I joined when I was trying to figure out who to vote for.
I joined FR not too long after you - I'm positive it was due to the same event!
Before I discovered (praise God) Free Republic, I used to visit a Delphi forum that was called Fox News. I don't know if Fox News actually sponsored this or someone created it for Fox News watchers.
Anyway, many times people would refer to stuff in Free Republic. So one day I wandered over here and I consider it as important as the day I realized Rush Limbaugh made sense (after being "forced" to listen to him when I visited my dad) and as important as the day, after having lived in southern West Virginia and not having Fox News access on our cable system, I was visiting my family in Pittsburgh and happened across Fox News and the O'Reilly show in spring of 1999. I remember watching the entire show and then watched Hannity/Colmes. By this time, I had returned to my true conservative and born-again Christian self and Fox was like a breath of fresh air.
Same here. Somebody told me that folks on a site called "Free Republic" were using a song I had written, "The Palm Beach Pokey." So I joined on Nov 17, 2000.