So, who here voted for either Nixon or Reagan?

[elperromagico]

We've heard a lot here about Clark voting for Nixon and Reagan, and it has led to questions about whether or not he's a real Democrat. I know I've read about some DUers who voted for Reagan either in '80 or '84. Clark has admitted it. Who else is willing to 'fess up? When did you vote for Nixon or Reagan, and why?

I must disqualify myself, because I was not alive in '72 and wasn't old enough to vote in '84.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

1. I was to young to vote for Reagan in 84' but my....

Parents have voted Democratic for every President since they started voting!

Proud Democrats we are!

[CO Liberal]

2. I Voted for Reagan in 1980

One of the biggest mistakes I ever made - right up there with marriage #1 and marriage #2.

[elperromagico]

3. Why did you vote for him? Dissatisfaction with Carter?

Was there something about Reagan's message that appealed to you?

[IowaBiker]

30. I'm guilty. I confess.

I voted for Nixon in '72. Worked on his campaign. I later regretted it.

But remember, too, back then another Texan who rose to the Presidency under dubious conditions, lied to escalate a war. And I wasn't really happy with the party that supported that junk.

Voted Reagan the second time. But only because Democratic party seemed to be serving up lemons-- same thing with Bush/Dukakis.

Rush Limbaugh has done more than anybody else in aiding my jump from the party. I had no stomache for Clinton-bashing.

I'm a fiscal conservative and social liberal. GeeDubya is neither.

Keep me free, my air and water clean, invest in education, fix the medical industry, don't spend a lot of money doing it and don't send in the troops unless it's absolutely necessary and you'll get my vote.

I lived through the Vietnam era and have a very soft spot for those who served in combat back then. Those people made a very tough choice to either enlist, or not go to Canada, or not muster up some phony doctor's excuse, or get a rich relative to get them a Reserve appointment. What those folks who served in Vietnam endured was a horror, and how they were treated when they returned was unspeakable.

I was given draft lottery number 13 and had done everything but sign the dotted line for Disneyland East when Nixon called off the draft. Otherwise, who knows? Maybe I'd be lieing dead, and only remembered on Memorial Day when crooks like Bush use my death to push their corporate agendas.

I have a high level of contempt for those who said they supported the Vietnam war from the cush of a Reserve appointment and sent other people's kids to fight and die. The people who served and rose above the shame that the politicians unfairly foisted on them are some of the best people I know -- I see those same qualities in fellows like McCain, Kerry and Clark.

--Brian

[dawgman]

Nixon was more of a Dem than Clinton or any of today's DNC goofs.

I don't think that should dissuade anyone from voting for anyone

[Hoosier Democrat]

4. I was too young to vote in 1984

But I was in high school and remember thinking "Couldn't the Democrats do better than Mondale?" I liked John Glenn and Gary Hart.

[Iverson]

5. Please! I'm eating!

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

Now look what you've gone and done!∏

[Walt Starr]

6. I've never voted for a Republican in my life

Never, and I first registered to vote in 1981.

[bowens43]

7. This isn't about voting for Reagan.

It's about whether or not a man who has been a Democrat for only 3 or 4 months, who until very recently supported Republic administrations including the current one and has absolutely no record as a Democrat or as a supporter of Democratic causes should be given the top spot on the Democratic ticket.

And no , I didn't vote for Reagan. I have voted a straight Democratic ticket in every national and regional election since 1976. If Clark gets the nomination it will be the first time that I have cast vote for another party.

[elperromagico]

12. It's about whatever you choose to make it about this week, apparently.

[bowens43]

37. So your only response to my concerns

is a thinly veiled personal insult? That doesn't do much for your argument.

[Killarney]

16. Wrong

Please stop perpetrating lies about fellow Democratic candidates.

He does have a record... he has voted Democratic for the past 12 years.

Please stop spreading lies. Thank you.

[edzontar]

31. This thread is about BEFORE that

Some of us are troubled by it, because we remember those days--

Almost TOO clearly.

Vietnam. Civil Rights. Watergate. Arms Race. Iran Contra.

Ever heard of those?

[Auntie Bush]

40. Yes, but when we voted we hadn't heard of those

unless your psychic.

[edzontar]

45. Are you younger, perhaps?

NT

[bowens43]

36. Evidence?

We know that he has supported republican administrations until very recently. We know that praised the current administration. His support for republican administrations is well documented. We know that he wasn't a Democrat until this past October.I have yet to see any evidence from before his announcement of his intentions to run that he supported Democratic administrations.

[Auntie Bush]

48. So... he praised the present administration

So...the man was trying to make a living... after 34 years of being broke. If I were in his shoes and had a family I would have jumped at the chance to make $30,000 if I had to say something nice about the president and my friends and colleagues were Republicans. But if you read his books and writings you will know he didn't think like a Republican or agree with Republican values. He was a Democrat at heart. He thinks just like me! Don't forget he wasn't planning on running for president until we drafted him and he is now doing what he can to help the Democrats win this election and get America back on her feet and pointed in the right direction. I'm so proud to support him.

[Auntie Bush]

38. Wrong...about Clark being a Dem. for only 3-4 mos.

You're quoting directly from RNC talking points.
Clark voted for Clinton and Gore and was a registered Democrat in 2000. He released all his records to the public so you can check it out. I believe I saw an article about it in Yahoo News today.
He was in the military and voted for the one who was strongest regarding national security and foreign affairs. You have to admit Reagan was stronger on these issues than Carter. (I voted for Reagan too but soon learned to hate(?)him) "Too late we get sch-mart!"

[bowens43]

44. Provide a link....

Everything that Ive seen says October 2003....but to be honest last October, 2000 not much of a difference. He has no verifiable record of supporting Democrats or our causes. If he had such piss poor judgment as to vote for reagan over carter then he really can't be trusted to make decisions that are good for America or our party. No, I don't agree that Reagan was stronger on defense. Reagan was a fucking lunatic who launched at least three unprovoked invasions or wars on sovereign nations. The nation and the world would have been much safer with Carter.

Everything that Ive seen says October 2003....

[lovedems]

8. No. I could vote for the first time in the 1988 election and I voted for

Dukakis. It is because of Ronald Reagan that I am a democrat. It is because of Ronald Reagan that republicans are slime in my book. Thanks Ron! I can count on one finger the amount of times I have voted republican.

[mopinko]

9. i didn't but

i cast my first vote against tricky dick. and wouldn't have voted for raygun if had been running for man with the orangest hair. however, my hubby did vote abc- anybody but carter. this was before i met him. (he was too young to vote for nixon, but swears he new better, even at 12) this and the fact that he shared a birthday with my first husband nearly killed the romance on the first date. but these are among the few black marks on his record as a human being. that and the untimely demise of a nasty, biting hamster. no one is perfect.
but voting for both of them? bad.

[Melinda]

10. Never, ever, ever voted republican and never will

[denverbill]

11. I voted for GHWB in the 1980 primary, does that count?

When Reagan got the nomination, the the Republican Party became the right-wing nutjob party, I voted for Carter in the General Election, and have never voted Republican since.

[elperromagico]

13. Well, he was pro-choice at the time, was he not?

And he called Reagan's economic plan (the model for Bush 43's economic plan) "Voodoo Economics." Then he sold his soul to the right-wing.

[bluestateguy]

21. Reagan used to be prochoice too

He signed California's liberal abortion law in 1967, pre-Roe v. Wade.

[elperromagico]

23. And Reagan was initially a New Deal Democrat, of course.

Then he became President and proceeded to shit all over FDR's legacy.

[denverbill]

34. Yes he was.

And those were the two issues that just really threw me. The pro-choice question and the voodoo economics one.

The sad thing is, 20 years later, and people STILL haven't figured out that if you cut taxes and raise spending you get ENORMOUS long-term deficits, which don't end until taxes are increased.

[dae]

14. Nixon in '72, my first presidential election, and Reagan in '80 was

more against Carter and his farm embargoes, I was a farmer at the time, which cost me a fortune.
The 1980 vote for Reagan was the last one I ever cast for a Republican.

[ret5hd]

15. i was 10 yrs old in '68...

the teacher in our class had an "election"...i voted for nixon.
First and lAST time i voted republican

[indigo32]

19. He he

We had a little election in our school in 1980 (I was 10) and I voted for Carter then :)

[SW FL Dem]

35. I was 10 in 1968 too.

I remember being the only one in the room voting for Humphrey. I cast my first vote in 1976 for Carter and have never voted for a Republican for a national or statewide office.

[R3dD0g]

17. Ford in the 76 primary.

Does that count? I was 24 and scared shitless of Raygun. I was right to be.

[bluestateguy]

18. Much of my family voted for Reagan in 1980-84.

Not my parents, but my extended family was about evenly split between Reagan voters and Carter/Mondale voters. I guess you could say my family a lot of Reagan Democrats. In 1988, most voted for Dukakis, and between 1992-2000 they were all for Clinton/Gore. My first presidential election was 1996. I have never voted Republican for federal office.

[Killarney]

20. I was too young to vote

But my parents both voted for Reagan and they are both Democrats now.

We need to stop insulting and turning our noses up at people who voted for Reagan if we want to win this election. Reagan won in 1984 with the most electoral votes ever... we need some of those votes this year so we need to stop insulting the people who did it.

[yellowcanine]

22. Too young in 68 but proud to say

that i voted for McGovern in 72. I must admit that I probably would have voted for Nixon in 68 because I was so mad at Johnson and I thought Humphrey = Johnson (I was probably wrong about that, I think the happy warrier would have been a great prez). I will say that RFK had he lived would have been my candidate. Haven't come close to voting for a republican for president since.

[edzontar]

24. In 68 I was too young but worked for Gene...

In 72 I voted for McGovern against that bastard Nixon.

Voted twice against the Reaganoid.

Voted twice against that bastard Bush the First.

If I could see this, why couldn't Clark?

[elperromagico]

25. 61% of the country couldn't see it in '72.

58% couldn't see it in '84.

Seems as though there were a lot of blind people at the time, Clark among them.

[edzontar]

29. They WERE blind, and stupid too...

And look what they got for their votes...need i remind you?

And hey, LBJ was a great president, in many respects, but Vietnam was a disaster and a crime, and Gene and the snooty little kids like me that supported him brought him down over this.

So we are not ALWAYS doomed if we stand for what is RIGHT.

[elperromagico]

33. Right. Now, where do we disagree?

[edzontar]

42. Guess we don't.

And that's a nice way to end the week, eh?

[elperromagico]

26. I'll tell you what bothers me about Clark's vote.

It's not so much the votes as the fact that he never seems to have explained them. If he has explained them, I'd love to read it.

[Demeter]

27. I Was Too Young To Vote For Nixon

But I thought he was an intelligent and caring man. When all the Watergate stuff broke, I was betrayed--expecially since it took FOREVER for anything even close to the truth to reach the local newspapers. I really felt the press let the country down.

And I never voted for the Alzheimers patient. He was incoherent from the start. And nasty. In public.

[mzmolly]

28. I voted for Mondale.

*

[edzontar]

32. Me too, and proud of it.

He would have been a fine president.

A great man,

A great American.

A great Democrat.

[Autumn]

39. Me

Was a Nixon supporter and voted for Reagan (once). I learned my lesson. But I really liked Nixon.

[Hoppin_Mad]

41. I actively campaigned for their Democratic opponents -nt-

[Logansquare]

43. I stood out a couple of elections, which is just as bad

Never voted for Reagan, but I never voted against him, either. I was young then, but it still makes me feel ashamed.

[Bertha Venation]

46. Would have cast my first vote for Reagan

if I were old enough. The first time I registered to vote, I checked the "Republican" box.

In 1984 I voted for Dukakis after re-registering as a Democrat.

I'm registered Democrat but that doesn't inform my politics; my politics have informed the party I align myself with. Perhaps it's the same w/ General Clark.

Yes, Virginia, it is possible to change parties and mean it.

[auntpattywatty]

47. Voted for both - then got smart and changed to Democrat