What were your thoughts when you saw that this ticket had been nominated in 1980?

[Ardent15]

I'm too young to remember.

Curious to know from DU'ers who are old enough to remember.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. I didn't know too much about either.

I knew Jerry Falwell was wildly enthusiastic about Reagan and that worried me.

I honestly didn't think Reagan/Bush would win. Carter had his problems, but I thought they were surmountable.

[tbyg52]

2. Fear and loathing. And I was unfortunately right. nt

[MadHound]

3. I actually made money from that ticket

Back during the primaries a buddy of mine didn't think there was anyway that the American public would elect an actor as president. Being deeply cynical of human nature as I was, and an astute student of politics I was convinced that Reagan would win. Put twenty bucks down on it, back when twenty meant something. Sadly I won.

Even though I made money off the deal, I thought it was a dark day for this country when he was elected. This was, after all, the man who had called for a blood bath on our college campuses, and who brought the religious right to political power.

Of course he very well might not have gotten into office without the help of his secret deal with the Iranians, the original October Surprise. I knew that something was wrong when the Iranian hostages got released on the very day of his inauguration.

[Dr Morbius]

4. I was an Anderson fan.

I still think he would have made a great President. He was the Watchdog of the Treasury four times running. This was a guy who was legitimately a fiscal conservative and a social liberal.

Carter was ineffective and the economy was awful. And I was pretty conservative at the time. In high school, I read - and was a devotee of - Ayn Rand. When I graduated high school and moved out from my parent's house two days later, I got to understand the real world... and Ayn Rand was quickly left behind. But this was in 1980, that very year. I was eighteen. It was the beginning of my liberalism, that year; at the time I didn't recognize Reagan for what he was.

Our slogan, my friends from the Anderson/Lucey campaign and I, was "Reagan in '80, Bush in'81". We were young Republicans, and nasty like young Republicans always are.

[RockaFowler]

My dad was an Anderson fan, too

I lived in Detroit in 1980 and the Repukes took over the town to have their convention. My dad decided to take a trip to Florida instead of seeing the Repukes take over our town.

[Berry Cool]

29. I voted for Anderson.

People told me I was throwing my vote away, but I was 19 and into voting my conscience. I sigh now thinking about it, but I realize that voting for Carter wouldn't have helped.

[SoCalDem]

32. I did too :). n/t

[Bluebear]

39. Me three. nt

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

63. I worked for Anderson

but wish I had worked for Carter

[mochajava666]

75. I was an Anderson fan, but I hated Reagan more

I stood in the voting booth for quite a while before deciding to vote for Carter out of fear of Reagan.

Jon Anderson was a liberal Republican, and his Vice Presidential candidate, Patrick Lucy, was the former Democratic governor of Wisconsin before becoming an ambassador to Mexico.

[AngryOldDem]

69. Anderson was my first presidential vote.

And if memory serves I wasn't too surprised at Saint Ronnie picking Bush -- Bush was a good company man then, and got his reward.

[Ron Green]

71. Anderson was recommending a .50 tax on gasoline, which was a great idea;

would have brought the price to about $1.50 a gallon, and started moving us in the right direction only 20 years too late instead of 50.

[greencharlie]

5. at age 15 I wouldn't have recognized them...

[Auggie]

6. I was 22 and busy starting a career

Politics were far from my mind.

My overall impression of Reagan was that he was a washed-up, dimwitted actor trying to ride his celebrity into the White House and one who couldn't do a whole lot of harm. Didn't know Bush at all.

I voted for Jimmy Carter. And felt he was shafted by the media when he lost.

[MrScorpio]

7. John Bonham died, John Lennon died and these fuckers got elected

1980 was a bad year.

[Ishoutandscream2]

16. Terrible, wasn't it?

Reagan was elected, and everything that resembled the hope and change of the 60s and 70s disappeared. I absolutely lost it when John was shot.

[devilgrrl]

30. Yeah it was. I remember Utopia's new lp that year 'Swing to the Right'

[U4ikLefty]

38. Bon Scott as well.

I remember that year.

[JanMichael]

8. I was 12ish and already uncomfortable with repukes.

So basically while I wasn't a huge Carter fan I wanted him to win.

Then after watching a Somoza soldier shoot that CBS reporter, and knowing we supported that butcher, I started trending hard left.

[handmade34]

9. I remember Reagan talking about

the "shining city on a hill" and it felt fake and I felt saddened

[FarLeftRage]

10. Hoping that these two fucking assholes wouldn't win...

Of course they did, due to the October surprise...

1980 was one of the worst years of my life...

[catzies]

11. I turned 18 that year, had a baby and was scared to death that Nixon's CIA chief

was elected VP.

(I didn't know until later GHWB was head of the CIA under Ford - I thought it was Nixon.)

That was back when I was young & naive and thought Nixon was the worst President we could ever have. Time proved me wrong.

[annabanana]

12. I thought it was weird. How could they expect to

win with a dumb actor heading the ticket?

[Ms. Toad]

22. Ditto. n/t

[tjwash]

13. That the US was about to get exactly what it deserved.

I remember Carter bringing Anwar Sadat, and Menachem Begin from Egypt and Israel together under a peace never before or since duplicated, after inheriting an even worse recession than the one that President Obama just did. I remember the gas lines of the late seventies, odd and even days, and all the other shit that went along with it. I remember Carter making a very impressive speech during the middle eastern oil embargoes, about a 20 year plan that needed to be implemented to get us off of our growing dependency on middle eastern crude.

I also remember the onslaught of attack ads from oil-men immediately afterward, where they spent untold millions on newspaper hit pieces, slanted and biased TV commercials, and editorial jobs designed to do nothing but denigrate the current President, and keep us sucking on the Saudi oil tit, to ensure that the billions would keep flowing unobstructed for the elite few that controlled the flow. Turns out Carter was right...he warned Americans that if we stay dependent on OPEC, that it would take us down a road that we would not want to travel, and that it would lead only to our downfall as a nation. When the Iranians took the Americans hostage before the 1980 elections, it almost appeared as if it was by design.

Then of course the US public swallowed up the first bush fear campaign hook, line, and sinker. "Damn liberals...gonna take your big old V8 that gets 8 miles to the gallon away from you." "We ain't gonna let a bunch of towel-heads push us around are we?" That kind of garbage 7 by 24 on TV and radio. Let me tell you...a whole country full of ignorant fucks ate that shit up like it was ice-cream. That's when I knew we were about to get was we deserved.

Then of course Reagan happened...along with gunboat diplomacy, troops permanently placed in the middle east to keep the oil flowing, debt spending, dirty middle eastern oil wars and skirmishes that happened again, and again, and again, the selling off of bits and pieces of the U.S. to other countries, and the rest of the whole shitstorm that followed.

[Ishoutandscream2]

14. I was 19, and SCARED TO DEATH

I was a very perceptive young man. I knew we were fucked when they were elected. I didn't know that we would be fucked for the next 30 years.

[JustAnotherGen]

15. I remember

My dad yelling at the T.V. - CBS News. I was 7. I remember it distinctly. My parents balled like babies when Carter lost. I was then subjected to 8 years of yelling at the television. That's what I remember from circa 1980 - 1992.

[TheCowsCameHome]

17. The village had two idiots.

[spanone]

18. i thought is was a joke. the next eight years were not funny in the least bit.

a grand fucking of america

the cia finally got their man, bush sr., in the white house as vice

[librechik]

24. me too, I thought it said The US is CRAZY!! Don't mess with us"

which was very ironic. And true.

[spanone]

27. reagan is the reason i fear palin.

[Demoiselle]

19. When they were nominated I was convinced we weren't dumb enough to elect them.

When they were elected I was horrified and dumbfounded and feared the worst.

[Ms. Toad]

23. I wasn't convinced - but I had some hope we weren't that dumb. n/t

[Stargleamer]

20. I hate to admit it. . .

but I thought Reagan was just way too far to the right for the American electorate, and that by election day Americans would come to their senses and vote for Carter. I was so disillusioned when this did not happen.

[uppityperson]

21. "wtf? aw fuck".

[Yeahyeah]

25. What the hell kind of a "smile" is that on Bush's face?

Is that the "I will have this old prick killed and be President" "smile".

[Ardent15]

26. Must be the Nazi smile inherited from his Dad

nt

[Berry Cool]

28. "Oh God, there goes the country."

Because I knew they were going to win.

[abq e streeter]

31. Sick to my stomach; I knew the American people were stupid enough to fall for that snake oil

but I thought they'd wake up and figure it out before his presidency was over. Instead the asshole is worshipped by tens of millions of people, although ,as always, I also blame the gutlessness of the Democratic Party "leadership" for barely doing a goddam thing to shine the light of truth on him and his legacy.

[Lars39]

33. Not happy about it at all.

One a B movie actor, the other CIA. Didn't take a genius to see who was really in charge.

[madokie]

34. My first thought

we're fucked and I'm not talking about sex either

[Gidney N Cloyd]

35. I was just out of undergrad. Liked Carter but knew he wasn't cutting it. Voted Anderson.

I specifically remember thinking about Bush-- 'this guys thinks a nuclear war is Winnable?' But I never expected the cascade of crap these two gave us. I just figured when they were elected we'd have to deal with a few years of being run by idiots.

[csziggy]

36. Just plain sickness - those two made me feel ill

My clearest memory was a sketch from the short lived series on ABC "Friday Night" - the Ronnie Horror Picture Show. With Ronald Reagan's face on the Frankie character from Rocky Horror Picture Show and the entire cast doing the Time Warp. It was hysterical.

OMG - it is on YouTube!
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84YWBdL3Ydo
Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQvWLquP-fw&feature=related

[csziggy]

43. Ronnie Horror Picture Show Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQvAnCjoiWs

[Ikonoklast]

37. I knew that the Shadow Government had its dimwitted figurehead.

And that the cabal behind Bush would really run the show.




I was right.



And the same crew came back under Bush the Drunkard.

[SmileyRose]

51. My thoughts were similar

I was 18 and assumed GHWB would be leading the country because the guy elected POTUS was too stupid to do so.

[LeftWingPunk]

40. i was -2 years old when Reagan left office

2000 was the first election I remember. But here is a question. How did you feel when Clinton had been elected in 1992? Was the attitude that of "the nightmare's over?"

[eridani]

46. More or less. Went back to not paying attention

Will NEVER make that mistake again.

[G_j]

41. It was the start of a very depressing period for progressives and real liberals

very dark from my point of view, I hated the following years, cocaine flooded the country, pot scarce. Rambo was re-winning the Vietnam war.
It was a mournful time for this hippie! I was already familiar with Ronnie because of his calling the National Guard on peace demonstrators.
I remember trying to warn people. A don't remember many people voting for Reagan, I remember lots of people not voting.

I also disliked Reagan for they he did to Carter with the Iran October surprise.

[NEOhiodemocrat]

42. I was 30

My husband was taken in by Reagan, even sent him a donation. I fought him long and hard before the election to change his mind. Remember my Mother came to visit and he was telling her all these things Reagan was going to do and my Mom said, "Don't you realize he is an ACTOR? Just you wait and see, he is going to be as bad for the regular people as every Republican has been, it is all an act." Well, I never did convince my husband to change his vote but he admitted afterwards that we were right about Reagan. And he has paid a lot more attention to my views since that time. Now he is the one who argues that anyone who thinks voting for a Republican will help regular people is wrong.

[csziggy]

44. The Ronnie Horror Picture Show

I posted this in reply to another message, but thought it deserved more attention.

This was a sketch from the short lived series on ABC "Friday Night" - the Ronnie Horror Picture Show. With Ronald Reagan's face on the Frankie character from Rocky Horror Picture Show and the entire cast doing the Time Warp under a different name. It It only ran once the Friday after the 1980 election and the show was canceled soon after. I thought it was lost forever but it is now on YouTube!

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84YWBdL3Ydo
Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQvWLquP-fw
Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQvAnCjoiWs

Watching it 30 years later, I am amazed at how prescient it was. Too bad we did not take up the challenge of the last song and do more to fight the system.

[Art_from_Ark]

45. For a while, I thought there was no difference between Raygun and Carter

and I voted for Anderson. I hadn't even heard about Raygun siccing the national guard on students in Berkeley. Then, right after the election, I realized that I had been wrong. I regret that vote for Anderson, but in Arkansas it wouldn't have made any difference anyway.

[eridani]

47. I was living in MA at the time and voted Anderson for the same reason

I was really shocked by Reagan's win, and I figured there would probably be a popular uprising against his policies. Jeebus.

[Solly Mack]

48. Sick & alarmed - then disgusted.

[proud2BlibKansan]

49. Definite puke alert

:puke:

[greenbird]

50. Sick feeling in my stomach.

Having grown up in CA and already knowing what Reagan was all about . . . sick feeling.

[old mark]

52. I had been amazed that Reagan had been elected Governor of California, and

I thought for sure that NO ONE would be stupid enough to vote for him for president of the US - he was pretty dumb, and had a rep for dirty campaigning.
Bush had been head of the CIA, and was pretty much a nonentity to me then, but he was no ball of fire, either.

I was extremely depressed when they won, and began to just stop watching anything about politics of news in general, a practice I continued till Obama was nominated...I voted straight Democratic all that time, but paid no atention to whan was going on because I could not stomach the GOP or the media whores who followed them so lovingly.

mark

[Rabrrrrrr]

53. I thought, "Wow, I'm gonna be 18 soon - I bet I end up in a war."

That didn't happen, but the other bad shit I assumed would happen did, except it was far worse bad shit than I thought would happen. I was only a teenager, and didn't have the brain yet to really understand how an incompetent ideological rightwing warmongering violent boob could fuck up the country and terrify the world while his sneaky, behind-the-scenes VP former CIA leader guy could do all sorts of secret shit in the background destabilizing world economies, countries, and international trade.

[rox63]

54. I was 17, so I couldn't vote yet

But I knew this was not going to end well. I grew up in household of Rand-loving conservatives, but I already knew I was a liberal.

[mdmc]

55. close your eyes can't happen here..

[JHB]

56. I was in mid-teens at the time...

...and Reagan instantly turned me off by playing footsie with creationists and his whole image over facts shtick. All I knew of Bush at the time was "aren't you the guy who was calling Reagan's whole economic plan 'voodoo economics' just a few weeks ago?" (an observation I agreed with). So he was another phony too.

Carter had seemed ineffective, though in retrospect I have to wonder how much of that was fact and how much was picked up from my generally conservative (for then) family.

If I'd been old enough, I probably would have voted for Anderson.

[era veteran]

57. I laughed my ass off. I KNEW Rayguns & spybitch could NEVER be elected.

WOOPS

[DailyGrind51]

58. I was newly diagnosed with cancer at the time, reflecting my feelings

[ThomWV]

59. I thought 'this country will never be stupid enough to hire a washout out 2nd-rate actor

and then we went and did it, hired us the worst President in the country's history.

[NoPasaran]

60. I was pretty sure it was the death agony of capitalism

I was pretty sure it was the death agony of capitalism and revolutionary socialism was just around the corner.

[caraher]

61. I was 16

I thought Reagan couldn't possibly be as bad as suggested because a mainstream party would never nominate an extremist, and that Bush was a good moderate voice. I also expected Carter would be re-elected...

I also remember that in '76 Reagan was widely considered a joke.

It took a few more years before I really figured out politics...

[peekaloo]

62. My first time voting in a Presidential election and I happily voted

against the fuckers.

Still quite naive on the whole political thing but I couldn't believe Americans would vote for/elect a crappy actor to "lead" the country. Rude awakening to follow.

[Vinca]

64. I was completely oblivious to politics or what was going on in the world back then.

I could go out to my garden and think about carrots and not mutter about nukes and health care and wingnuts. Sometimes I wish I could stick my head back in the sand.

[livetohike]

65. I was 28. My first thought was that Reagan is too old for the job

He was older than my parents and only 7 years younger than my Grandmother. I don't remember having any particular thoughts about Bush. I didn't think a B-movie actor could win.

[Hepburn]

66. As a Californian, I had endured Ronnie Raygun already as governor...

...and I knew it was bad, bad news for the nation. I could not believe that people actually bought into his bullshit.

[Jim__]

67. I thought Carter would be re-elected, easily. - n/t

[Sebastian Doyle]

68. I was 14 when they were elected.

I thought Reagan was a silly old man, and I didn't really know anything about George Bush then, let alone the Bush Crime Family. But I knew I wanted Carter re elected. And when those Iranian hostages got released the minute those fools took office, I knew something stunk to high Heaven.

And thus began my political awakening........

[Kalyke]

70. What time is recess?

I was only 10.

:hi:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

72. Ah, shit.

That was my reaction. Ronnie had been my governor, so I knew the crap the country was in store for. ;(

[zorahopkins]

73. Did You Really Have To Post That Picture?

My eyes have been ruined -- RUINED!! -- for at least an hour.

Couldn't you simply have posted the names?

The names alone are scary enough (and were in 1980).

But the picture -- I have to go wash out my eyes!

;-)

[Matariki]

74. I was in college - my friends put on German Beer Hall music...

and goose-stepped around the kitchen. (parody, not celebration for the irony impaired)

Then within a year, lots of people had to quit school because one of the first things 'that ticket' did was cut financial aid for college students.

[ecstatic]

76. I'm too young-was it equivalent to Palin getting nominated?