and i was also stumping for jerry brown here in cali. i was 21.

[Strawman]

65. 1992 for Clinton

I was 21. I just missed being able to vote in the '88 election by about 6 months. I had voted before but that was my first Presidential election I voted in. I remember watching TV on election night with my 3 roommates who all voted for Clinton also in our college apartment. It was exciting. I really believed things were going to change in a major way. I could have never imagined the kind of shit that was in store for Clinton from Gingrich and the Republicans over the next 8 years. This time I think we all know what to expect and we'll be ready. Once we have President Kerry in office and take back Congress and solidify a liberal majority on the Supreme Court, I think were going to see some real progressive change in this country if we can just keep all this energy going.

[seemunkee]

66. 76 Carter for me too

And this is my son's first time. Wish I could go to the polls with him but he is at college and voting absentee.

[Chichiri]

68. 2000 - Harry Browne

Libertarian candidate.

I've grown up quite a bit since then.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

72. OMG you TOO???

ROFL! That's who I voted for in 2000, what a dork I was! I wasn't even completely clear on what Libertarian meant!

The sad thing is, I wanted Gore to win, but since I'm in TX, I just took the defeatist view that it didn't matter.

2000 wasn't my first time, I was just surprised to find another Browne voter. I couldn't even remember his name.

[Langis]

69. 2004 John Kerry

I voted for the first time two days ago. It felt great.

[indie_voter]

70. 1982, John Kerry. First presidential, 1984, Mondale n/t

[cheshire]

71. 72 in total protest. I feel it all over again. This time we win.

[JPJones]

73. 1988 - GHWB n/t

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

74. I missed being old enough in 1988 by just a few weeks

so I didn't get to vote that year.

First election I voted in was 1992 and I voted for Ross Perot. Was glad Clinton won.

1996, I moved and didn't know about registration deadlines, missed it and didn't get to vote for Clinton like I wanted to. I literally sat on my couch and cried. When he won, I was ecstatic.

In 2000 I voted for the Libertarian candidate even though I wanted Gore to win. Was convinced bush would never win.

Ahem.

Voted proudly for Kerry and Edwards the other day. NEVER felt better about a vote in my entire life.

Boo-YA!

[Eugene]

75. 1984 - Mondale

:dem:

:bounce: Go Red Sox!

[derbstyron]

76. 1988

I was so excited. I had signed up two years earlier when I was sixteen. I had always been a news junkie even when I was a kid.

I voted for Dukasis even though I knew it wouldn't matter.

People kept smiling at me at the polls because I was like the only "kid" around.

[Catherine Vincent]

77. Me too. I can contrast that with the other big thing for the first time.

The other was more exciting.:-)

[rndmprsn]

78. 1992 big dog bill!

[trumad]

79. Lot's of youngsters here at DU

[DemBones DemBones]

85. Yes, but I'm an oldie but a goodie; first vote was Eugene McCarthy in 1968

Voting against war then and now. :hippie:

[in_cog_ni_to]

81. Yup. Same as you.

1976 Jimmy Carter. I also vote straight Dem ticket in every election. I'm proud to say, I have NEVER voted for a repuke. I'm proud of that too. We Democrats stand for so much more than greed, power, hatred, selfishness and $$$$$$$$$. I'm a lifelong LIBERAL and PROUD of it!

[PopSixSquish]

82. William Jefferson Clinton - 1992

and I was damn proud to do so!

[hippiegranny]

84. yes, and it was for

Carter. I was 19 years old, and it was the first election for I was eligible to vote. Although I never was as informed as I am now, I have never missed voting in a presidential election. (or for that matter a non-presidentail national election)

[spanone]

86. 1972 McGovern.....