When was the first time you've heard of...

[Phony Moderate]

Bush-Have a vague memory of him from 2003, with Iraq
Gore- Simpsons episode, When Al Gore's book get's bought by Lisa. Must have seen it around 2004-2005
Obama-When he beat Hillary; I've got a distinct memory of seeing Hillary's '18 million cracks' speech
Sanders-Around 2012/2013 I think
Romney- 2012, I remember him struggling against Santorum.
Santorum- 2010; thanks to Dan Savage
Ted Cruz- 2013, Govt shutdown
Marco Rubio- 2012, when he was being considered for VP
Carson- During 2014/2015 when he name was being touted for 2016
Joe Biden- 2008, VP
Paul Ryan- 2012, just before he was selected
John Mccain- 2008
Sarah Palin- 2006

Palin before Obama and McCain?

Anyway, some more from me:

John McCain - around March or April 2008, when I saw that he was second favorite in the betting odds.
Sarah Palin - when I received an email notification on the bottom right-hand corner of my screen saying "McCain chooses Palin as VP pick" (it was from Newsmax IIRC - lol).
Nancy Pelosi - When she gave her victory speech for Congressional Democrats on election night 2008.
Harry Reid - From the above speech, when Pelosi stated that she had been working with "Majority Leader Harry Reid" for the past two years.
Mitch McConnell - Probably late 2008, but I have a vivid memory of him appearing in a "Welcome to Congress" video on YouTube which received hilariously negative feedback.
John Boehner - As above.
George W. Bush - Maybe late 2002.

UK:

Tony Blair - When people were moaning about him during the Foot and Mouth crisis of 2001.
Gordon Brown - When I asked a teacher of mine who the next Prime Minister should be.
Charles Kennedy - 2003ish. One of the reasons that his death moved me quite a bit - he was one of the first bunch of politicians I was aware of.
Iain Duncan Smith - Maybe mid-2003, when my dad seriously suggested that he could be the next Prime Minister. Then there was his ousting in late 2003, which is the first electoral type event (if you can even call it that) that I remember.
Clare Short - When she failed to resign over Iraq.
David Cameron - When he beat David Davis for the Tory leadership; I got the impression that it was unexpected.
Michael Howard - Maybe 2004.
Ming Campbell - Tbh not until he resigned the leadership, so late 2007. That might show how much of a nonentity he is.
Nick Clegg - Probably mid-2008. Funny thing is that, although many feel that the Lib Dems are lacking exposure now, it felt just as bad for them then. It was all about Brown's failures and Cameron's capitalising on them; barely a word said about a party that had 60-odd seats.
Nick Griffin - Mid to late 2007, when I was hearing about this Bloody Nasty Party and wanted to find out more about them so I looked them up on Wikipedia.
Nigel Farage - Probably 2008, probably from Prime Minister Forever
Caroline Lucas - As above.
Jeremy Corbyn - Have known the name since 2008ish
Ed Miliband - Sometime during the Brown Government, He was the 'other Miliband'.
Lord Pearson - Probably late 2009; always found it interesting that a party which claims to believe in democracy had a Peer as leader.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

George W. Bush
- I remember playing outside at recess one day in the fall and some people were talking about their parents watching the election and it being a huge deal because it was so close. I didn't even know it was going on. I think we were having the conversation because my friend was American (moved to Mississauga from somewhere in Wisconsin, if I recall correctly). I remember hearing the name bush and laughing that someone was named after a shrub. I guess it would have been November 2000 when I was an eight-year-old in grade three.

Al Gore
- For some time, my dad has been on the executive board of the IAFF in Mississauga. The family planned a vacation around the 2004 IAFF general convention in Boston that summer. They had a huge rally for John Kerry and everyone got the yellow "Fire Fighters for John Kerry" shirts. I thought it was pretty cool and later found out a bit more about some of the other candidates the IAFF had supported. My dad showed me a Gore-Lieberman button he had in his filing cabinet. Maybe I'm mixing things up... certainly I would have known who he was in 2006 after An Inconvenient Truth.

Barack Obama
- I got Facebook around the same time everybody else seemed to, in the early months of 2007. There was some kind of candidate-matcher quiz, or perhaps it was just some kind of app that let you display who you supported. I saw the black guy running for president and thought it was pretty cool. Later I actually watched the debates and realized pretty quickly that the hype was for nothing.

Bernie Sanders
- Around the time I started closely following American politics (fall of 2007) I remember coming across clips of Bernie testifying about public healthcare. It spread pretty quickly among a few of my friends, because our Canadian system is pretty well entangled with our national identity. He seemed cool.

Mitt Romney
- I remember the coverage of his big speech on Mormonism during the 2008 campaign. It seemed like he had a pretty level head and knew what he was talking about. He became my "Republican choice" that year, even though I was firmly in the tank for Hillary (liking a Republican too much was sort of a waste of energy; the Democratic nominee was obviously going to win).

Rick Santorum
- 2012. Weirdo little guy at the debates.

Donald Trump
- I knew about him as soon as the Apprentice started. My family watched Survivor but I always had Beavers and Cubs that night. I would usually get home too late for Survivor but early enough to catch the beginning of Trump's show, even though I was never allowed to stay up for the whole thing.

Ted Cruz
- When he won his senate seat. At first I confused him on paper with Jeff Flake. Then Cruz started talking and I hated him immediately because his slipperiness was just so obvious.

Marco Rubio
- 2010. Cute guy.

Ben Carson
- The Prayer Breakfast. I thought it was great.

Joe Biden
- I guess I learned about him when I watched that first debate that convinced me to support Hillary.

Paul Ryan
- He seemed to gain prominence around 2010 with the Rise of the Tea Party. I noticed him then.

[Mr. Morden]

I remember hearing the name bush and laughing that someone was named after a shrub.

In 1988, when I heard that someone named Bob Dole was running for president, I assumed that his family must own the pineapple company:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dole_Food_Company

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

George W. Bush-2000
Al Gore-2000
Barack Obama- 2007/2008
Bernie Sanders-Probably some time after joining Atlas
Mitt Romney-I guess in 2008, or after joining
Rick Santorum-2008
Donald Trump-1st season of the Apprentice
Ted Cruz-His first election
Marco Rubio-2015
Ben Carson-2002 (His story was in one of those Chicken Soup books my teachers read sometimes)
Joe Biden-2006
Paul Ryan-2010

[Derpist]

George W. Bush - 1999 (GHWB had a son running for president???)
Al Gore - Sometime in the 1990's (he was our VP!)
Barack Obama - 2007 (there's someone ballsy enough to challenge the Clintons???)
Bernie Sanders - sometime in the 1990's (a socialist in the Senate!)
Mitt Romney - 2002 (SLC Winter Olympics!)
Rick Santorum - 2003ish (the debate over partial birth abortion)
Donald Trump - sometime in the 1990's (whenever the Apprentice came out)
Ted Cruz - 2008 (from Medellin v. Texas)
Marco Rubio - 2010 (was genuinely impressed when he stomped on that miserable man Charlie Crist)
Ben Carson - 2015 (who's running for president???)
Joe Biden - 2008 (VP)
Paul Ryan - 2010ish (when the ryan budget came out)

[Sir Tiki]

George W. Bush - 2000, during the presidential election.
Al Gore - 2000, during the presidential election.
Barack Obama - maybe 2005? I certainly knew who he was by late 2007.
Bernie Sanders - 2009, while doing research on the 111th congress.
Mitt Romney - 2002, when he was running for governor.
Rick Santorum - 2011, in the run up to the Republican primaries.
Donald Trump - some time in the 1990s I'm sure.
Ted Cruz - 2012, after he was elected.
Marco Rubio - 2010, during the midterms.
Ben Carson - late 2014 or early 2015, I don't remember.
Joe Biden - 2008, when he was named the VP nominee.
Paul Ryan - I think around the 2010 midterms.

[#gravelgang #lessiglad]

George W. Bush - in the 90s as Rangers owner.
Al Gore - Election as VP
Barack Obama - 2004 DNC
Bernie Sanders - in the Senate, his opposition to Iraq.
Mitt Romney - SLC games
Rick Santorum - when he lost in 06
Donald Trump - The Apprentice
Ted Cruz - his Senate primary race against the Lt. Gov.
Marco Rubio - Senate primary against Crist
Ben Carson - his book
Joe Biden - Foreign relations chairmanship. Wasn't quite paying attention to politics in the Anita Hill / Judiciary years
Paul Ryan - Ryan budget

[Lexii, harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy]

George W. Bush - I've strong memories of him since 2004-5, but I've definitely heard of him before
Al Gore - 2004?
Barack Obama - 2007
Bernie Sanders - 2009-10?
Mitt Romney - 2010
Rick Santorum - when he lost in 06
Donald Trump - Home Alone 2?
Ted Cruz - 2012-3?
Marco Rubio - 2014-5
Ben Carson - 2015
Joe Biden - 2007
Paul Ryan - 2011

[DKrol]

George W. Bush - Sometime around 2004. Probably 2003, as he was preparing for re-election.
Al Gore - Sometime around 2007, in a civics class.
Barack Obama - 2007 when he announced he was running for President.
Bernie Sanders - Probably 2010, when I spent a significant amount of time in Vermont.
Mitt Romney - 2002, when he beat local hero Jane Swift for Governor.
Rick Santorum - 2008, when he endorsed Mitt Romney.
Donald Trump - 2004, when the Apprentice came out.
Ted Cruz - 2012, when he was running for Senate, although I may have heard my Uncle from Texas talk about him prior.
Marco Rubio - 2009, when I was in Florida and read about him in a newspaper.
Ben Carson - 2009, when the Cuba Gooding, Jr. movie came out
Joe Biden - 2008, when he was picked for Vice President.
Paul Ryan - 2012, when he was picked for Vice President.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

George W. Bush - 1994
Al Gore - 1992
Barack Obama - 2004
Bernie Sanders - around 1990
Mitt Romney - 2002
Rick Santorum - 2002 or so
Donald Trump - 1992, but I remember being to the Trump Tower earlier
Ted Cruz - 2012
Marco Rubio - 2010
Ben Carson - 2014 or so
Joe Biden - 2002 or so
Paul Ryan - 2011

[Lechasseur]

George W. Bush: 2000
Al Gore: probably around 2003
Barack Obama: 2007
Bernie Sanders: probably around 2014
Mitt Romney: 2007
Rick Santorum: 2011
Donald Trump: around 2005
Ted Cruz: 2012
Marco Rubio: 2010
Ben Carson: around 2013
Joe Biden: 2007
Paul Ryan: around 2011

[At-Large Senator LouisvilleThunder]

George W. Bush: 2004- My first memory of him was during the election, and that was when I first became aware of the concept of a president and a government. I have a vague memory of my mom despising Bush, and she felt so sure that Kerry would become the next President (she still loves the guy to this day). I think I asked her about "Where did Kerry go?" in some annoying way some time after the election, and that was the first time I can remember my mom yelling at me. Keep in mind that I was a 4 year old at the time.
Al Gore: 2008- When I first started reading about history, and my dad explained how elections work to me.
Barack Obama: 2007- I remember that all of my childhood friends at school were intensely divided between Obama, Hillary, and McCain during the primary season. My mom loved Hillary, my dad liked Obama, so I thought I should support McCain because I didn't want to choose between my parents, but I later got on the Obama train after the primaries ended.
Bernie Sanders: 2012- I first noticed him on election night since he seemed interesting because he is an independent.
Mitt Romney: 2011- I first saw him as just one of a bunch of Republicans who wanted to challenge Obama in the 2012 election.
Rick Santorum: 2011- See Mitt Romney
Donald Trump: 2009- That was when he first accused Obama of being born in Kenya.
Ted Cruz: 2012- I remember some news report about him running to become the new Senator of Texas with fiercely anti-Obama rhetoric.
Marco Rubio: 2010- I remember falsely believing that he was an illegal immigrant who supports the Tea Party that was elected to the Senate.
Ben Carson: 2014- I remember my black eighth grade English teacher saying that he would run and win the 2016 Presidential Election.
Joe Biden: 2008- He was chosen by Obama as his running mate, although Sarah Palin seemed more interesting to me at the time because of her craziness.
Paul Ryan: 2012- Romney chose him as his running mate.