Which was the first Presidential Election you remember?

[Lechasseur]

The first one I remember was the 2000 election, the first primaries I remember were the 2004 Democratic Primaries.

[Mr. Reactionary]

My kindergarten class had a mock vote in 1996. My dad told me to vote for Perot so I did.

[JA]

I somewhat remember election night 2000 because my dad and the neighbor were watching it together, supporting different candidates (my dad was a Gore supporter), and got into an argument over it. I also remember going into the voting booth with my grandma and great grandma in 2004 when they had me vote for Kerry for them. But 2008 was the first election that I recall since I was turning 14 that year; my mom was a Clinton supporter during the primaries, and I believe my dad was a McCain supporter. We would discuss it in school where I was one of the few Democrats (not that my political beliefs had developed by then, but I preferred Clinton IIRC) and I watched Obama's inauguration with enthusiasm.

[Enduro]

I vaguely remember 2004

[The Govanah Jake]

2008 vaguely

[Oldiesfreak1854]

2000.  I remember my kindergarten/first grade teacher showing us a picture of President Clinton and asking us what we thought he did as president.  One of the kids answered, "sit around and drink cola," and another answered, "sit around and eat meatloaf."  (In reality, that probably wasn't far off, given Clinton's notorious gluttony.)  She told us he was almost done being president, and about George W. Bush and John McCain, the two leading Republican candidates.  All I remember her saying is that George W. Bush's father had been president before.  I thought it was cool and would only be appropriate to have a man whose father was president become president himself.

When I got home from school that day, I told my mom about what I had learned.  She mentioned that Al Gore was also running, but that he was a Democrat and Bush was a Republican (in my mind, I actually pictured Al Roker, because that was the only Al I saw regularly on TV at that time).  I didn't know anything about the two major parties back then, but I had a bit of a fetish at the time for words beginning with R and noticed that "Democrat" had "rat" at the end (obviously that particular R-word was exempt from said fetish) and thinking I liked that a lot better.  My aunt was a very left-wing Democrat at the time and would've even called herself a socialist (she would've been Bernie or Bust if he'd run in that election), and told me that Bush was an alcoholic, but I didn't care.  In a way, that was the moment in time I became a Republican, although it was only when I learned more about the history and platforms of the parties that this decision was confirmed in my mind, despite my fourth grade teacher's left wing views and most of my immediate family being either Independents or nominal Democrats.

[JGibson]

For the general: 2000.

For the primaries: 2008.

[Middle-aged Europe]

I think I have some vague recollection of the 1992 election... mostly that it was considered something of a big deal that there were three candidates instead of just two.

The first U.S. election that I followed actively and regularly was the one in 2000 though.

[Blair]

I vaguely remember Clinton giving her 17 million cracks speech (when I was 12) and remember seeing BBC news say that Obama was coasting in the last week of the general election.

I remember watching the news in the morning when Blair won his third term in 2005, and my Mum was relatively happy. I remember going with my parents to vote in 2008 for London Mayor and my dad was slagging off Ken Livingstone

[fhtagn]

The first one I remember was the 2000 election, the first primaries I remember were the 2004 Democratic Primaries.

[President of the great nation of 🏳️‍⚧️]

General: 2012 and to a lesser extent, 2008
Primaries: 2016

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

2008

[America Needs R'hllor]

General: 2008, I remember news about Obama defeating McCain. For primaries, 2012, I was a right wing kid so I followed the Republican primaries and supported Bachmann, then Cain, then Huntsman/Romney. Don't blame me, I was 13

[Crumpets]

The first one I remember was the 2000 election, the first primaries I remember were the 2004 Democratic Primaries.

[kyc0705]

In 2004, I vaguely remember hearing my parents talk about it/overhearing stuff on the news. I knew that the candidates were named Bush and Kerry. I figured Bush won because after a while, people stopped talking about the other guy.

In 2008, I remember hearing early on that someone named Hillary Clinton was a frontrunner in her party; I was surprised to hear some time later that she was no longer in the race, since people had been so confident about her winning. A while later still, I heard the names of who was actually running, and on Election Day, I remember observing that we were either getting the first black president or the first female vice president, and thinking that was interesting.

In 2012, I was old enough to follow the news on my own. I remember hearing about the Republican primaries, and a period through which it seemed like all of the candidates were roller-coastering up and down in the polls. I payed somewhat close attention to the fall campaign.

[At-Large Senator LouisvilleThunder]

In 2004, I vaguely remember hearing my parents talk about it/overhearing stuff on the news. I knew that the candidates were named Bush and Kerry. I figured Bush won because after a while, people stopped talking about the other guy.

In 2008, I remember hearing early on that someone named Hillary Clinton was a frontrunner in her party; I was surprised to hear some time later that she was no longer in the race, since people had been so confident about her winning. A while later still, I heard the names of who was actually running, and on Election Day, I remember observing that we were either getting the first black president or the first female vice president, and thinking that was interesting.

In 2012, I was old enough to follow the news on my own. I remember hearing about the Republican primaries, and a period through which it seemed like all of the candidates were roller-coastering up and down in the polls. I payed somewhat close attention to the fall campaign.

Same exact thing for me.

[Illiniwek]

The first one I remember was the 2000 election, the first primaries I remember were the 2004 Democratic Primaries.

I'm a little concerned at how young people here appear to be.

[SATW]

The 2000 election was the first I remembered.

2004 was the first one I watched on election night.

2008 was the first one I had a clear understanding of all candidates and policies.

[TDAS04]

1996.  The first campaign ad I remember was by Steve Forbes. 

[Mr. Smith]

2000, but only because of the Florida stuff. Dad told me not to say anything about stolen votes in front of other relatives that voted for Bush...I dunno why he thought I'd care, I was only 7.

[OSR stands with Israel]

In 2004 I can remember that most of my 2nd grade class wanted Bush to win, because he was cool while Kerry was viewed as boring and uncool . I also remember remember having to write a letter to President Bush , and I remember writing about my summer vacation and asking  him about how cool life if in the white house. I also remember my dad watching President Bush's victory speech on PBS (When they showed it again later in the evening) , though I dont remember thinking anything then.


I do remember the 2008 primaries where all the boys supported Obama/McCain while all the Girls supported Hillary lol.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

2008.

[Lechasseur]

The first one I remember was the 2000 election, the first primaries I remember were the 2004 Democratic Primaries.

I'm a little concerned at how young people here appear to be.

Why's that?

[Lechasseur]

The 2000 election was the first I remembered.

2004 was the first one I watched on election night.

2008 2012 was the first one I had a clear understanding of all candidates and policies.

[America Needs R'hllor]

The 2000 2008 election was the first I remembered.

2004 2012 was the first one I watched on election night.

2008 2016 was the first one I had a clear understanding of all candidates and policies.

Since these parameters are interesting