Which election night do you recall with the least fondness?

[BurtWorm]

[trotsky]

1. The first one I ever was interested in was 1988

But the worst had to be 1994. Clinton came into office with such a mandate, and the Repukes sabotaged everything. And then, in '94, watching returns come in and it became clear that they were going to take over not one but BOTH houses of Congress... ugh. You could tell a tide had turned, and America was retreating into conservatism, scared of the future. I hope that 2004 is a reverse of that - having seen what the pinnacle of the right-wing has to offer (Chimpy), Americans turn out in droves to reject it.

[DenverDem]

2. 72 was my first activist campaign.

I found it hard to believe that a criminal like nixon could landslide like that.

I started being pretty cynical then.

[SCantiGOP]

9. me too

I spent the whole day driving people to the polls, using the last of my beer money for gas. I got back to my aparment after 8 to find my asshole roommates getting ready to go to GOP headquarters because they knew there would be free booze and female campaign workers in a good mood. I said that I just wanted to lie on the couch and watch the returns -- they fell on the floor laughing, since I didn't know the race had already been called for Nixon. I got the last laugh two years later.

[Bossy Monkey]

3. I think you mean '92

or maybe you got confused with the Winter Olympics.:P

[BurtWorm]

5. No, I was thinking of 1994, when a cold wind blew into Congress.

Sort of like the Winter anti-Olympics.

[Bossy Monkey]

10. Gotcha. Brain fart on my part (Hey that rhymes!) n/t

[BurtWorm]

4. You know what?

We've lived through a lot of really shitty elections! :cry:

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

6. 2000 was like a nightmare for me...

... I was on the phone all night with a close friend in TX (I was in Chicago). He was a * supporter. We don't talk anymore after all of that.

I know - he's a UNITER, right?

[demnan]

7. 2000 was the worst - no contest

I couldn't believe what happened there. The best was 1992.

[deadmessengers]

8. '94

I was living in NYC at the time, and volunteering for Mario Cuomo's re-election campaign - it was a tough, tough loss that night. Watching the election returns come in from the rest of the country made it even worse, knowing that Newt Gingrich was going to take over the House and keep President Clinton from getting anything done.

Looking back on it, though, Newt looks positively moderate compared to the bunch of assclowns running the show these days.

[aden_nak]

11. 2000 - My birthday was the next day.

And didn't I just get a box of shit, eh?

[Bucky]

12. In 1980 my dad had a nightmare about me being drafted after RR's election

I'll always remember that. His generation lived thru the Vietnam War. I know he lost a couple of friends in Vietnam and really feared for me to get caught up into whatever wars he was certain Reagan was planning.

At the time I thought it was endearing, but not terribly realistic. If anything, war to me, as a 17 year old kid, didn't mean a lot except maybe a wild adventure at which I'd never get killed and at which I would almost certainly get a chance to show what a hero I am. I was anti-war in general even then, but I felt like if a serious war was going to be fought I ought to be there to serve my country.

Of course war in the early 80s was an abstraction based on a few John Wayne movies. Even anti-war films like the Deer Hunter made the intensity of combat seem, well, cool. Now war is not an abstraction to be opposed or supported on philosophical grounds. It's 1100 Americans dead for no reason at all. It's 15,000 - 30,000 Iraqis dead for no good reason. It's tens of thousands of families dealing with the loss and the anger and the depression and the deep seated mistrust of other people from the other side of the globe--ever more willing to tolerate more and more murderous violence by their side against the "enemy" regardless of the consequences because of all the hatred they feel.

It's not an abstraction, but a reality measure in gallons of blood-and all of it spilled because someone wants it to be American companies drilling the oil out of northern Iraq instead of Russian or French companies. I have now had those same dreams my father had, but I have them about the students I teach. We owe them so much more than this administration can ever deliver. We owe our warriors peace.

[Rowdyboy]

13. 1988...A dear 29year old friend was killed in a car wreck that day

and I tried to watch the returns but I couldn't see them through my tears. He was a beautiful man with an enormous heart. He left a wife and two young children. Totally nightmarish.

[VOX]

14. 2000, no question. When Florida was called, I thought we had it...

then it was yanked back. My outlook has been in the toilet ever since.

[BurtWorm]

15. For me: It's a toss-up between 1980, 2000 and 2002.

I can't make up my mind. I hated 1972, too, come to think of it. But 1980 utterly demoralized me. I remember wondering what the fuck my country was thinking. I really did feel out of step. I didn't see it coming. I thought the country would wake up and save itself in time.

2000, of course, was irritating because Gore had "won" Florida and suddenly the networks were taking it away from him, and finally declaring Bush the "winner." It took me forever to fall asleep that night, I was so furious.

And 2002 was enraging because it seemed to vindicate Bush's war drive.

God, I'm getting sick thinking about all of the above.

:puke:

[denverbill]

16. 2002. Hands down.

Because all day long we'd been getting reports that voter turnout was strong and that was supposed to be good news for Democrats.

Instead, it was a big win for Republicans and handed them control of the Senate.

Reagan winning in 1980 is #2.

Bush beating Gore in 2000 didn't bother me as much at the time.

[VelmaD]

17. tossup between 1980, 1984 and 2000

1980 I was such a huge fan of Carter

1984 it was such a disappointment to see what happened to the first woman on a major party ticket

2000 - well, duh :)

[DrZeeLit]

18. I worked for Bobby Kennedy in '68. When I woke up and heard...

...that he had been shot. My world shattered.
I don't think anything has been the same since for me.
When my mom woke me, I was in shock, and said, "I'm moving to Tahiti."
Later I could not quit crying.

In my world, 1968 was horrible -- filled with death and sadness. By the end of the year everything was in tatters, the war was raging, and my best friend's brother had been murdered. Even being in love was bittersweet. I salute John Kerry for coming home and working to make the world right again.

And the beat Kerry's On.

[johnnie]

19. 2000 for sure

I called it as a sham from the get go.