I think you can learn a lot about a person by knowing who they supported politically throughout their life. Not everyone is willing to share that kind of information, of course, and some people aren’t honest about it, but I will tell you my history and I encourage you to do the same.
I was born in September 1969, during the first year of Nixon’s first term. The first presidential election of my life took place in 1972. I was too young to have an opinion, but I still remember my older brother Andrew’s McGovern/Shriver t-shirt. I think that was a consensus in my family, although I can’t swear by it.
In 1976, I was in 2nd grade and we had a straw poll. This caused me to ask my parents who I should support. My father was very angry about Gerald Ford’s pardon of Nixon, so I voted for Carter. I still remember that one very cute girl in my class voted for Ford. I held it against her all the way through high school graduation.
In 1980, I was very impressed by the campaign of John Anderson and basically supported him, but I knew enough at the age of 11 to know that Anderson didn’t have a chance. I still remember watching the election returns come in showing a Reagan landslide and being very afraid about it. I used to have drawings I made at the time that portrayed Reagan as a warmonger who would unleash a nuclear war.
In the fall of 1984, I was having trouble in school and with my parents and politics were not foremost in my mind, but I supported Gary Hart’s candidacy. I don’t remember being too disappointed or surprised when Mondale was crushed.
In 1988, I was finally old enough to vote and I supported Gary Hart again. When his campaign imploded, I supported Dukakis, and I voted for him without any reservations.
In 1992, I supported Paul Tsongas, although I was intrigued by Jerry Brown. When Clinton survived all his scandals, I enthusiastically voted for him.
In 1996, I was disgusted with Clinton and his campaign finance violations and assumed he would be impeached if reelected. I abstained.
In 2000, I got politically involved for the first time, volunteering for Bill Bradley and fully supporting his effort to reform campaign financing. I was so disgusted by the selection of Joe Lieberman as Gore’s running mate that I didn’t decide to vote for their ticket until the Saturday before for the election.
In 2004, I was intrigued and inspired by Howard Dean’s campaign, but I did not think he could win and supported John Kerry.
In 2008, I was initially ambivalent about whether to support John Edwards or Barack Obama, but was certain that I would support either against a restoration of the Clinton dynasty. I was happy when it was Obama who got the upper hand as the anti-Clinton candidate.
In 2012, I supported Obama without reservation.
So, what’s your history?
