OMGosh, I will forever be ashamed that I voted for Anderson in '80, too. It was the first time I voted, so I can claim inexperience, right? : ) (More likely youthful ignorance!)
Haven't messed up since then, either.
I read this statement about Reagan from Justice Scalia on another thread, "He was shamelessly patriotic and infectiously optimistic."
I think this is Reagan's legacy to me - Optimism about this country and about what we can do as Americans. As a former lefty, it was so easy to see the down side of everything, to think that we are failures or about to fail at what ever we do when the exact opposite is true.
I have a much more optimistic view of our country and am a much happier person as a conservative than I ever was as a liberal.
I wasn't old enough to vote in 1980 but I had a Reagan sticker on my bookbag.