Where Were You In 1976?

Me

[bjcoop]

It was Carter Vs. Ford, so where were you during the course of that election and when Carter claimed his victory(unfortunately). It was a pretty close race.

[CounterCounterCulture]

I'll figure it out one of these days.

[Reverend Bob]

I was 16. Backed Reagan in the primaries but supported Carter at the end. -- (Insert Hissing Noises Here) -- Simply couldn't stomache WIN buttons, the Swine Flu Scare, and the oratorical liberation of Poland from the Soviets.

Ohio went for Carter around 3 AM CST and I went to bed. The next morning I collected on all my bets and spent the money on something I deemed important at the time (booze? drugs? Led Zeppelin records? -- I can't remember anymore).

Two years later I was a Democrat delegate to the district convention. Got disgusted by what I saw and voted straight Republican in November. By 1980 I considered myself a Libertarian but backed Reagan with enthusiasm. I also won a lot of money that year from people who claimed Reagan was "too conservative" to be elected. :-)

Carter was a failed President -- one of the worst -- but I've often wondered how things would have been different had Ford won. There would have been no Reagan Presidency and no Reagan Revolution. The World would be a very different place, but I'm not entirely sure it would be a "better" place.

[Corvair]

So was I! I remember taking a poll during recess several days and Ford won quite handily at Grundy Grade School here in Morton, IL.

[freedumb2003]

My politics was know-nothingism

A democrat? ;)

[GeronL]

Good!

[Sam Cree]

arcane as hell!
;-)

[vetvetdoug]

Keesler AFB, Ms as an E-4 Veterinary inspector. We too knew Carter would be bad for the military and Carter did away with the USAF Veterinary Service for catching dishonest contractors and dishonest DPSC personnel.

[Nowhere Man]

Then, I was pissed off that Carter won and my mom lectured me about not being a sore loser and how the country has to come together, blah blah blah. Of course, a few months later, she went on one of the few rants I ever heard from her, once Carter pardoned the draft dodgers who ran to Canada.

I remember reading about his pardon in the "Weekly Reader." Remember those, IIRC, they were big on the UN and all that other stuff and it was heaping praise on President Carter like manna from Heaven. Does the "Weekly Reader" still exist? Occasionally, I did find some good nuggets on the science front, but that's about it. I do remember we watched "Big Blue Marble" on our local PBS station, WQED 13 here in Pittsburgh. Interesting show, showed how people lived in other countries. I remember one episode showing a teenaged girl living in modern (1976/77) Iran showing how she lived a lot like American teens, was pretty well off actually, on the par of many of us here in the USA. They showed her dressing in jeans and a top, going to the stores with her friends and so on. Sad to say, it all changed a few years later after the Shah was gone. B-(

I do remember we occasionally watched "Big Blue Marble" on a color set but most often we watched it on a 1960 era Setchell-Carlson 21" black and white sets where it took a while to warm up the vacuum tubes so the treacher kept in on "standby" to keep the filaments warm. B-)

[Kokojmudd]

"OK, I was too young to remember that. What was the freedom train?"

I dunno I can only remember long lines and size 22 basketball shoes. The late 70's were kind of a dark ages....my memory gets a lot better after Ronald Reagan.

[SamAdams76]

I know. I tried to get my son to follow in my footsteps but found that paperboys aren't allowed anymore. Now we have adults driving around delivering papers as a second job. Unfortunately, they aren't as dependable as the kids were.

I delivered papers during the 1975-77 period. Started out making $15 a week and eventually got to $40 a week as my route and tips grew. That was good money in those days for a youngster to make for basically working an hour a day. Christmas 1976 was a very good one for me. I brought in almost $200 in tips! I felt like the richest kid in town - and for that moment in time, I probably was.

It's a shame they don't let kids deliver papers anymore because it's a great way to learn responsibility. It didn't matter if I was sick or if it was pouring rain outside - those papers had to be delivered!

[shellylet]

In Sept. of that year I had my first daughter, "TightyRighty", and she's been my best friend ever since!

[DoctorMichael]

I was working the night shift at a gas station in Springfield, Mass.

Election night, when Carter was declared the winner, the local FM station played Neil Young's SOUTHERN MAN over, and over, and over. The hippie deejay warned the populous that 'White-Sheeted' individuals would be soon be seen in the Oval Office of the White House.

Is it any wonder with this kind of media that Carry, Kennedy, Barney Franknfurter, Mah-tee Mee-Han, and the rest of the idiots that the Great Commonwealth of Taxachusetts inflicts on the rest of the country, are relected time and again?

Is it any wonder why I live in Virginia?

[Calusa]

I got sworn in as a U.S. citizen on June 6 at a at a cattle call event in the Orange Bowl. Conveniently in time to register as a Democrat (family tradition) and vote for peanut brained Jimmy Carter. Big Mistake. I swear I really liked Ford better. Never repeated that mistake again though. Voted for Reagan, then GOP every election since.

[ladyinred]

Actually, what I'm really curious about is what % of current active FReepers were among the collection of nitwits that voted for Perot in 1992.

Okay, I didn't do that!!!! (of course you don't wanna know who I did vote for that year! :-) )

[HenryLeeII]

Was that Operation LBFM?

[Lijahsbubbe]

I remember wearing a gold peanut necklace which were popular during that time

Pwaha! Thanks for the laugh!

[puroresu]

I was a freshman in college and I was one lousy month shy of turning 18! It was disappointing to me because I had supported Reagan in the primaries, but of course backed Ford in the general election over Carter. But I couldn't vote! Arrrgghhhh!

It wasn't my favorite election given the outcome. It was also disappointing because Jim Sasser defeated incumbent Republican Bill Brock for the U.S. Senate in my home state of Tennessee. Sasser, like most southern 'Rats, ran as a conservative good ol' boy, but joined the liberals once he got to Washington. He pulled that scam for two more elections before finally being ousted by Bill Frist in 1994!

My first presidential vote was proudly cast for Ronald Reagan in 1980.

[GoLightly]

Yep, me too. If I hadn't gotten divorced, yesterday would have been my anniversary. I didn't follow politics, so with the aftermath of Watergate still ringing in my ears, my first vote went to Jimmah Carta.

Spent a couple of weeks that summer in your state (MO). Doesn't anyone in your state eat mushrooms? "You mean like toadstools?" "Want that in a tote?" "A what?" "A tote, tote." "Huh?" The on sale, off sale thing also seemed pretty strange.

Sorry bout that. The Okarks are beautiful, but we sometimes felt like we had entered a strange new world when we were there. Then again, we have bubblers around here, so I guess I shouldn't be anyone to talk.

[tang-soo]

I remember Woody Hayes saying he felt personally responsible because Ohio was the key state and he had not done enough to campaing for Ford.

[hyperpoly8]

In the Air Force.