Ok all y'all older folks, or just the ones who've been paying attention...

I didn't even start paying attention to politics and the world around me really until just AFTER the last election in '00. I was just 18 the April before, and it was the first one I'd have been able to vote in. I registered and everything, and got an absentee ballot since I was at school like I am now. But I just really didn't care and ended up not voting because I just put it aside and forgot about it. In fact...and don't kill me for this , I was actually planning to vote for Bush....know why? Because my parents were gonna. *sigh* God I'm kinda glad I didn't vote on that note...although I wish I'd actually been paying attention so I could have voted for Gore at least. Anyway...my point! Since I never paid attention before 4 years ago, I was just wondering, have most all the other presidential elections been this retarded/crooked/insane? From what I do remember, this one SEEMS to be the worst of the ones I've lived through. And my mother seems to think it's the worst she's lived through. But I just wanted to ask here, what do y'all think? Is this the saddest election ever??

 

I recall elections going back to Ford v. Carter when Ford himself actually kicked off the televised debate debacle and from recollection its always reverted into mudlsinging contests. Carter v. Reagan was a particularly vitriolic race given that we had the Iran hostage crisis at the time.

 

The worst 'debates' I ever saw (in terms of intellect, or lack thereof) was the 1992 Vice Presidential debates with Al Gore, Dan Quayle, and Admiral Stockdale. Oh my. 1992 was a really bad campaign altogether. Memorable quotes:

"I'm out of Ammo! Who am I? Why am I here? GRIDLOCK!!"

2004 is probably the worst in terms of denying current problems and lying about how things are going to be so much better in the next four years.

 

I believe you are referring to the 1992 vice presidential debates. The 1988 VP debate was between Dan Quayle and Senator Bentsen. The tickets were Dukakis/Bentsen v. Bush Sr./Quayle.

 

I believe that the actual candidates have little to do with anything...they are all being ran by their respective parties, and the powers behind them.

The true deciding point for me is what the parties are doing behind the election scenes.
Be sure to consider more than the candidates...for instance, look at how the senate is balanced, what appointment positions are coming(Supreme Court Justices...etc)
Also make sure you do not become a "One Issue Voter" politics is give and take...you may have to sacrifice your feelings on one issue to be sure that you are voting favorably on two or three others.
And most importantly, vote your vote and not what others are voting because they are family and friends.