Who was the first politician you volunteered for?

[burythehatchet]

For me it was John Anderson, an independent candidate for president in 1980. I canvassed for him in the upstate NY area.

[demrabble]

1. Bobby Kennedy

I volunteered for Bobby Kennedy when he ran for President in 1968.

[JuniperLea]

So did my Mom.

She was supposed to be at the Ambassador the night he was shot... but was home nursing four kids with the flu. She became unglued when we watched the ordeal on TV... the old black and white Zenith... same one we watched the moon landing on.

[burythehatchet]

22. jeez, that just gave me a chill.

what a traumatic experience it must have been for her. :(

[JuniperLea]

It was

Seeing her like that was terrifying. She could never watch the film footage after that day. The only thing she has ever said about it since that day is that she was grateful her kids were down with the flu. She said she felt horrid for thinking such things, but she knew we'd get over the flu. She would have never gotten over being there that night, even if she didn't witness the incident herself. She lost interest in politics for a couple of years after that.

[mod mom]

Howard Dean! YEAH!

[Orangepeel]

oops, double post (although Ann Richards deserves two!)

O8)

[Orangepeel]

2. The late, great Ann Richards

RIP, Governor

O8)

[WorseBeforeBetter]

3. Dr. Dean.

Sigh.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. George McGovern

[burythehatchet]

5. watching him on SPAN made me think of this

he seems to be a terrific person.

[Bobbieo]

9. Franklin D. Roosevelt -for his third term

[xultar]

6. WESLEY CLARK!!!!

[JuniperLea]

7. Can't remember the first

I used to help my folks... they volunteered for so many campaigns through the years there's no way to count them.

The first one I remember actively getting into was a Dem by the name of Guerrero who was running for city counsel in my home town of Lomita, CA. I must have been no older than 12. I worked for Belba, Mehler, and several other local politicians on my own in Jr. High... I went to school and/or hung out with their kids. I babysat for many of them too.

[Dinger]

8. Wesley Clark

House party, lit drops, $, went to several town hall meetings & campaign appearances
I'll do it again in 2008!:patriot:

[Mist]

10. John Kerry for Senate--1984. nt

[napi21]

11. Howard Dean! And I STILL think he was the best candidate!!! n/t

[burythehatchet]

15. I think he would be great

but he seems to have abandoned being a candidate. What he's doing now is equally as important though.

[napi21]

44. I agree what he's doing now is important, and I think he always

concentrates on the job he has at the time. He has said many times that he will NOT run in 08, and I believe he will keep his word. That doesn't stop me from dreaming of what might have been!

[tridim]

12. Jerry Brown in 92.

[burythehatchet]

19. One of the finest examples of media assassination

I liked him a lot.

[tridim]

41. To this day people still call him Governor Moonbeam

I have no idea why. I remember my Mom (a repuke) warning me that he had dated Linda Ronstadt. I still don't know what was implied by that. I think she might have thought he was gay and he was using Ronstadt to hide it?

[blm]

49. No - it was used back then against environmentalists and the 60s generation

of Dem lawmakers and candidates. Brown was Governor Moonbeam and Kerry was called Senator Moonbeam. The GOP operatives were 'so cute' with their name -calling back then, weren't they?

Remember when Gore was called Ozone Man by Poppy?

[RaleighNCDUer]

64. Jerry Brown in '80 ('79, actually.)

His first campaign for CA governer, was it? I really don't remember - I just remember working the phones in Sacramento, and stuffing envelopes that fall.

[pamela]

126. Jerry Brown for President in '76

I wasn't even old enough to vote that year but I campaigned for him during the primaries.

[Dukkha]

141. me too

got to see him speak at a rally in SF he was awe inspiring and a true working class hero.

[hippiechick]

13. Clinton/Gore in early 92

:applause:

[burythehatchet]

38. I got beat up by a drunk off duty cop for handing out

Clinton/Gore material in a parking lot that year.

[Peace Patriot]

14. JFK.

Bang, bang, shoot, shoot.

Ask me who was the first "peace candidate" I voted for.

LBJ.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

16. Clinton-Gore

[blm]

17. schoolgirl volunteer for Dennis Kucinich's first primary run for office in 72

He was actually the more moderate Dem in the race, and I was a bit more conservative as a Catholic schoolgirl. But, I supported him through my own metamorphis into a liberal activist and especially appreciated his own later turnaround on progressive issues that were important to me. My faith in him was rewarded.

[burythehatchet]

21. Always ahead of the curve, blm

you're awesome. :)

[blm]

45. wow...wasn't expecting that...thanks. ;)

do I get extra credit for revealing I had a schoolgirl crush on him? Heh...he was an older man of about 24 at the time.

Kudos for the thread, bury....it actually is a great peek into the mental process of the various posters we encounter on a daily basis. Knowing what type of rhetorical approach or policy substance one becomes attracted to as the beginning of their political or governmental awakening.

[burythehatchet]

50. what's interesting to me is that

most people, including myself, become indoctrinated into political action on a national level, i.e., presidential elections. But it seems to me that we would be a lot more effective if we instead worked for local candidates on the grass roots level. I thing the Immoral Minority employed this approach with great effect.

[blm]

53. For me it was always about corruption. Dennis was an anti-corruption mayor

in a very corrupted by corporations city in the 70s, and so when Kerry came along and uncovered the corruption of Reagan and Bush on IranContra, illegal wars in Central America, BCCI and later on CIA drugrunning, it was no hard task to support him fully and hope he will be where he NEEDS to be to open ALL the books that the American citizen needs to see to really come to grips with global terrorism, its ACTUAL past, present and future.

[burythehatchet]

58. to this day I am befuddled why Kerry hardly mentioned

his greatest accomplishment - BCCI. Especially in light of its direct relevance to counter-terrorism.

[blm]

62. No back up from Dem party or spokespeople.

He would need backup to push it through, given the documents he needed were mostly classified and no one but a president could get those documents released.

Didn't bode well for Kerry that Clinton didn't even mention one word about BCCI in his book, even though he inherited all the outstanding matters of BCCI when he took office. Which is also the likely reason that all of the Dem 'strategist' class warned that BCCI was too difficult for the public to understand. I think that was BULLSHIT and meant to assure Kerry there would be no backup for him on this issue. When he did bring it up in a speech in Sept 2004, NO Dem spokespeople repeated his comments from the speech. I think they made their message loud and clear.

Sad that he needed backup from a Dem party on an issue that the most powerful Dems wanted to go away, so it was backup he would never get at that point. That is where the oval office is needed - no one can downplay it when the actual documents are available for the public and the reporters to see.



http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/111106.html

[karynnj]

106. Maybe because it to some degree couls be spun to give

Bush an "out" on not doing all he could do on terrorism by letting him and the media note that nothing was done in the decade after Kerry listed major things to do - that he had no committee, jurisdiction or supoena power to do them. Condi's dismissal of the memo is still that hard to believe. So Bush was worse.

BLM has posted the 20 things that Kerry said needed to be done - but which he couldn't do because they took his committee and supoena power away.

Number 1 dealt with the fact that BCCI financed the Pakistani bomb. Kerry felt more investigation of how they got around the non-proliferation treaty and their organization was needed. THe head of that organization? A. Q. Khan. Sound familiar. This may be the ultimate Kerry was right.

I suspect that the reason this was not pushed more was not that people would confuse it with the BBC, but that these recommendations were made in the early 1990s - and not followed at the very end of GHWB's Presidency or the Presidency that followed. These investigations were NOT pushed by Clinton, nor were they handled by the Justice department (the justice department could do a lot so who controlled Congress was not the issue.) Interestingly, another action item was to get more information from fugitive Marc Rich.

Kerry's international money laundering legislation that was blocked for a decade was included in the Patriot act - and controlling terrorist funds is about the only success Bush has had. (campaigning that some of your work went into the Patriot Act is not that good either - though his part was not the problem.)

[WyLoochka]

18. George McGovern

and I think the treatment of this very fine, honorable person by his/our own party since 1972 is absolutely despicable.

[libnnc]

20. I phone banked for Clinton in '92

[verse18]

23. Steve Mulroy last summer

He is now a county commissioner. His election made the commission a democratic majority for the first time in 30 years.

[SaveElmer]

24. Mike Freeman...Minnesota third district...

Son of Orville Freeman...

I was convinced he would win...ended up losing 60-40...

[Hoosier Dem]

25. Michael Dukakis

[salin]

113. Dukakis for pres, Evan Bayh for gov, McClosky for Congress

same year - volunteered for the local party and did work for all three candidates. Also did canvassing for Vi Simpson for the state senate.

[karynnj]

121. You must have been in Bloomington

The first time I vounteered was the year McClosky ran for mayor of Bloomington. It was the first year 18 year olds could vote. I was at IU and just tried to talk registered IU students into voting.

It was cool because the previous mayor was a jerk.

I volunteered for McGovern, canvassing in one of thereddest, most affluent counties in NJ. The next time was for Kerry.

[salin]

124. Indeed, I was in B-ton

I had returned to the hometown (after working in DC for 3 years) to do some grad work.

I still mourn Frank's passing. I am so thankful I had the opportunity to visit with him in the Hospital shortly before he passed. He had been a student of my father - and while I don't know/understand (my father passed away more than a decade ago) the degree of connection between them (which was definitely there) - it seemed very important to visit him and share with him some of the influence he had had upon me and others. The memory of that equals the cherished memory of when I was working on the HIll and had a friend visiting - so I called his office to set up a visit. He treated us (my visitor and myself) as if we were important. He took us to the gallery - on the last day that Tip O'Niell was the Speaker of the House - and then took us to eat at the House dining room. This memory is minor compared to his record as Mayor of B-ton - when he desegregated by race and gender the police and fire forces - the development of a public tranist system. I could go on and on - and I thank you for the opportunity to walk down memory lane for a moment.

Thanks for working for his first election - he went on to do many important things for the city - and later was a very substantive Congressman. Your effort helped launch a very important (to the region) career. He did indeed replace a 'jerk' and shepherded in a significant change in city government that still has an influence over the city today.

If we ever have the chance to cross paths - I hope we can share a cup of coffee or tea or whatever... while I tell you about the evolution of the community in which I grew up, and how much of an influence the work you did to help change the city and its oreintation had on the generation of young people growing up in that era (e.g., growing up in the seventies in b-ton).

[karynnj]

135. That was an incredibly amazing chance to support good

against evil. I did relatively little - it was very easy in that politically charged time to get IU students to vote. What was good was that someone way smarter than me had made sure we knew we could register in Bloomington. (Other than Kerry, I was never so certain that the candidate I was for was exceptional.)

I remember the excitement of seeing the numbers written on a black board look better and better. He won areas of the city no one expected him to - so the town itself must have tired of the ugliness that was the previous administration.

It was a great introduction to politics. It is cool that your family was so connected to him. It's great to hear that he did such a fantastic job as major. The plans he spoke of when he ran sound like they were followed. (I graduated in 1972 and left to work in NJ) I remember reading when he won that contested election for Congress.

I'm sorry to here that he passed - especially as he wouldn't be that old.

[Swamp Rat]

26. Jimmy Carter

:patriot:

[burythehatchet]

29. Its really difficult to see him being swiftboated these days

Gid bless him for his courage and honesty.

[Bluzmann57]

27. George McGovern

Because my parents worked hard to get him elected, they had stuff at the house, and as I was a budding hormone, er, teenager, it was a way to meet girls, especially older college age girls.

[nashville_brook]

28. Mondale-Ferraro

[burythehatchet]

33. What an awful election that was

:(

[nashville_brook]

39. tell me about it!

i was young, though and it was a good introduction to "political life." i was quite enamored of the idea of a woman VP and i couldn't imagine how anyone else wouldn't also feel that way.

[burythehatchet]

40. IIRC didn't her husband have some shady dealings that

sabotaged her?

[nashville_brook]

66. i remember that coming out after the election -- but i wouldn't be surprised

if that hurt at the higher levels, for anyone who knew about it before it became common knowledge.

[TayTay]

30. Fred Harris, 1976

Populist Democrat from Oklahoma. I did phone calling for the NH Primary.

[HamdenRice]

31. George McGovern

I was in junior high school and my very liberal social studies teacher asked if any of us wanted to go door to door for him and I did.

[xxqqqzme]

32. I was a 'Goldwater Girl' in '64 -

though it was my great-grandmother's pull & influence that 'volunteered' me. In '76, I ran my husband's campaign for Webster County (WV) School Board. I walked precincts in '92 for Clinton. Continue as a Howard Dean fan & will volunteer for whatever he does next.

[MannyGoldstein]

34. Paul Tsongas, '92 Presidential Election

I learned a lot!

[DinahMoeHum]

35. My local state senator (NY-37), Suzi Oppenheimer, in 1984. . .

She used to be the mayor of my home town; and ran for the State Senate when the seat became open due to scandal involving the long-term Republican incumbent, which forced his resignation.

That same year, I switched my registration from Independent to Democrat.

http://www.nyssenate37.com/biography.asp

:kick:

[Eugene]

36. Walter Mondale in 1984

Mostly voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives
in Boston's inner-city neighborhoods.

[WCGreen]

37. Hubert Humphry back in 1968...

Passing out stuff in the hhod...

[protect our future]

42. Claire McCaskill

in 1998 when she first ran -- and won -- for Missouri State Auditor. Now she's our new US Senator and I am so proud!

[WCGreen]

54. Cool

[burythehatchet]

61. Yes. Very cool. She has a great presence.

and welcome to DU. :hi:

[BuyingThyme]

43. Mom.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

46. Eugene McCarthy

But, like the better candidates today, he was "too liberal" for the bosses.

[Bigmack]

92. Me too. I had gotten kinda...

shaggy since I got out of the Corps, so I had to get "clean for Gene".

You're right about the bosses.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

96. I had gotten shaggy after getting out of the corps too.

Tho' the guys I was in with, referred to it as the Crotch.

[Bigmack]

109. "Eat the apple...." You finish it. nt

nt

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

112. "...and Fuck the Corps!" :)

[iverglas]

146. aaah

I'd gotten caught up in 60s nostalgia and it took a while to realize that you two aren't veterans of the Peace Corps. Now who would want to fuck that??

I mean, veterans of it, sure, a couple ...

[A-Schwarzenegger]

134. Yep. First Leader to stand up to LBJ on Vietnam by putting his career on the line

in New Hampshire.

[maine_raptor]

136. Gene was my first time, too.

Trampin' house to house in snow. A couple of hair rasing drives to make the next rally in time. Ah, those were the days. We actually thought we could change things back then.

[maveric]

47. My parents had me canvassing for JFK at age 4.

I remember. Door to door. Passing out buttons and flyers. My Dad had to wear a straw hat, which he hated but was forced to wear.
Ma & Dad knew JFK. My Dad was a news journalist who wrote many stories and columns about the young upstart from our home state.(getting fired from the Manchester Union Leader for doing so). He interviewed him several times. One time Ma posed as a reporter just to meet the man.
They always told me that I met him and shook his hand a couple of times, but I have no recollection of that.

[Auntie Bush]

48. Wes Clark

First to really inspire me to take action.

I lived Bill Clinton and Gore, but never did a thing except listen, root or curse and cross my fingers.

Clark inspired me to get off my butt and do something and actually donate for the first time in my long life.

[sniffa]

51. anthony gaLLucio

his first run for cambridge city counciL back aroud 95ish?

[jwirr]

52. Robert Kennedy. I'd do it all over again if I could.

[TahitiNut]

55. I wore an "I Like Ike" button in 1952 (4th grade) ...

... and led the victorious "Ike" faction playing King of The Mountain during recesses.

[blm]

68. heheheheh......

you are just too cute, you little Repub....but, at least it was a good Repub. Ike's warnings about the military INDUSTRY will stay with good governance watchdogs as long as democracy exists in this country.

[TahitiNut]

74. I've been an indie ALL my life.

Never a Democrat. Never a Republican. Always an independent and liberal - even in 4th grade.

[PRETZEL]

56. My state representative was a friend of our family.

Not that he needed much help in getting elected, but it did make me feel like I was doing my part.

RIP Mr. Trello.

[unc70]

57. Terry Sanford for Gov-NC - 1960

Also some local candidates.

[sakabatou]

59. Gore

[Theres-a]

60. Ned Lamont

:(

[rpgamerd00d]

65. Ditto

[cosmik debris]

63. J. William Fulbright

AFTER he renounced the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

(Actually I worked for JFK in 1960, but my Dad made me do it. I was too young to know why.)

[watercolors]

67. John Kennedy

I was in college at U of Mass. A truly great experience!

[BuelahWitch]

69. Wayne Owens, Utah Senate campaign 1992

I was also a delegate to the Utah state Democratic convention that year.

[helderheid]

72. you still here in Utah?

:hi: neighbor!

[BuelahWitch]

97. No, I'm in Kansas now

Lived in Salt Lake area for 20 years tho. Where are you?

[helderheid]

122. Sandy - verrry red neighborhood

[helderheid]

70. Dennis Kucinich

[phusion]

153. Me too! In '04...

He's the man!

[Beausoir]

71. John Anderson. I door-knocked for him in 8th grade.

Very interesting experience.

[burythehatchet]

77. I'll never forget his head of white hair.

[WI_DEM]

73. Jimmy Carter in '76--I was 12 and distributed literature for him

[deadmessengers]

75. Eliot Engel

It was around 1980 or so (I was about 9 IIRC), and he was running for re-election to the NY State Assembly. My brother and I went around in the apartment complex where we (and now-Rep. Engel) lived and slipped campaign flyers under each door. I think we made 5 bucks each, for about 90 minutes work. At the time, I thought I was rich :)

[Hand]

76. Eugene McCarthy!

1968--drove to Racine, Wisconsin to help get folks to the polls for the primary. I wasn't sufficiently "clean for Gene", so they stuck me on the phone bank. That was okay, though; all the cool babes were on the phone bank, too. :hi:

[Blue_In_AK]

78. Diane Benson for Congress - last year

[AspenRose]

79. Ann Richards

eom

[LittleClarkie]

80. As a sheeple, Clinton. As an aware person, Kerry.

Sad, innit.

[burythehatchet]

81. interesting response... (thoughtful)

[LittleClarkie]

88. Thanks. I was only a Dem back then because it's what my parents were

It wasn't til election 2004 that I, starting with Gitmo, even became aware that there were other places to get one's news than the networks. I credit Clark with getting me started, awareness-wise. He said something that registered, that was exactly what I'd been thinking, which was that the president didn't have a black check because of 9/11 with which to wage war. Hence the nickname, LittleClarkie, even though I'm a Kerry person

[in_cog_ni_to]

82. Carol Moseley Braun when she ran for the Senate in Illinois. n/t

[burythehatchet]

85. I had high hopes for her...I wonder where she is now

[in_cog_ni_to]

87. Yeah, me too. I haven't seen her since the 2004 Primaries. She's disappeared. n/t

[gollygee]

83. Dukakis

For the college democrats. It didn't go well, I'm afraid. I called students in the dorms and he wasn't a very popular candidate.

[ourbluenation]

84. Dukakis-Bentsen n/t

[babydollhead]

86. gulp...Dick thornburg

[PsN2Wind]

89. William Scranton of PA

1964 Republican Primary.

[proud patriot]

90. Howard Dean

:hi:

[burythehatchet]

103. he sure brought a lot of people into the process

:hi:

[proud patriot]

139. He also brought me back to the Democratic Party

I was registered green before Dean.

[DawgHouse]

91. Dale Bumpers.

I was a little kid but I went door to door distributing literature for his governor's race.

[Clark2008]

93. Clark.

But, in retrospect, it should have been Gore. Sadly, I didn't think I was needed.

However, in my defense, I was still reporting at the time and I didn't work on ANY political campaign because, unlike many of the so-called journalists today, I didn't think it was right for a reporter to publically announce their political intentions.

[MrSlayer]

94. Ed Rendell for Mayor of Philadelphia.

I did a lot of phone banking for Wes Clark last time around. Called people in Oklahoma and Tennessee.

[Clarkie1]

95. Wes Clark, 2003-2004. Then Jerry McNerney (2004, 2006). nt

[libnnc]

98. Dukakis

[tabasco]

99. Hubert Humphrey.

Handed out pamphlets when I was about 12.

[gratefultobelib]

100. Clinton/Gore I also had a Clinton bumper sticker way ahead of the crowd!!

[Raine]

101. 1968 Richard Nixon

:hide: I was a "Nixon Girl" got to help escort him into a rally. I didn't get to vote for another 4 years but my family was always into politics...repub politics. We later all became Democrats after Raygun & the RWing hijacked the party. :patriot:

[burythehatchet]

102. you're courageous to have admitted that

:)

[Bluebear]

104. Gerald Ford.

He was a homestate candidate and I was quite politically unaware. :)

[ikojo]

105. John B Anderson in 1980....I volunteered for

his campaign while working at the Illinois State Fair. After the fair ended I volunteered at his campaign office in downtown Springfield.

JBA All the Way!

I was 16 and got hooked on politics.

My next campaign was for Lane Evans' first congressional campaign in the early 1980s.

[SCDem]

107. Clinton/Gore 96

But that was just more out of dealing with culture shock - had just moved to a red state.

Howard Dean was when I became a political activist.

[conning]

108. adlai stevenson

When he lost to Ike, I cried.

[timetoleave]

110. Frank Church

[GardeningGal]

111. Gary Hart.....

and we all know how that turned out.

[Nutmegger]

114. NED LAMONT!

And I couldn't be more prouder.

[ben_meyers]

115. Eugene McCarthy

I came clean for Gene and we got back-stabbed by RFK when he tried to hijack the movement.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

116. Eugene McCarthy, 1968...

My husband went door-to-door in a very red town, in California!

I was involved with the League of Women Voters, so I couldn't......

[il_lilac]

117. Mondale/Ferraro

Geraldine was my hero- drank heavily for a long time after the devestation of their loss...

[sweetheart]

118. Ronald Reagan

... by registering for the draft.

I know you mean for political works, but i figured at the time it was just that.

[Lady President]

119. Clinton/Gore '92

:)

[RB TexLa]

120. Edwin W. Edwards

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

123. Kerry. I went to a meetup for Clark, but did volunteer work for Kerry once he won the primaries.

[madmunchie]

125. Clark

[k8conant]

127. Eugene McCarthy - 1968

I went down to Goshen, Indiana, door to door campaigning. Also worked at office in Detroit.
I was 19 so I couldn't vote yet.

[EdwardM]

128. Jim Ryan (R) for governor IL 2002

Sorry about that.

[MoseyWalker]

129. Jimmy Carter

[enigmatic]

130. Believe it or not, Dennis Kucinich

When he was running for Mayor of Clevo the first time. I did it as an assignment for Civics (do they teach Civics anymore?); I went w/ my best friend to his campaign headquarters and folded flyers and stuffed envelopes for 4 hours; Dennis wasn't there, unfortunetly...

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

131. Andrew Jackson

at least it seems like it was that long ago

[Pastiche423]

132. My dad

in 1964 when he ran for County Commissioner in the largest county in NC.

He won and served two terms.

I recently told my 81 year old dad that my obsession w/politics was all his fault. He was pleased.

[burythehatchet]

133. 'bout as grass roots as it gets

:)

[bleedingheart]

137. Allen Kukovich - state candidate in PA

He won many state assembly races and later a state senate race...but was defeated by a murdering homophobe.

[elehhhhna]

138. Lampson, TX 22. Late bloomer.

I ran for Governor at Illini Girls State in '76, though (drafted! lost!)

Does that count?

[Bonobo]

140. Tom Downey, congressman L.I., NY-Youngest ever!

[Bonobo]

145. Al Gore used to play driveway basketball next door to my house.

My next door neighbor growing up was the Downey family. When Tom Downey ran for Congress and won, he had just turned 25. I remember Al Gore playing basketball frequently in the driveway although that is only looking back because he wasn't a terribly imporant figure back then in... early 70's not sure what year... 75 or so?

On edit,
It was '72. Check this out!!!
-From Wikipedia

As a member of the Armed Services Committee, Downey weighed in on arms control issues, serving as an adviser to the negotiation teams for the SALT and START talks. As a member of the Budget and Ways and Means Committees, he championed welfare reform and child care legislation. <1>

Downey made headlines in March 1985 for a confrontation with Representative Bob Dornan (R-CA) on the House floor. Downey asked Dornan about comments he had made calling Downey "a draft-dodging wimp". According to Downey, Dornan grabbed him by the collar and tie, said "It's good you're being protected by the sergeant-at-arms. If I saw you outside, it would be a different story," and threatened him "with some form of bodily harm". Dornan claimed he was merely straightening Downey's tie and refused to apologize for the incident or the derogatory comment. A Dornan aide said "It will be a cold day in hell before he gets an apology from Bob Dornan."<2>

A close confidante of Al Gore since their days in the House of Representatives together, Downey played Jack Kemp in Gore's 1996 Vice Presidential debate rehearsals. He was set to play George W. Bush in Gore's rehearsals for the 2000 Presidential debates; however, after mysteriously receiving a package containing Bush's preparatory materials, he stepped aside to avoid the appearance of an improper advantage for his friend and candidate.

[gauguin57]

142. I was vice chair of our Humphrey for President committee in my 6th grade class.

1968. We "campaigned" in our classroom. I made a poster, using a picture of Hubert Humphrey with a black eye, parodying the old Viceroy cigarette ads (you gotta be OLD to remember those!), "Hubert Humphrey: I'd rather fight than switch!"

Outside the classroom, I first volunteered at Democratic HQ in my hometown when McGovern was running for president.

[burythehatchet]

143. now that's getting in the game early.

In '68 I was still living in India and Richard Nixon was a hero to us because he came to visit. Little did I know...

[iverglas]

144. Pierre Trudeau

Well, actually, it was the local Liberal in 1968, but it was really for Pierre. ;)

By the next year I was almost 17 and had seen the error of my ways and was out banging on doors for the local New Democratic Party candidate, as I've done ever since.

[montieg]

147. As a sixteen yr old for Johnson--4 years later "came clean

(in oh so many ways) for Gene". several years (5-6) of anarchism then came back to the Dems

[mcscajun]

148. US Representative Charles Buckley, 24th or 23rd district (Bronx, NY)

He was a Democrat, naturally.

I cannot recall which election but it would have to have been in the early 60s (he represented the 24th District 1953-63, 23rd District 1963-65), but my younger sister and I made up some really childish signs (hey, we were children!) on corrugated cardboard and marched around yelling "Vote for Buckley!" near the polling place around the corner from our apartment building, on Election Day yet!

I doubt the Buckley campaign was aware of us, or would have appreciated our efforts. :rofl:

[Rex]

149. Don't know. I was 12 and went with my grandmother.

She loved politics. She went to some political event in Austin and wanted me to go. I signed something along with all the adults, probably was nothing, but it made me feel awesome.

[generaldemocrat]

150. General Wes Clark......

He's the only reason I'm an active Democrat.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

151. JFK Button

When I went off to the first grade in the fall of 1960 at a private Episcopal school, I wore my JFK button that had two images that shifted with the angle at which you looked at it.

It had a picture of him smiling, and the other image was "He Will Win".

I was an old woman of five. During recess I tackled a boy I had a crush on and kissed him. As you can tell, I was real shy :evilgrin:

That early enough?

I pushed cards at polling places for Sissy Farenthold for Texas Governor in the spring primaries of 1972. I was a senior in high school but not old enough to vote yet, only 17.

[crispini]

152. LOL, I talked my MOM into voting for Anderson

I was twelve years old, and I was absolutely convinced that he was going to win despite being a third-party candidate, because, of course, my mom voted for him. I will never forget watching the returns as he lost. Thus endeth my flirtation with voting for third-party candidates. :rofl: