Who was the first presidential candidate you voted for in a General Election?

[WI_DEM]

Mine--Walter (Fritz) Mondale in 1984



I withstood the Reagan landslide and voted Democratic, as I've done in every election since.

[jberryhill]

1. Carter - '80

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

118. Same Here (nt)

[finecraft]

124. Same here (n/t)

[Pool Hall Ace]

151. And me too. n/t

[Autumn Colors]

153. Jimmy Carter '80, too (nt)

[TheDebbieDee]

177. Ditto......I refuse to be held responsible for the image of the fat,

drug-addicted, Dominican Republic boy-chasing, loud-mouth that the word "ditto" brings to your mind!

[hack89]

2. Jimmy Carter 1980. nt

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

3. Carter 76 n/t

[phylny]

180. I was proud to cast my first vote as an 18-year old in 1976 for Jimmy Carter! n/t

[jehop61]

4. Lyndon Johnson

1964

[Spider Jerusalem]

5. Bill Clinton, 1996

[AllyCat]

6. Mondale '04

[Chorophyll]

7. Mondale for me too, WI_DEM

It was my first vote as a punk college kid. And it was not fun. Still, I'd rather back a loser knowing I was trying to do the right thing for my country. Hell will freeze over before I'd vote for a non-Dem.

[nichomachus]

8. Lyndon Johnson

I had intended to vote for JFK, which was why I ran down and registered on the day after my 21st birthday -- November 21, 1963.

[Lucy Goosey]

110. November 21, 1963?

...ouch.

[life long demo]

125. Lyndon Johnson also

Because I wasn't old enough to vote for Pres. Kennedy when he ran the first time, but and you know the rest of that story. A lot of people don't know that you had to be 21 to vote at that time. Have never voted for a republican EVER.

[barbtries]

171. me either.

i can't even imagine doing so.

[onehandle]

9. President Carter. I didn't know a lot about politics at the time...

...but I knew enough to know that Reagan was bad news.

[GarroHorus]

10. Mondale here, too. n/t

[HockeyMom]

11. McGovern

[csziggy]

169. Yes, 1972 - McGovern!

[trof]

194. Same here, although I could have voted for JFK.

Didn't register to vote until I was 30.

[sinkingfeeling]

12. George McGovern - 1972 when I was 24. Couldn't vote in 1968 as a

20 year-old.

[HockeyMom]

174. Same here

We are the same age then!

[sinkingfeeling]

193. I turned 64 yesterday.

[karynnj]

192. McGovern - I was 22 and couldn't vote as an 18 year old

[Viking12]

13. Mondale '84 for me too. I actually helped him win 10 of his electoral votes.

[pinto]

14. McGovern, 1972

[redgreenandblue]

15. John Kerry.

[Marrah_G]

16. I think it was Dukakis

[gabeana]

178. me too

[femmocrat]

17. George McGovern, 1972.

With pride.

[permatex]

18. Tricky Dick

1969. Have since wised up.

[Wounded Bear]

29. I believe you mean '68

[permatex]

31. Sorry about that

you know, old age and all. Voted 68, he was inaugurated in 69.

[RedStateLiberal]

19. Bill Clinton - 1992

I'll never forget registering to vote when I turned 18. It was the end of the Reagan era and Bush I was president. They required at the time that I declare party affiliation. I knew very little about politics so I just 'went with the flow' and said Republican. Boy did I regret that once I really started paying attention but at least I can tell my conservative friends that I am a reformed Repub.

[wendylaroux]

20. Jimmy Carter

[mac56]

21. Carter/Mondale '76

[shanti]

112. Carter/Mondale 1976

I was 21, yes indeed! (just noticed there are a LOT of us on this thread)

[Hell Hath No Fury]

22. My first vote - Carter in '80.

My first Presidential pick - Hubert Humphrey in 1968 when I was 8 years old. I didn't like Nixon because he had creepy eyes -- how right I was.

[Still Sensible]

23. Jimmy Carter, 1976

[JohnnyRingo]

24. McGovern '72

It was the first year 18 year olds could vote in a presidential election.

[angel823]

25. Jimmy Carter - 1980

and proud of it!

Angel in Texas

[Windy]

63. Me too! nt

[NWmomma]

26. clinton - second term

[Wounded Bear]

27. Nixon 1972....

Haven't voted Repub since.

[littlewolf]

28. Jimmy Carter ... nt

[Bluerthanblue]

30. Jimmy Carter '76 thanks to 26th Amendment-

otherwise I'd have had to wait till '80.

[PufPuf23]

91. George McGovern 1972 also thanks to 26th Amendment nt

[Bluerthanblue]

92. a good amendment-

if you're old enough to be told to fight for your country you should at least be eligible to vote for those who decide to send you off to fight. Even though they weren't drafting girls like me, they were drafting my friends and relatives.

[Scuba]

32. Richard Milhouse Nixon, 1972...

My first vote, and my last vote for a Republican.

[Arkansas Granny]

33. Hubert Humphrey - 1968.

[snappyturtle]

154. Me too...Hubert Humphrey!

[maryellen99]

34. Bill Clinton 1992 nt

[Go Vols]

35. Jimmy Carter '80

[Freddie]

36. Carter 1976

Absentee ballot from college. Boy I feel old.

[mike_c]

37. Carter, 1976

[BeeBee]

38. I'm a little ashamed to say it....

but I voted for Reagan in 1984. I've changed a lot since then.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

119. It's OK....

I once owned a "Starland Vocal Band" LP.

We all grow...

[chemp]

39. I voted for Mondale '84

[broiles]

40. LBJ

[HERVEPA]

41. McGovern '72

[Punkingal]

42. Carter 76

[Gothmog]

43. Carter 1976 nt

[Bluenorthwest]

44. Jimmy Carter, 1980

And every Democratic nominee since.

[cyberswede]

45. Mondale in my first general

and McGovern was the first candidate I ever voted for - in 1st grade mock election. He won my school. *sigh*

[moondust]

46. McGovern.

[DLine]

47. George W Bush in 2000

Yes, I was a stupid 21 year old kid who thought Rush was right. Ive seen the light though.

[Xyzse]

78. I am guessing you're my age.

I am the same way.
I am ashamed to admit to it, but yes, I'm still an Independent.

I have never listened to Rush though as I always thought him some jerk-wad blowhard.
However, I didn't know enough about Gore at the time, and when GWB said "I just want to do the best I can do for the country". I believed him. Sadly, he actually did towards the wrong direction. I didn't know enough in regards to background politics, just what was being broadcasted during the snippets of news I had at the time.

[charmay]

48. Carter '76

[RebelOne]

49. John F. Kennedy n/t

[monmouth]

66. Me too. Are we old or what?..LOL...n/t

[RKP5637]

105. Same here, JFK! Sounds ancient, doesn't it! LOL n/t

[life long demo]

126. God bless all you guys

I'm in awe of you. I turned 21 in 1963.

[Chemisse]

159. Awesome!

[freshwest]

50. The first one that I was old enough to vote for POTUS:

Jimmy Carter

39th President of the United States
January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981
Vice President Walter Mondale

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter

I remember the way things were under Carter. The EEOC, OSHA, and what it meant for many of us, more opportunity to improves our lives. A lot of people were complacent about the New Deal programs that were still protecting working people and keeping things in balance thought that those policies were set in stone.

We couldn't stop the Reagan Democrats from falling for the Hollywood actor's slick campaign. It was a heartbreaking loss, it's still very painful. Since then, most of the history of this country has been under GOP rule, the same theocratic mindset Reagan promoted. I and many other people lost an awful during those years.

I was working in political campaigns of all kinds in the sixties and seventies, walking the streets, manning the phone banks, organizing, traveling and being in protests and walking the walk in my personal and professional life. I can't say that I have ever been free of the effects of politics in my life, directly or indirectly.

[xmas74]

51. Clinton-1996.

I missed 1992 by a bit over one month but I helped in the local campaign office.

[asjr]

52. Dwight Eisenhower

[Warren Stupidity]

82. That's impressive.

[asjr]

98. He is the only Republican I trusted. Although at the

time I suppose most Republicans had yet to go into and out of the Liars Closet.

[Pab Sungenis]

53. Turned 18 in 1987. Worked for Mondale, voted for Dukakis.

Actually, voted for Gore in the primary but Dukakis in the general.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

55. Dr. Benjamin Spock Peace & Freedom Party 1968

One of very few candidates I ever voted for and required no nose holding.

[NEOhiodemocrat]

56. McGovern in 1972

I have voted in every election since then except in Nov 1977 when I had my daughter on election day.

[Evasporque]

57. you just told the trolls how old you are....nt

[Chemisse]

160. Who cares??

[ellenfl]

58. Jimmy Carter 1976

[ablamj]

59. Carter 1980

Carter 1980

[ananda]

60. 1972

George McGovern

and

Barbara Jordan for Congress

[Blue_In_AK]

68. I loved Barbara Jordan.

I was living in Texas in the '60s and I remember her coming to speak at our church (I was a teenager at the time). She was wonderful.

[scorpiogirl]

61. Clinton n/t

[Cali_Democrat]

62. Gore 2000

First election I was eligible to participate in and it was stolen from the candidate I voted for.

Ain't that something?

[Odin2005]

64. Kerry in '04

I had just turned 18 that spring.

[skip fox]

65. Dick Gregory in 1968!

It was impossible to vote for Humphery because of the Vietnam War.

On edit: This was in Wood County (Bowling Green Ohio) and is recorded in the Bowing Green Sentinal Tribune. A write in ballot.

Plus I wrote in Eldridge Cleaver for Sherrif. Also so recorded.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

73. One of my favorite Dick Gregory lines:

"Buying life insurance is like betting on a sure thing and hoping you lose."

[skip fox]

143. Yes, he was funny.

But as you probably know, much more than a comedian with a bag of jokes.

I saw him on television a few (?) years ago and he was still an activist and a man of principle.

[Blue_In_AK]

67. I voted for George McGovern in 1972.

I could have voted in '68, but I boycotted because of Chicago -- a bit of youthful angst that I regret somewhat (Humphrey was an honorable man), but I was just so turned off by the whole thing.

[AngryOldDem]

69. John Anderson -- 1980

[NMDemDist2]

182. me too, n/t

[emilyg]

70. JFK

[Ichingcarpenter]

71. George Bush

opps I mean
the other George

George McGovern

[kiranon]

72. JFK

[cpwm17]

76. The day I was born.

I first voted for Jimmy Carter in 1980

[Comrade Grumpy]

74. My home boy, George McGovern.

[tallahasseedem]

75. William Jefferson Clinton - 1996

I still remember how excited I was!

[denverbill]

77. Ford in 76. Connolly in the 80 primary. Democrat ever since.

[Iggo]

79. Ronald Reagan --1980

I got better.

[OriginalGeek]

191. reagan 84

i was still influenced by my reich-wing religious nutbag upbringing.

I got better too. That was my one and only fuck up. In a voting booth.

[Blue_Tires]

80. Clinton/Gore 1996

Although my first overall vote was in '94

[jojog]

81. Jimmy Carter Al Gore 1976

I am from Tenn 4th. Voted in Al's first cong run

[Warren Stupidity]

83. McGovern.

[Flashmann]

84. Jimmy Carter

Both times...

[prairierose]

85. 1972-- George McGovern...today is the Senator's 90th birthday n/t

[hifiguy]

86. Jimmy Carter, in 1976.

Never missed one since.

[maveric56]

87. Jimmy Carter 1976

I was a whole 20 yrs old.

[LeftishBrit]

89. First General Election: Labour for Michael Foot against Thatcher, 1983

[Bertha Venation]

90. Ronald Wilson Reagan, 1984.

[hunter]

130. Ah, to be young again...

Or not.



I voted for Mondale that year, but I wasn't enjoying the rest of my life. My girlfriend, who'd claimed she was separated and divorcing her fundamentalist freak husband, decided to quit school and go back to him.

Apparently his god don't like educated women.

My first vote was for Carter.

[Bertha Venation]

147. Or not. I'll take 49 over 21 anyday.

God does not in fact like educated women. At least not the fundies' god. I got my education after college. I'm too smart for their god.

[Spirochete]

93. McGovern, 1972

I was 18, and they had just changed the law so I could vote.

[UrbScotty]

94. Khalid Sheikh bin Hussein bin Soetoro bin Obumbum!

Best Kenyan Socialist Muslim president we ever had!

[sakabatou]

164. XD

Voted for him too as my first.

[XemaSab]

95. Nader, 1996

[LeftyMom]

106. Nader, 2000.

Oh my god we totally ruined Democrats' chances in California, always a crucial swing state.

[PDJane]

96. Actually, prime Minister. Pierre Elliot Trudeau.

[cordelia]

97. Carter, '76

[woofless]

99. McGovern in '72.

I was fortunate enough to be in Sargent Schriver's backyard the day one of the Kennedy sisters dumped a beer over Neil Diamond's head. A grand time was had by all.

oops. edit year.

[ieoeja]

100. Carter in '80. Voted Bush in the primary. n/t

[DainBramaged]

101. One of my lifelong heroes Hubert Humphrey

Richard Nixon Spiro Agnew Republican 31,783,783 43.42% 301 55.9%
Hubert Humphrey Edmund Muskie Democratic 31,271,839 42.72% 191 35.5%
George Wallace Curtis LeMay American Ind. 9,901,118 13.53% 46 8.6%
Other (+) - - 243,258 0.33% 0 0.0


If 512,000 more had voted for him, the course of history would have changed. But, too many so-called Dixiecrats sat out the election or voted for Wallace that NiXXon won.

[RKP5637]

102. JFK! n/t

[JustAnotherGen]

103. Clinton - 1992

[swayne]

104. Clinton 1992

Been following politics as a kid since the Nixon-Humphrey-Wallace election in 1968. Couldn't vote until 1980 and felt I could only vote for a real winner when Clinton came along....

[cecilfirefox]

107. The words on my ballot in Kansas said 'Obama and Biden' and thats what I hit! ;) nt

[Douglas Carpenter]

108. George McGovern, of course on my 18th birthday - the first general eleciton where 18 y/o's could

vote

[veganlush]

109. Mondale n/t

[benld74]

111. CARTER

[Dash87]

113. Obama

[gademocrat7]

114. George McGovern, 1972

[ocd liberal]

115. John Anderson - 1980

I was 18, after all...

[deutsey]

116. Mondale was mine too

I knew he was going to lose, but I wanted to be able to say that I voted against Reagan.

[MrSlayer]

117. Poppy Bush in 88.

I obviously had no clue about politics back then.

[lumberjack_jeff]

120. 1980. Carter, maybe.

But probably Mondale.

I was old enough to vote for Carter, but if I recall correctly, I changed addresses and didn't get registered in time.

[bowens43]

121. Carter 1976

[lpbk2713]

122. JFK and every Dem Prez nominee ever since.

[kwassa]

123. George Washington.

well, it was a write-in.

[hobbit709]

127. McGovern 1972

[old guy]

128. Lyndon Johnson

[dhill926]

129. Proudly for George McGovern.....

[longship]

131. George McGovern

nt

[Mendocino]

132. Jimmy Carter 76

My RW parents almost disowned me.

[Pyrzqxgl]

133. John Fitzgerald Kennedy in 1960

However I worked for and walked precincts for Adlai Stevenson in 1956

[CTyankee]

183. Me, too. I guess we are in a small group here...not too many others.

I'm in the "too damn old to care what you think" group at DU...

[treestar]

134. Same as yours

[2ndAmForComputers]

135. John C. Frémont

[Blue_In_AK]

136. Interesting, only one for Hubert Humphrey in this entire thread.

Did other people (65+) sit out the '68 election like I did?

[life long demo]

179. I voted for HHH but I was going to vote for Bobby

But LBJ was my first presidential vote. I wouldn't be surprised if many people did not vote that year, it was a bad year all around.

[Blue_In_AK]

185. I would have voted for Bobby or Gene McCarthy.

I just couldn't get excited about Hubert Humphrey when I was 21.

[oldhippydude]

186. same here HHH

would have preferred Bobby... actually i 2worked for Gene McCarthy in Oregon, but by that time in the primary, most of us were becoming aware that it was Bobby or HHS... of course a week later,Bobby was shot changing the whole eqation... after the disastrous convention i voted for HHH

[Arugula Latte]

137. Same as you -- Mondale '84.

[Brigid]

138. Gerald Ford 1976.

He must be turning in his grave at the state of the GOP today.

[Raine]

139. Richard Nixon 1972 nt

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

140. George McGovern in 1972..

Doesn't seem like 40 years ago though. Seems like only yesterday.

[slackmaster]

141. Governor Jimmy Carter in 1976

[DearAbby]

142. Jimmy Carter - TWICE

[RagAss]

144. Jimmy Carter...1976 - I was 18.

[Bobbie Jo]

145. Clinton, 1992. nt

[nashville_brook]

146. we're the same age, me too.

depressing night. depressing decade.

[scheming daemons]

148. Dukakis... '88

[coalition_unwilling]

149. Jimmy Carter-1980 (proudly blows on fingernails and rubs up and down

on t-shirt).

Became politically active in the struggles against apartheid (starting 1978-9) and the nuclear freeze campaign (1984-6).

[NoPasaran]

150. Eugene McCarthy, Independent, 1976

Carter's born-again religion gave me the creeps. (Voted for him in 1980 for all the good it did, though.)

[KamaAina]

152. Also Mondale

[NMlib]

155. Carter 1980

An amazing man .....

[Callmecrazy]

156. Reagan '84

I was young and wanted to make sure I picked the winner on my first vote.

[emulatorloo]

157. Carter, 1976

[Chemisse]

158. I was too young by only a few days to vote for McGovern in 1972 - so it was Carter in '76

[louis-t]

161. Jimmie Carter '76.

[sakabatou]

162. Obama '08

[stlsaxman]

163. Carter 1976

[southernyankeebelle]

165. Mine was Clinton

[Turbineguy]

166. Nixon in 1972

I felt betrayed when Watergate came out. Since then it's been only Democrats for me.

[liam_laddie]

167. JFK 1960! n/t

[MiniMe]

168. Carter, 1976

[barbtries]

170. Jimmy Carter

i was frustrated in 1972 because i was not old enough to vote for McGovern.

[soccer1]

172. Carter/Mondale '76

[Bettie]

173. Mondale

I was sad that night...but I felt proud that I had done my civic duty and voted.

I've voted Democratic in every election since.

[muntrv]

175. Dukakis/Bentsen 88!

[Drunken Irishman]

176. Obama

I wasn't old enough to vote Kerry in '04.

[WCGreen]

181. Carter, 1976....

[scarletwoman]

184. George McGovern, 1972. I couldn't vote in 1968 because they changed the voting age to 18 too late

for me.

Happy 90th birthday, Senator McGovern!

[PAMod]

187. One more for Mondale/Ferraro.

We've had great people on our tickets my entire voting career and I've always been proud to be a Democrat - even in '84 when it wasn't vogue.

[panader0]

188. McGovern I was 22 and I've voted a straight Dem ticket ever since

[gopiscrap]

189. Carter 1980

[JI7]

190. Gore/Lieberman

[MrBig]

195. John Kerry begrudgingly

I really wanted John Edwards to be the nominee...how things change.