How Many DUers voted for Reagan?

[WilliamPitt]

Poll question: How Many DUers voted for Reagan?

.

[WilliamPitt]

1. Hello bug!!

I filled out the forms and posted this. It went to an error page. I came back to the forum and this was here, with no poll choices. It won't let me edit. Odd.

[BurtWorm]

2. Creepy!

:scared:

I didn't vote for Reagan, just for the record.

[BurtWorm]

70. How the hell did six votes get counted?

creepier!

:scared: :scared:

[ibegurpard]

4. My first election eligibility was in 1988.

But I probably would've voted for Reagan because I come from a conservative background.

[SnohoDem]

3. Not me.

Mods: we need a "yellow dog" smiley!

[Rich Hunt]

5. No way

I couldn't vote in those elections - wasn't old enough, and it made me extremely angry, because I had no say in this president. At the time it felt as if the older people were foisting him upon us.

Anyway, the Reagan years were what galvanized me. I just thought he legitimated hatred.

[goobergunch]

6. I wasn't born yet (n/t)

[CMT]

7. my first presidential election was in 1984

and I PROUDLY voted for Walter F. Mondale.

[salin]

66. Count me the same

was a college frosh and a bit too young to vote for Carter. Mondale was my first (though as a college senior - I had been one of those who had been "starry eyed" for Hart during the pre-primary season.)

[JHB]

80. Not "PROUDLY", but yes for Mondale

Wasn't particularly excited about him, but Reagan had to go.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

8. I Never Voted (R)

Period....

Remember....

Voting Democratic means never having to say you're sorry...

[GreenArrow]

9. not me...

voted for Jesse Jackson in the primaries and Mondale in the end.

[denverbill]

10. Hell no.

However, I voted for GHWB in the primary. When Reagan won, I became a Democrat.

GHWB at the time was a moderate-liberal Republican who believed in abortion rights and fiscal sanity.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

11. Papa Bush Wasn't All Bad

He voted for the entire civil rights agenda while he was in Congress but he sold his soul to be on Reagan's ticket...

[denverbill]

20. Actually, at the time, I couldn't believe it happened.

Here was GHWB, war hero, diplomat, head of the CIA, congressman, businessman, running against a two-bit actor and governor of California. Reagan's entire campaign consisted of smiling, joking, and promising everything to everyone. Bush called his economic package 'voodoo economics', and he was right.

That election was the first real slap in the face I had, realizing that the men who have better policy answers don't necessarily get elected, by a public more concerned with their own greed than the national good.

[ieoeja]

27. Check out #25

I wrote my response before reading yours. Of course, being in my company won't do much for your reputation....

[denverbill]

36. Likewise, I'm sure:).

Looking back, 1980 was really the year that changed American politics for good. In 1980, the Republican party still had a lot of fairly liberal members. Reagan made it a sin to be a liberal Republican. Liberal Republicans became Democrats, and conservative Democrats became Republicans.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

38. Reagan Came With In A Hair Of Beating Ford In 76....

As a student of politics I can certainly see the reasons for his success...

People love to be liked.... People love to be great....

Ronny told the people they were great....

[denverbill]

41. I guess I didn't remember that.

1976 was my first election. I didn't realize the primaries were that close.

I thought Carter was a goofy, inexperienced peanut farmer, whereas Ford had the experience to be a good President. I voted for Ford in 76, Carter in 80, Mondale in 84, Dukakis in 88, then finally voted for my first winner in 92.

I came very close to voting for John Anderson and Ross Perot (the first time) though. I still think America may need a third party.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

44. Jimmy Carter's Campaign of 1976 Was A Thing of Beauty...

He promised a government as "good as it's people" and "never lie to you again." It was the perfect antidote to Watergate...


Gerry Ford was a good man.... He was pro choice, pro affirmative action , and pro ERA.....

Those are some of the reasons Reagan challenged him...

[PAMod]

86. It was, indeed

He was cruisin', except for the playboy interview (which we wouldn't care about today).

He also had a poor memory about statements that he had made in the past (sound familiar today?) which got him in some trouble.

Also, and very importantly, he won even though much of the Washington establishment did little to help him.

[arwalden]

12. Sorry... I Did.

I was young. Foolish. Impressionable.

I, like many, simply followed in family "tradition".

Also... I was angry and self-loathing... in the closet, in denial.

Blech!

Don't make me think about it. It's disgusting!

-- Allen

[elfwitch]

29. closet

But you did come out (of the political and sexual closet) so good for you!
:toast:

[Renew Deal]

13. Not old enough. I was 8 but...

At the time I might have done it. This is a different time. The pukes are much less tolerable now than my perceptions of them in 84. I would not have voted for him in 80, but I was 4.

[janekat]

14. I regret to admit I did.....

I really didn't know any better at the time.

I was born to a family of "rabid" Republicans. No-one on EITHER SIDE of the family had ever voted for a Democrat. We were taught that they were "evil" people. The area I grew up in ALWAYS voted Republican. My father is a contributor to the Republican Party and was friends with Jerry Ford. I've shaken hands with Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Dole.

I started to turn sour on the Republican Party when Nixon came along. I came back to it when Reagan came along.

THEN the Bushes came along. The Clarence Thomas thing just totally enraged me! I then ran out and worked on the Clinton campaign. I've been slowly going more and more to the left ever since.

I have to tell you though that the real thing that has galvanized me and sent me even further to the left was Bush getting into office. The first time I heard Bush speak I was totally disgusted.

I have been told several times by my family that I would be "disowned" if I campaigned for Al Gore.

[VolcanoJen]

15. I voted for Reagan.

1984, my first ballot, 18 years old. Four years later I was working for Dukakis.

It happens...

[Wednesdays]

16. 1 vote for Carter, 1 vote for Mondale, and 0 for Saint Ronnie.

nt

[WillyT]

43. Me Too, Same Way...

I even wore my Jesse Unruh button to Ronnie's house when he was running for a second term as Governor here in CA.

Jesse was Ronnie's Dem opponent, my dad was a legislative journalist in Sacto (and a DEM) so we were invited to a Reagan Steak B-B-Q, but dad made me take the button off before going into the Gov's house. He said it wasn't proper.

Oh well...I tried, I was all of 13.

:shrug:

[DinahMoeHum]

17. I voted third party in 1980 - John Anderson. . .

and I learned about the electability of third-party candidates the hard way. I also promised myself after that episode that I would never do it again.

:kick:

[ieoeja]

28. Splitter!

[PurityOfEssence]

58. Actually not.

I did the math at the time, and even if all of his supporters had voted for Carter, Reagan still would have won.

For the record, my first election was Carter in 76; I've voted for the Dem nominee in every election since.

Reagan was amply advertised as a thorough swine and tool in 80; I don't know why anyone could be duped. Perhaps it was the "feel good" crap.

I'm still disgusted with Clark's comment. He should at least remember, and regardless of it, he needs to come clean about why he could even consider such a thing. Some explanation is necessary; to have tolerated his version of fascism is pretty inexcusable. Ignorance is somewhat understandable, but something should be said.

The idea of his being "casual" about the whole thing is REALLY disturbing.

[elfwitch]

31. Anderson

I remember that my parents voted for Anderson.
I was in elementary school at the time.
The 2nd-5th grades were holding mock elections.
I was the only person in the 3rd grade that voted for Anderson.
I didn't know much more than what my parents told me.
They voted for him so I did too.

[chiburb]

34. Ditto Anderson...

Good man back when there WERE decent, human Repukes...

[maveric]

18. No F@#$%*G way!

I'm 3rd generation Dem from Boston. My parents knew JFK and were on his campaign commitee. They tell me that I actually shook his hand as a 4 yr old, but I have no recollection of it.
My old man told me that if I ever voted for a repug he'd have me committed.
Carter in 80
Mondale in 84

[charlie]

19. NOOO

But I voted non-Democratic for the first and last time -- I voted for Ed Clark, Libertarian.

[Kanola]

21. I was 18 in 1984 and voted for Mondale

I grew up in a DEM household and Reagan was seen akin to the anti christ.

[CentristDemocrat]

22. What is the point of this thread?

[bluestateguy]

33. Story

I was only 8 during the 1984 election. I remember very little of it. For some reason I remeber the 1984 primaries more than the general. I can remember watching a little bit of the Democratic convention. I did not watch election night returns. Several days later I asked my father why so many people voted for Reagan. There was a long pause before he snarled at me, "Because they're STUPID!"

[NewYorkerfromMass]

83. I wanna meet your dad and buy him a drink!

Sounds like my kind of guy! BTW I've been voting since 1979..and I need say no more.

[Rich Hunt]

39. to humiliate all of you and make you repent!

:spank: :spank: :spank:


;)

[Cheswick2.0]

51. to ask you if you voted for Reagan... did you?

:shrug:

[WilliamPitt]

57. A lot of people have been bashing Clark for voting Reagan

I thought I'd remind DUers that this was not an uncommon phenomenon. Reagan won because a lot of Democrats voted for him.

[salin]

68. however,

a lot of those folks were not academically trained in economics with a Rhodes Scholarship to boot. I am the daughter of a classically trained economist - and while I didn't study economics in college (during Reagans first term) I did have a strong grasp (couldn't grow up with two economists and study history and talk about economic and government systems without picking up the basics). I didn't like him in 1980 (that was more gut) - but by 1984 I understood that the economic principles and the blind adherence to the mantra of "deregulation" were not good for the macro economy and did not make long-term sense. I would be more forgiving if a 'scholar' in the field - understood what I understood at the time. Not being able to do so - suggests a certain either lack of understanding (in one's own field) or interest in thinking about the policy implications of such economic policies. By 1984 some of those ramifications were clear. Sorry, but to me it does say something. Were it not for academic training/background I might not see as big of a potential red flag. Without a 'record' to run on (as in policy implementation) this just means that I have to listen much more closely to what is said on policies and how consistently those things are said (not as in mantra- but as in under different circumstances the same conceptual policies hold safe; if not they are empty words. were more republicans to hold bush to that level of scrutiny they would have quickly found big discrepencies.)

I will try to stay open to Clark - but it just became a more difficult to do so.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

84. excellent economic skewering of Ron, but remember Carter's liabilities

especially with regard to Iran, hostages, and the gas crisis of '79.
The stars were firmly aligned against Carter in the foreign policy arena.

[CWebster]

78. Used to respect you

But your juvenile worshipping of GI Joes is a stain on your credibility.

As you can see, the support of Reagan was not commonplace among Democrats- not that the facts have ever influenced your gushing obsessions in the past.

[bloom]

23. not me

[Brian Sweat]

24. I voted for Mondale in 84. I was too young in 80.

[libertad]

79. My first election I voted for Mondale, too. I was too young to

vote for Carter. I despised Reagan.

[ieoeja]

25. 1980 was my first election.

In the primary I voted for ... Bush.

I voted for Carter in the general and despite all the polls was still completely shocked when Reagan won. The phrase "President Reagan" had been a running joke on Laugh-In! And watching him campaign made it fairly obvious why. His own Vice-Presidential candidate ridiculed his economic plan.

[elfwitch]

26. Too young

I wasn't old enough to vote in a presidential election until 1992. I voter for Bill in 92 and 96.

[RetroLounge]

30. It's a DU software feature, Will.

Any thread with "Reagan" in the title works about as well as his policies did...

[Kathy in Cambridge]

32. My first Election I voted for Mondale ('84)

The only Republican I ever voted for was Bill Weld, only because he was running for Governor against a much more conservative Democrat, John Silber.

[SOteric]

35. I was not yet voting, but wouldn't have.

*shudder*

[RamboLiberal]

37. What's weird is I can't remember

I may have for reelection. Wasn't as politically aware then - was too darn busy working, going to night school to get a degree and just being young and single.

And there was no internet back then so harder to stay up with national issues, just the local paper and the newsweeklies (and no Borders or B&N to read them for free).

I paid some attention to Iran Contra but not near the attention pay to issues today.

But even with Reagan who I think next to Whistle Ass is the most overrated President I didn't feel the country was in such serious jeopardy as it is today.

It was the 90's and the Nazi turn of the Repugs that turned me in to a political junkie and now an activist.

[Iverson]

40. God no! That's creepy!

That was back before the Democratic Party left me. In '84 we had a Mondale/Ferraro sign on the lawn too.

[calimary]

42. NO! And I wouldn't have voted for him for governor out here,

had I been old enough.

I told my daughter that, if I EVER vote Republican, she's free to go ahead and disown me. I think I would if I had a brain transplant or was taken over by some pod people or something. Otherwise, No F-ing Way! Didn't even like his movies.

[kmla]

45. No freakin way...

... would I ever have done that.

Makes me shudder to think it.

[RapidCreek]

46. Not me!

I voted for Carter.

RC

[redwitch]

47. nope. not me.not no way, not no how.

the reagan years, when people were turned out into the streets and good things were supposed to trickle down on them. hah.

[ikojo]

48. Couldn't vote in 1980 but worked AGAINST Reagan

In 1984 I voted for Mondale...

Didn't vote for a winning pres candidate until 1992 and it felt SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

good and liberating.

I worked HARD on Clinton's campaign and was SECOND in line at my polling place to cast my vote for William Jefferson Clinton. I was not as enthusiastic to cast my vote for him in 1996 but I did so. Was far less than enthusiastic for Gore in 2000 but there is ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NO WAY I could cast a vote for a Republican!

I recall being at work on election day in 1992 and announcing to everyone over the PA system that it was election day and that everyone had to go out and vote for Clinton to get George Bush out of office. Yeah I got in trouble but I did not care at all.

[molly]

49. I've never voted for a republican

[Cheswick2.0]

50. nope, Carter Mondale

Never considered voting anything but democrat.

[havocmom]

52. Not only did not vote for him, I mouthed off every chance I got about

how he would do to the nation what he did to California. I fought damned hard to convince folks not to let him Californicate the whole country.

[West Coast Democrat]

53. I wasn't old enough to vote for Reagan

but both of my parents hated him.

[Spirochete]

54. In 1980

I wasn't taking it too seriously, and I wrote in Frank Zappa.
By the time 1984 rolled around, I thought "no more of this" and voted for Mondale. Nobody else did though.

[stevedeshazer]

55. Nope

I voted for John Anderson in 1980. Caught a lot of flak for it, too, just like the Greens in 2000.

Walter Mondale in 1984.

[BlueJazz]

56. If I had voted for Ray-Gun....

I would have committed suicide for being a total idiot.

[Enraged_Ape]

59. I did, and I was proud of it

I was young and more concerned with my love life (which was a pathetic mess) than politics (which coincidentally was also a pathetic mess, though I didn't realize it at the time). Reagan seemed like a good, sincere guy, and just what our country needed after the whole Iranian hostage debacle.

When I got out of college, I read "What Uncle Sam Really Wants" and "Manufacturing Consent" by Noam Chomsky, along with a lesser-known book, "Mediaspeak" by Donna Woolfolk Cross. I can't describe the effect those books had on me. I felt like Saul must have felt on the road to Damascus. Just a massive WTF that put EVERYTHING in a different perspective.

I still think of those early voting (and love life) years as some of the most wasted time of my life, and I regret it all.

[neomonkey]

60. I did :(

In 1984 I was 20 and it was my first presidential election. I was one of those stupid punk-ass conservative kids who think they know it all. While, I've grown older and wiser, and I now know how little I do know, but I also know that the conservatism I embraced as a kid was nothing but a dead-end.

[gully]

61. Not this DU'er...It was my first election, and MONDALE was my guy....

:D

[HazMat]

62. I wasn't old enough, but my parents did

both times. They've come to regret it, but it's easy to judge the Reagan Democrats if you weren't living in that time.

For those like my parents who were trying to start a family and wanted to own a home, the future looked even bleaker than it looks now. Skyrocketing interest rates, rising prices, gas/oil shortages, uncertainty on the international front (cold war, Iran hostage situation).

People didn't vote party or ideology in that election; they voted for who they thought could bring "morning to America". For many Democrats, Carter and Mondale weren't an option.

[Skittles]

63. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

the very IDEA that people were fooled by that . . . F***ING FOOL. He was as transparently ignorant then as Dubya is now. :puke:

[regnaD kciN]

64. NO F***ING WAY!

1980: Kennedy in the (CA) primary, Anderson in the general election.
1984: McGovern in the (WA) party caucus, Mondale in the general election.

[sugarcookie]

65. No to Reagan

I have always voted Dem.

[Isome]

67. Nope!

My first votes cast were in '84 and I took the "D train" all the way until the end of the line. During a time when, like many liberals, I was affected by the running charge that Democrats are fiscally irresponsible, I cast two votes, in local elections, for Republican candidates (if I recall correctly Charlie Crist was one). That reprehensible part of my life is long gone now.

But, I have a question for those who voted for Reagan, or whose family members did: What was his appeal over the Democrat candidate?

[Clete]

69. I didn't vote for him for Governor of California, nor

did I vote for him for President. Now I wish I had know about that recall thing when he was Governor. :-)

[Rhiannon12866]

71. This is very odd! Also, the first two times I tried to reply

I was told to ``log in'' first!:shrug:

As for the answer to your question, I dare you to look me right in the face and ask me that question again!:D

[saoirse]

72. Not me!

And I ain't talkin' bout "The Family Circus" either!

Dukakis, Clinton, Clinton, Gore.

Three for four ain't bad!:D

[Rhiannon12866]

74. LOL! I was saying much the same thing to a friend, recently!

Here I was thinking that Bill Clinton was the only president I ever voted for that actually won. Silly me, I voted for Al Gore, who also won! How could I have forgotten?!:crazy:

[Piperay]

73. Never....but

I can't take credit for it because when he ran for Governor here in CA I was for him :freak: but to young (I was also stupid) to vote (thank goodness). At least by the time he ran for President I had grown more brain cells and even though I was a repug I was a Ford repug.:eyes: By the time Raygun actually got the nomination I had become a Democrat and voted Jimmy Carter :-), to bad Carter lost. :-(

[joanski01]

75. Nope!

Would never vote for a Republican. Voted for JFK, and all Dems thereafter. In the area where I grew up, the people would never have voted for a unionbuster like Reagan.

[ikojo]

76. Many union folk did and continue to vote

for Republicans. I think it's primarily people in unions affiliated with the military industrial complex. How any UNION member or anyone dependent upon a PAYCHECK can support the pugs is beyond my understanding.

Pugs like Lamar Alexander like to put on a "working-class" costume of flannel shirt and jeans to appearl working-class but it is all a ruse.

Friends don't let friends vote Republican

[Donna Zen]

77. Senator Jeffords

While I was never in the voting booth with the man, I'm betting he voted for Reagan, Nixon, Bush 1 and 2.

Let the trashing of Jeffords begin!

[noonwitch]

81. My 1st election was 1984, and I voted for Mondale

I had a roommate who was in school on financial aid, that voted for Reagan. I told her that if he got re-elected, he'd be a lame duck and wouldn't care about the working class, and that her Pell Grant would be cut, because parent's level of financial eligibility would be raised. He won, she had to get two jobs to make up for her Pell Grant being cut out.

[Donna Zen]

82. My first vote...didn't happen

In 1968 I was "Clean for Gene" and working hard for what was then a lone voice. By the time the convention had rolled into Chicago, my knowledge of how the presidental primaries worked was expanded, and my idealism was bruised. Goodmorning Chicago. I rode north from Ohio with the committed from my university, Kent State, a large middle-class school in Ohio. My role was negligible and, I would say, tempered by my attention to a "hot" new political soulmate (oh my, I was so young.) Fast forward to an election where bitterness ruled, and I, the daughter of a woman, who served as an elected Democratic for 30 years, refused to vote. After all: the parties were same, taken over by the corrupting MIC, who needed to be thrust "up against the wall mother fuckers," and when the revolution came everything would be different. The revolution that asked me to stand naked in a blizzard at 30 below and had no clue what I was going to put on.

What I've learned:

They have all the guns that matter

The difference in the two parties is a reflection of the differences between the members that make up those parties. We...not the DLC or any other strawdogs, are the party.

The administration is a team of people not one person. Dem teams are definately better for my health than repub teams. Dubya hasn't written one word of policy in three years, so why do I feel like puking every morning?

Clinton, a wiley DLC guy, was more conservative than I am..... Yes, in a heartbeat.

Electability matters.

Drinking rightwing poison will kill you and your great-grandchildren. The flavor of the month is Dem bashing.

[MaineDem]

85. Never voted for Reagan!!!

And I'm proud to admit it.

In fact, I've only voted for Republicans in town elections. Political party isn't even brought up. Odd...

[Donna Zen]

87. Hi Maine Dem

In fact, I've only voted for Republicans in town elections.

Does that make you PNAC-lite?

(That was a joke..MaineDem)

[Rhiannon12866]

88. I don't think it's that odd. It's that way where I live, also.

Because I live in such a Republican area, I guess it's just assumed that everyone is Republican unless they say otherwise.:grr:

Not long ago a really pleasant guy came to the door. He said he was a retired cop and he was running for sheriff. He gave me his card and nowhere on it was any political party mentioned. Maybe I'm naive, but I thought maybe police weren't running on party lines.:shrug:

When the day came to vote, however, I realized that he was just one of three in the local Republican primary! Duh! Unfortunately, he lost which means that the guy who won is now going to be running unopposed come November. It turns out that the two opponents of the incumbent were forced to take early retirement if they wanted to run against him. The incumbent sheriff's rule. So now his opponents are both out of a job. Stupid Freepers.:-(

[ulysses]

89. even had I been old enough

I was aware enough to know better.