I was living in Reno at the time when I first voted in a U.S. Presidential election in 1984. I voted for former Vice President Walter Mondale and his VP pick Geraldine Ferraro. I didn’t know much about either candidate. I was just terrified of and repulsed by Ronald Reagan.
Reagan beat Mondale in a landslide, getting 58% of the popular vote and 525-13 in the electoral college vote.
In 1988, I was living in Sacramento and voted for Michael Dukakis and his running mate Texas senator Lloyd Bentsen against former Vice President George HW Bush and his VP choice Indiana senator Dan Quayle. I wasn’t at all surprised that Bush won by 53.4% of the popular and 426 to 111 of the electoral vote.
I vividly remember driving to the polls, blasting Public Enemy’s just-released classic, ‘It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back’ in my 1980 Volkswagen Jetta.
My scorecard: 0-2
Next up was the 1992 election. While happily and confidently holding hands with my then-new girlfriend Allyson on our way to the polling place, we both voted for Arkansas governor Bill Clinton and his VP choice Tennessee senator Al Gore.
Clinton soundly beat both Bush and Texas billionaire Ross Perot.
In 1996, Clinton/Gore easily beat Kansas senator Bob Dole and his VP choice former congressman Jack Kemp. Perot ran independently again but faired worse than he did in the previous election.
Scorecard: 2-2
The 2000 election was controversial and, quite honestly, one gigantic fucking bummer. It was one of the closest U.S. presidential elections ever.
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