Question for DU'ers ... 50 years old and over only....

[RagAss]

When was the first time that you actually noticed that our electorate become "dumbed down"? For me it was Reagan over Carter in 1980... I was in college, full of piss, vinegar and idealism and went into a state of complete disillusionment when the country voted for that actor/puppet for President. The only thing more bizarre was the reaction of the majority of the people in my life at the time to my mocking the choice the voters made that year.... I felt isolated ... and I soon made the decision to become politically active in the Democratic party.

Anyway...how about you? When did it hit you?

[av8rdave]

1. Bush Sr. converted me

[roguevalley]

135. I remember Eisenhower people being simpleminded but it took

Nixon to bring out the empty headed support him against reason freeptards.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

2. Not quite 50, but Wallace/Le May sweeping the south in 1968

And 1972 was the clincher.

Reagan in 1980 was merely the triumphant culmination of the Nixon southern strategy.

Which is to say, I had been disillusioned long before I started voting.

[abumbyanyothername]

21. I would also say 1972

I mean perhaps I could even see Nixon winning a squeaker, but essentially sweeping?? At that point, I made a decision to go militant, or as militant as a pacifist can be.

And yes, that was before I was even old enough to vote.

Since I have been old enough to vote, I have been a two issue voter -- choice and peace. Fortunately, these two issues tend to align in American politics.

[verges]

49. Under ten?

That's petty precocious.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

52. Very political family. Wallace and Nixon were like the boogy man.

I was precocious, though I didn't understand some of it intellectually until later. But 1968 was a signal to me that the voters are the enemy.

Grew up in Alabama so Wallace was always a hot topic at the dinner table.

Had McGovern stickers all over my bike, but knew he was doomed.

I never had an "illusionment" phase.

[saltpoint]

80. God, yes. Wallace/LeMay.

Man, that was a monstrous duo.

That same "old" George Wallace was still on the campaign trail in 1976 and Carter vanquished him in the Florida primary. I loved Carter for being the dragon-slayer of the "old" George Wallace, and then there was the "new" Goerge Wallace, who sang a different tune on race relations.

[indypaul]

96. Have to agree

At age of 77 believe 1968 was the final blow.
When the Nixon crowd hired Wallace to disrupt
the process and kept him alive with funds to
continue his campaign. Coupled with the violent
deaths of MLK and RFK and other events that year
appears to be the downturn of any further elections
that truly reflect the desires of the electorate.
It has been the "selling of soap" since then and
I fear that I will not see its return to the post
1968 events in my remaining lifetime. Open the packages
and see what is being offered today as if one needs
further evidence.

[stevedeshazer]

119. I agree, 1968.

For all the reasons you gave.

Nixon did it for me. He opened the door for all the political BS that prevails today.

[Joe Bacon]

107. Oh I agree 1972 was my tipping point too!

I remember how biased the media was against Mc Govern, especially after the Eagleton mess. He never recovered from it. Oh, I remember those "Spiro is my Hero" T-shirts too. My dad's union kissed Agnew's ass, had him come up and speak at their banquet and the only members who refused to endorse Nixon for re-election were Dad and one other. They got booed.

[flamingdem]

3. In college also when a fellow student said he'd vote for Reagan because it

would make life "more exciting".

A supposedly educated person at a top school.

[shraby]

4. Same here. Reagan was the beginning of

putting idiots in the white house and in the v.p. slot. I don't consider Bush I to be any brainiac..just wise to Washington. Quayle was a joke and they were actually going to run him after Bush I.

[POAS]

5. Nixon and his "secret plan to end the war"

and the complete disregard of the Watergate break in did it for me.

[RagAss]

75. and we're hearing it again...McNutsy's secret plan to get Bin Laden.

[POAS]

105. They keep recycling this crap

and the public keeps buying it like they are stray dogs around an open garbage can.

[calimary]

168. Nixon bothered me, but I wasn't paying close attention back then. reagan REALLY

bothered me. And the second time was just agony. His arrival made me start looking more closely at how you can manipulate through speech and gesture, and tone of voice, and cock of head and eyebrow. With him it was all schtick. And people fell for it like the water over Niagara Falls. Not much substance, a big cardboard cutout who talked a good game, and wall-to-wall scheming meanies behind him. And people fell for it. Swallowed it whole. And kept loving him to pieces while he set his goons loose to fleece them up one side of the room and down the other. That was when I realized ronald reagan was the most dangerous man on the planet. Because he could sell well. And people would buy. No matter what it was or how bad it was for them. And I started making sort of an ongoing study of political bullshitters and that voodoo (economics and everything else) that they do so well.

[quiet.american]

6. I'm a few years under 50, but it hit me when Poppy Bush was elected.

People praise him now, but I thought he was a moron then. I also thought he should be under prosecution for Iran/Contra -- not running for president.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. When so few people questioned who killed Kennedy

I guess that would have been in the 70s sometime? Whenever the reports started coming out that made no sense. I was only 10 when he was murdered yet I got it that there was no way one man had done that all by himself and I was eagerly awaiting the results of all the investigations. 45 years later, still no answers that make sense.

[grandpappy]

8. Johnson Years

[RagAss]

Welcome to DU... interesting response since Johnson was elected

only once in 64, long before the war escalation and protest movement gained it's legs.

[MannyGoldstein]

9. 1984 -Reagan Re-Election

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...

[independentpiney]

183. that was the tipping point for me as well n/t

[WCGreen]

10. It was how close the Ford Carter campaign ended up...

I couldn't believe it was that close...

[WA98296]

11. Reagan, exactly like you described.

[Submariner]

12. Raygun's re-election in '84 depressed me badly

I felt the Rovian-like tactics were coming into play at that time. I was surprised that supposedly intelligent folk were voting for Mr. Hollywood and his merry band of criminals.

[johnaries]

13. Frankly,

I don't remember a time when I DIDN'T think our electorate was "dumbed-down". I don't ever remember a President who was elected on the issues.

[nini]

14. Reagan...

especially after the re-election.

[rug]

15. Nixon 1968.

[BlueIdaho]

16. Yup.

That was it for me too.

[11 Bravo]

22. Same here. When I saw the Repukes able to convince America that a man ...

who flew 25 missions in the cockpit of a B-22 into the teeth of the heaviest flak barrage in the history of aerial combat was some kind of whacked-out peacenik, I gained soome insight into how fucking stupid some people are.

[Faygo Kid]

45. Agreed.

[xxqqqzme]

51. Nixon in '68

even though I couldn't vote yet. He creeped me out. Then the lie in '72 that he had a plan for peace in Vietnam 'n the country fell for that as well. I still can't believe kissenger came out of all that criminal corruption intact.

[dixiegrrrrl]

114. double yep....

I was so much younger then, and had serious head up my ass issues then, but stilll...geez...
all you had to do was LOOK at Nixon.

It all went downhill after that, with the exception of Carter, who I still think was too nice of a man to be involved in politics.

But, looking back on my life, remembering growing up in the 50's....that was a serious dumb down time.

A lot of us had much hope in the decade between '68 & '78, that people were getting smarter.

Then came the 80's........

[WheelWalker]

118. That was it. Nixoink - 1968

[Pierogi_Pincher]

120. With ya on that. First time had foreboding in my spirit. n/t

[WinkyDink]

155. Same here. My 19th birthday.

[DeeDeeNY]

157. Yes. Nixon in 68. I remember vividly.

I was in college at the time, and just about everyone in my sorority had to be talked down from despair by our sorority advisor, who kept insisting to us it wasn't the end of the world.

[gratefultobelib]

17. I haven't been that politically involved, so I have to admit it was 2000. My first vote was for

Goldwater, if you can believe it. I simply detested Johnson and didn't know squat aout party ideologies although I was raised in a strong Democratic family.

[abbiehoff]

18. I'm 60, and I think it had to be Nixon in 1972.

I hoped at the time that it was just an anomoly, but it just continues to get worse.

When the Republicans actually nominated Reagan, I thought he was a joke and that no one would take him seriously enough to elect him. Then he was re-elected and I kind of lost interest in politics

When W was elected, I decided that I couldn't ignore the idiocy any longer. Now things have gotten so bad that I can't help but think even the profoundly stupid will notice.

[CrispyQ]

32. "...I can't help but think even the profoundly stupid will notice."

Well, we'll certainly find out this election, won't we? I'm not holding my breath, though.

[Blue_In_AK]

117. I'm with you on that one.

I couldn't believe it. Reagan is a close second.

[Ikonoklast]

19. Nixon.

He was the one selected by those that are currently in charge of this coup.

The exact same people.

[KharmaTrain]

20. I Saw It With "Nixon's The One"

The '72 Campaign opened my young eyes to how flash trumped substance and how a well-oiled political machine could dominate both the media and public opinion. Next I would definitely put the '80 election where the Southern Coalition Nixon set up mixed with the Country Club Repugnicans and "Raygun Democrats" (who were northern Dixiecrats) and brought the "culture wars" into politics.

I felt it really began to "dumb down" with the '84 election...the rise of Gingrich, Falwell and Atwater...the blueprints were put into effect for the non-stop attack on the media (deregulation and corruption from within) to demonoizing Democrats as tax raisers, godless, big government (racism) and promiscuous (GLBT & women's issues).

My first campaign was 1972...before I could vote and I've been active in most ever since...especially over the past decade. I've seen how dedicated Democrats can take red areas blue but it's been a long, hard road...a problem exacerbated by years of neglect of the grassroots by the DNC.

Cheers...

[salonghorn70]

23. May Have Felt Like That In College In The '60s

But after 40 years of involvement in politics, I simply refuse to view any voter as "dumb." This post is similar to another one so I am probably repeating myself. I may disagree with other voters but I respect them. If I would view them as being dumb, then I think that would be elitist. If I want every single voter to listen to my message, then I must respect their beliefs and opinions. That doesn't mean that I have to agree with it. I just have a very deep respect for all Americans who go to their church, school or fire house and cast their votes. Trust me, if you go door to door and talk to voters but you start from the view that they are dumb, then they will spot that just as if you were wearing a sign that said it and they will tune you out.

[RagAss]

25. Good points. My post was directed at the subjective experience of

a Democratic voter. I should have made myself clearer.

[salonghorn70]

37. My Response

was based on the subjective experience of a Democratic voter. In politics it is easy to think that the other side is dumber than you. Don't you think that is what the Republicans thought about FDR and those who voted for him? When Obama wins, there are Republicans who will think that the nation has "dumbed down." That is what Rush will say. I am saying that those of us active in politics should have a great deal of respect for the voters that we are trying to win with our message. :hi:

[RagAss]

40. I hear ya.... dumb is a relative/subjective term here.

[abbiehoff]

31. But some of them really are dumb.

When someone says she is going to vote for McCain because she "likes" Sarah Palin; that she is a "breath of fresh air", without giving any thought to her qualifications or intelligence, that's just dumb.
Not to mention that she is not even the candidate.

[salonghorn70]

42. I Agree That Voters Have Crazy Reasons For Voting

In 1960 did everyone base their vote for JFK on his desire to "get this country moving again?" No. There were voters who voted for him because they liked his family or his good looks. There will be voters voting for Obama for the same reasons. Yes, Yes, I know. But we must respect them. :)

[abumbyanyothername]

84. I don't think this is dumb

I think you have to drill down -- what is the most important thing/issue to this voter. I bet it is either 1) Security; 2) Taxes; or 3) Trust. Then as someone said in another thread, you can draw comparisons to Bush ("Did you feel the same way about GWB 8 years ago? 4 years ago?" "Are you happy with how things have turned out with him?" -- if you get a yes here, I would just give it up -- this is not our target voter

I agree with the posts above, that it is essentially for ALL of us to respect ALL of the choices being made by ALL of the voters.

Especially if we are out canvassing or phone banking, we need to leave people with the message that we hope this election, however it turns out, will unite the country as it has not been united in over 10 years (14 if you want to be precise).

[salonghorn70]

109. Excellent Post

[leveymg]

24. Reagan broke the spirit of the Democratic Party; Obama mended it.

I too was in college during that sad time. After the November '08 elections, the Republicans will also know how it feels to be out of power and out of step with America for a generation.

Revenge is a dish best served cold. :evilgrin: :kick: :+

[Alameda]

26. Kennedy/Nixon...and has only escalated since then.

as media technology and reach has increased, more control has been exerted. The assassination of Kennedy was a special moment of propaganda.....

Watch:

The Century of the Self.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/century_of_the_self.shtml

It's sad that every technological advance has been used for such nefarious ends.

[calico1]

27. I would say that it started when the network

news ceased to be independent and started being corporately owned and vying for ratings. Also the 24 hour news networks which because they are 24 hours have to fill in the time with a lot of stupid shit that would never have been considered news before. The ending of the Fairness Doctrine also was a big contributor.

[CrispyQ]

28. 1980 Carter-Reagan for me too, although it had the opposite effect on me.

Carter-Reagan was my first presidential election. My junior year in high school, a pal & I worked for the Gary Hart for Senate campaign. It was fun & my friend was quite good at debate & I enjoyed hearing him talk to people & get them revved up for Hart. In 1980, I was so excited to vote for Carter! I loved his message of conservation.

I couldn't believe that people couldn't see that there were shenanigans going on behind the scenes with the Iranian hostage situation. And when the hostages were released on Reagan's inauguration day, I was sputtering mad & decided that I could give a shit about politics. If the American people were so fucking dumb to be played like that, then they deserved what they got. Sure, I didn't, but they did.

I didn't pay attention to politics again 12/12/00. That got me off my complacent ass, although now I carry around this constant anger at the stupidity & ignorance of the masses. They have time enough to watch American Idol or whatever passes for the latest & greatest crap TV, but they can't take the time to inform themselves. If it doesn't fit in a 15 second sound bite, they can't be bothered.

If we lose this election, I'm not sure how involved I will stay in politics. I feel like I've been swimming upstream for 8 years now & I'm fucking tired. I'm not sure how you've done it for 25+ years!

[RagAss]

64. Thanks for that... You know, I may walk away too if we don't win this one...

There does come a time to cut your losses.... and I really hate saying it.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

29. Nixon 1968. I hadn't a clue how anyone could vote for him and when he was reelected

I was blown away at the stupidity of the people who voted him in.
I'm 56.

[Grey]

30. Nixon I had three brothers in

the army and their CO ordered them to vote nixon and they did.....?
Does it get any dumber than that. Not one of them had even heard of him.

[Hepburn]

33. When the Warren Report came out....

...I realized that the American public had to be absolutely stupid to buy Word One of that bullshit. I am 60 years old and nothing since I read that report has caused me to change my mind in any way whatsoever. So, if people will believe bullshit like the "magic bullet," obviously they are dumb enough to buy bullshit packaged like Reagan packaged and shoveled it.

JMHO

[techtrainer]

35. Ditto

[Forrest Greene]

34. August 1968, Chicago

...and the Democratic National Convention. Not so much Richard Daley screaming "You f*ck#ng k#k@!!!" at Abraham Ribicoff as the legalized police riot. 1968 was one rough year, but the events of August were a real hinge in my life. I was fifteen.

[Arugula Latte]

36. I was only 14 when Reagan was elected, but that shocked the hell out of me.

I couldn't believe people couldn't see through that simpleton.

I became a liberal in 1980.

[Misskittycat]

38. Clearly by '80 and Reagan, though Nixon '72 shocked me. n/t

[bronxiteforever]

39. Four factors, the growth of hate radio, the Bill Clinton impeachment, the 2000 election and Iraq War

I view these factors like the space shuttle breaking up during reentry-piece by piece

I could explain in my mind why voters went for
1. Reagan as a reaction to the economy
2. Bush 1 as Dukakis failure.

Then hate radio grew along with the politics of personal destruction-kind of the natural progression of Spiro Agnew but I though his hate died in his disgrace.

Then the Clinton Impeachment was not constitutional and was an attempted coup-I realized how few Americans understood the Constitution.

Finally 2000, the Supreme Court and Shrubs' amazing reaction to being a minority president with no olive branches to the other side and finally a war without cause which was in direct violation of the Principles of Washington, Franklin and Adams.

[BigAnth]

41. "4 More Years!" - Nixon in 1972

I was in high school and worked for the McGovern campaign. I was very disillusioned after that experience, but felt vindicated when Watergate took him down.

[Billy Burnett]

43. A little after November 1963.

X

[slackmaster]

44. 1968, when I was living in New Mexico and became aware how many Wallace supporters there were

I was aghast.

[RagAss]

58. That must have been an awakening.......

I never knew Wallace took off like that in the Southwest. Thanks for sharing.

[slackmaster]

179. Many white New Mexicans, at least in the part where I was, identified with the deep South

It was kind of an extension of Texas.

[cliffordu]

46. Fucking NIXON.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

57. Nixon

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

134. Hearing crowds chanting "We want Nixon" "We want Nixon"

and after his election, those taking pride in being members of the "great silent majority".

[blue neen]

47. When Ronald Reagan said, "Everybody who can remember what they were doing on Aug. 8, 1985,

raise your hand."---and people actually thought it was funny.

I had realized it before the quote, but that was the defining moment.

[Hansel]

48. Same here. Reagan over Carter.

The whole Iran Hostage Situation was the first time I noticed the media being really sucked in to the right wing talking points.

I think that Watergate created a kind of cynicism about government that provided the petri dish for this change in tone. The Republicans have been trying to put the Genie back in the bottle ever since the American people woke out of their stupor to find you can't always trust people in authority. Dumbing everyone down is the only way they can do that.

[tilsammans]

50. IMO, the trend started in 1972, and . . .

. . . Reagan sealed the deal in 1980.

We haven't been the same since.

[tomg]

53. The first time I noticed it

was in 1968 with Nixon when I was 18. Secret Plan my ass ( I know he never actually said it, but that was how it was packaged).

But the actual campaigns have always been dumbed down, and deliberately so. It has always been run on gossip, slander, and lies. Look at the 1884 election between James G. Blaine( R) and Grover Cleveland (D), sometimes considered the dirtiest campaign of all time. Cleveland got hit with a false paternity rap: "Ma, Ma, Where's My Pa/ Gone to the White House ha ha ha." Blaine was falsely accused of having said the Democrats were the party of "Rum, Romanism and Rebellion" as a way of causing him to lose Irish Catholic voters in New York ( he lost NY by about 1,000 or so votes and with it the election). Turns out Blaine's mother was Catholic and his sister was a nun. Now that is some swiftboating.

What makes things far more extreme now is the constant barrage of misinformation/lies/irrelevant information over the internet, the 24-hour news cycle, our 5,000 channels, and talk radio. Information overload, absolutely no filtering systems, the end of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 and the subsequent Telecommunications Act of 1996, have completely altered the landscape and the process.

The entire communications system is speeding up and overloading the thought processes involved in making choices rather than slowing down the critical thinking processes It is not that the electorate is dumber, per se. It is getting fried, and one result of information overload is to simply shut down.

[RagAss]

56. Secret Plan indeed....sounds like the McNutsy secret plan to get Bin Laden.

[tomg]

70. I never noticed the similarity before. Thanks. nt

[dixiegrrrrl]

125. Very good point. Nicely put, also.

[Irishonly]

54. Nixon

[Vinca]

55. Definitely Reagan. That's when star power became more important

that policies. I'm depressed as hell over this election. Even people you think have half a brain in their heads turn out to be nothing more than fans.

[scarletwoman]

59. When Ford pardoned Nixon. I know that there were plenty of people thinking, "WTF?", but that's when

I first noticed how easily the public could be cowed into complacency. Because what happened then -- even though much of the public would have been totally okay with putting Nixon on trial -- is that the all the Powers-That-Be spoke with one voice, assuring us peasants that this was a fine and proper conclusion to the wrenching experience of Watergate.

And after this judgement had been handed down from On High, very few had the courage to even grumble, much less vehemently object. It was mostly shrug and move on.

I think that this pardon, combined with the unresolved lingering doubts about the Warren Commission, was the cognitive dissonance that broke the camel's back. We understood that our opinions about our government didn't matter. For some (like me), this meant a permanent breach of trust, and a permanent shift into cynicism.

For the bulk of the population, I think, when presented with the dilemma of "Who are you going believe, us, or your lying eyes?", it felt easier and less frightening to believe "us" (them).

Once you've gone into denial mode, it's a short trip to just tuning it all out. And once you've tuned it out -- basically stopped applying any conscious thought -- then all you are left with is unconscious reaction to emotional stimuli.

And that's why Reagan was elected. People took refuge in unconsciousness, because true awareness was too painful.

sw

[RagAss]

61. Thanks for that ... I was 16 at the time and in my teenage mind...

it was a common act of mercy. Now that I'm 50, I realize it was almost and act of treason against the citizenry.

[scarletwoman]

73. I was older, in my mid-twenties, and I was appalled and angered.

I really do think it shut people up, and shut their political consciousness down.

If you didn't accept that the pardon was the right thing to do, you felt isolated and powerless. So, most people fought off their feelings of powerlessness by subsuming themselves into the hive mind. (Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.)

sw

[CrispyQ]

74. Best post of the day.

Sad, but spot on.

[scarletwoman]

86. Thank you so much!

It honestly means alot to me to know that someone finds something I've written to be worthwhile. :)

[Eyes_wide_ open]

94. I think you have it

"Once you've gone into denial mode, it's a short trip to just tuning it all out. And once you've tuned it out -- basically stopped applying any conscious thought -- then all you are left with is unconscious reaction to emotional stimuli."

in a nutshell

[ShortnFiery]

138. That was a watershed moment, not unlike the recent - Pelosi declaring "Impeachment is off the table"

Every time "the people" demand that those who have the authority in OUR GOVERNMENT also stand up and take full responsibility, they are left disappointed.

Nobody within the political ruling upper class, both democratic and republican, takes the blame.

WE, THE PEOPLE, NEED TO STOP VOTING THESE CORRUPT POLITICIANS IN OFFICE.

[Catshrink]

60. Reagan. I was stunned people would vote for him.

[RagAss]

62. Hey... how about some DU love and some recs here... I think this belongs

on the Greatest Page !

[Peacetrain]

63. Honestly, part of me wants to say Nixon, but in reality

it is more likely Reagan. In the Nixon years, we started hearing about the religious right moving to school boards, to get a ground hold on what was basically a democratic US that elected republican presidents.

Then Reagan really cooked it, they went after equal access, so they could be the one voice that the low information voter would hear/

The lessons of the Roosevelt fireside chats was not lost on the core planners. How we got here has been a long slide.

The good news.. we have the opportunity to do to them exactly what they did to us.

We have to get those first time voters out there and inspired. Once you pick a party, you tend to stay with it.

[RagAss]

66. Yes..."The Moral Majority"... as I recall

[Peacetrain]

68. Moral Majority...yep that was it

[DearAbby]

65. Nixon 1972.........n/t

[Tutonic]

67. Reagan did it. Too bad Hollywood didn't think that highly of his

acting skills.

[CitizenLeft]

69. not quite 50, but yes - Reagan, 1980

It was my first election, my first vote - and I was devastated. Cried for days. Couldn't understand it at all.

In 1985, my Mom and I took a package trip to Spain - and there were a bunch of young Reagan-loving yuppies on this trip - shallow, flippant, vapid, loud, ignorant, in-your-face proud of their new "wealth" - and it made me sick. One airhead repeatedly said the same thing over and over whenever we encountered some impressive or lovely landmark, piece of artwork, landscape, palace, or courtyard - "pretty!" "Pretty!" "Pretty!" Her male counterpart airheads always nodded approvingly to her profound pronouncements. Dear God. They all immediately bonded, moved in a clique, and made everybody else uncomfortable. It didn't ruin the trip by any means, it was a wonderful trip, but it was annoying as hell to see just how dumbed down we had become, and how proud some were to be dumb. Never have gotten that impression out of my mind.

[SmileyRose]

71. I don't agree we are getting dumber.

Americans did vote for James Buchanan.

LBJ was POTUS when I was old enough to become aware of the world and American history was part of my schooling. It became apparent very quickly that America has had both smart and stupid moments - sometimes simultaneously.


Edit - typo

[RagAss]

72. Thanks.

[CountAllVotes]

76. 1968

after RFK, Jr. was assassinated, I knew that the USA had been taken over by some very DARK forces (note: JFK's murder was just the beginning ...).

:kick:

[saltpoint]

77. A first solid rumor of a dumbed-down culture for me came from an

early reading of INHERIT THE WIND, about the Scopes "monkey" trial.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_Trial

There was the institutional social ignorance of science plus the fear of the town populace that a science teacher was teaching "dangerous" doctrines in the public school. And the acid-tongued reporter from "back east" asking tough questions.

It was easy to go from rooting for that science teacher to being a progressive Democrat.

Adlai Stevenson was cheered by a supporter once in his presidential campaign (paraphrased): "Mr. Stevenson, you have the vote of every thinking person in the country!" -- to which Stevenson replied (paraphrased), "That won't be enough -- I need a majority."

I think there are glimpses of anti-intellectualism (and some overt and blatant anti-intellectualism) throughout our history. Witch trials. Monkey trials. Opposition to stem cell research. Irrational fear of flouride toothpaste. Etc.

In politics I first noticed that my favorite candidates never wound up with the nomination and that a blander Democrat often prevailed. With the ascent of Ronald Reagan, it was clear we were in a changed universe and that ideas mattered less than substance to way too many people.

We don't ask much of our public school students. Our attention spans have been shortened by television. We aren't much good at critical thinking. We value brute force over diplomacy. And we have no national knowledge of our own history, let alone anyone else's.

I add that up and get George W. Bush in the White House for the past 8 years.

[RagAss]

78. Excellent Post !!!!

[Neecy]

79. I'm not quite 50, but I'll answer anyway

For me it was the 1984 election. Granted, Mondale wasn't a ball of fire by any means but Reagan's policies had, by 1984, clearly demonstrated that he cared more for his rich corporate/society pals than he cared about the American people. He was also clearly becoming senile. The election results that year taught me that you can never underestimate the ignorance and stupidity of the American public - and that's a lesson we need to remember with Palin.

[mwb970]

81. There were straws in the wind in the 70s.

Americans began getting inexplicably stupider sometime in the 70s. I remember often talking with my parents about how people were all of a sudden unable to write my last name correctly (six letters) even when I had just spelled it for them. Clerks at McDonald's started getting even simple orders wrong. The guy at the gas station (!) would give me the wrong amount of gas. Misspellings and grammatical errors started appearing everywhere, even in newspapers (this was when the inability to spell its set in, along with the "they told my wife and I" error). It was as if there were something in the water that was making people stupid.

Then Reagan was elected and things really went downhill fast after that. Now we have reached the point where Americans will sit still for eight years of Republican lies, then cheer for an angry old man and an embarrassing hockey mom, Republicans who lie with every word they speak. I honestly think that Americans are now in general too dumb to tell the difference between lies and truth, too stupid to vote for quality candidates, preferring cardboard cutout figures instead.

This is exactly why I think Palin-McCain will probably win this thing. We have become a nation of idiots. Idiots get the government they deserve. The remaining thinking Americans (comprising what, 10%, 15% of the population?) will be dragged down with them, because that is what happens when a democracy fails due to the lack of an "informed electorate". The next stop is fascism.

[RagAss]

83. This is worthy of its own post....excellent.

[mwb970]

90. Thanks!

But please tell me you misspelled its on purpose. As a joke, right? Please?

[RagAss]

91. No...just an SP....I'll correct

I'm part of the problem.....;)

[mwb970]

99. Don't feel bad, you're not alone!

It might seem minor, but this particular misspelling, and of a three-letter word yet, has become extremely widespread. (It is as ubiquitous on DU as everywhere else, with at least one other occurrence earlier in this very thread!) It makes me wonder if they are just not teaching the rule for this word any more. I learned it in fifth grade and never forgot: it's means "it is", and its is the possessive. That's the whole rule. It seems easy to me. What happened?

Anyway, I didn't mean to be critical of someone who had just complimented me (a relatively rare event), but it did kind of stick out coming after what I had written!

[FlyingSquirrel]

174. Sorry to jump into this thread since I'm only 40

But you have just hit the nail on the head. The nation has been dumbed down and it hasn't happened by accident. You control the masses by making sure they're stupid. John McCain plans to continue the dumbing-down of the country, (not for his own benefit obviously since he's not long for this world... so why?) It started with television, I think. Video games accelerated the process. But even with those handicaps, we could still have a reasonably educated electorate if they didn't constantly, year-in and year-out underfund education. If jobs paid enough to live on, so that parents weren't both working and weren't too exhausted to actually spend time helping their kids learn. If social services weren't constantly being cut and people didn't have to spend half their time sitting in waiting rooms trying to get the help they needed. If the government actually really cared about nutrition instead of preaching from on high about the food pyramid, while packaged foods full of who knows what continued to be churned out (and by the way, who has time when both parents work to cook a nice nutritious meal every evening when you can pop a couple of dinners in the microwave?) All these things affect the brain and the ability to learn and be an intelligent and informed person. Oh, and one more thing - the public school system refuses to acknowledge it when a kid is just not ready for the next grade level. Kids are on an assembly line and that assembly line does not stop (my stepson is absolutely not ready for middle school but there he is, a week into school already drowning. Soon he will just give up and stop even trying to learn, but they'll just keep advancing him till he drops out in high school.)

[saltpoint]

82. I've often speculated that Mario Cuomo did not seek the presidency in 1992

not because he was not eminently qualified to hold the office but because he would have to run in a landscape of numbskulls.

A successful Cuomo candidacy would have to rely on Jefferson's and Madison's informed citizenry, and that goal has not been realized.

Its not being realized punishes a candidate like Gore, or Kerry, or Cuomo even as it betrays the Founders' vision for the republic.

[RagAss]

85. I agree...Mario was the pinata of NYC hate radio then... Bob Grant specifically.

[saltpoint]

87. Yes. And what a lost opportunity. How very, very good he would

have been for our country.

[Alameda]

113. I have always regretted Mario did not run. He would have been

a great president.

[saltpoint]

88. This is one of the most thoughtful questions I've seen asked on

blogs in months and months and months.

Thank you for it.

[RagAss]

129. Thanks...appreciate it.

[msallied]

89. I imagine the Reagan win had to be even harder for Dems than most...

given that he swept all fifty states, correct? My god... the whole country was bathed in blood red back then. I can't even imagine.

[Neecy]

92. not quite....

I think Mondale carried Minnesota and DC...

[msallied]

102. 525 to 13. Yikes.

[Ino]

93. When Bush selected Quayle as VP... and still got elected (nt)

[PufPuf23]

95. 1967 I became politicized

I was 14 but in my 2nd and 3rd years of prep/boarding school in the SF Area.

My parents were uneducated and rural Humboldt county natives; they loved FDR (Dad a WWII vet with 8th grade education)but also were pro-Vietnam and loved Reagan later but were essentially non-political.

My mind was expanded culturally first before politically as discovered the Haight and the music scene in 1965. Sophmore year (67-68) my roomate's mother, Maya Miller, was very active (and was for years) in Nevada politics. Eric and I went to rallies for Humphrey, McCarthy, and Wallace in 68 and many anti-war demostrations in Berkeley and San Francisco. I planned to do a non-religious CO but had 318 as a draft lottery number. Eric and the general ambiance of the times and being around liberal educated people in adolescence formed my thoughts and general political philosophy still held and aghast at how many citizens are low info or in denial or don't care or hold different cultures in such low regard. I am so thankful my parents did not poison my mind with religion and racism. But my Dad and I argued for years about my working for the Feds (resigned 1985) and Nixon and Reagan and Bush I and Clinton.

Later I was an undergrad at UC Berkeley when Reagan was Governor of California and quit a career professional job in a Fed agency that Reagan declared quiet war on as POTUS. When Reagan was POTUS, I first noted the GOP strategy of taking an agency or function of an agency that worked, purposely breaking what functioned, and then saying government isn't the answer.

[RagAss]

97. WOW... The Summer of Love... and you were in SF ... that's a great setting

for political awareness. I was only 9 back then, but have read and heard so much about it in my life that I look back at that time like I was an adult in 1967.

[kayell]

98. I'm 51. Voters are not dumbed down. They've been tricked by very clever propaganda

from people they should have been able to trust. Calling people stupid or dumbed down will not help get their votes.

[Undercurrent]

100. Definitely 1968.

George Wallace got nearly 10 million votes. Which was over 13% of the vote at the time.

Racism is still with us of course. It is just crammed in the closet, so to speak. There is a shame factor nowadays, in being openly hostile, so most racists disguise their racism. Even when it is blatant, as in the case of the disgusting Obama waffles, there are lame attempts to cover it up by calling it humor.

[RagAss]

103. Amen

[LWolf]

101. I'm only 48, but I'm with you: Reagan over Carter.

Ronald Reagan ushered in the cancer self-centered anti-intellectualism that continues to proliferate throughout the nation.

[alsame]

104. 1980. I was stunned that Reagan won. I knew the country was

unhappy at the time (energy, inflation, hostages in Iran), but I just couldn't believe that the American people took Reagan seriously.

[msallied]

106. Carter was trashed relentlessly in his administration. A sick twist of irony, though..

is how I often hear neo-cons use the Carter Doctrine as justification for their Middle East policy.

[RagAss]

108. They'd use Manson's "Helter Skeltor" Doctrine if it served them.

[Sam Ervin jret]

110. I was in the college bar waiting for the 1980 election results. My roommate was pol.sci . major

and she had gotten me into the game.

I thought it was silly. We were from MA. Didn't everyone see the world the way we did.

Boy was I shocked. And my shock has only deepened every year.

Stupid is cool. Orwell's 1984 came right on time, took form in our own country more and more every year and nobody seemed to notice.

Lies became truth, opinion became news, biased commentary became fair and balanced news, torture became enhanced interrogation, killing civilians became collateral damage, first strike aggressive warfare against a foreign country became the Bush Doctrine.

Dumb and Dumber every election.

[MadMaddie]

111. I am 43 but I knew it was when Reagan was voted in.

[Major Hogwash]

112. Not until 1984. I figured after 4 years of Bonzo's film partner fucking things up, people would wise

up. They didn't. Really caught me off guard.
1984 was pretty much the demarcation line in the timeline of when voters did their own thinking and when the church started telling them how to vote.

Voters guides started getting distributed out here in 1984 at all the churches.
It was a disgrace.

[The Backlash Cometh]

115. I didn't begin to see it as a lasting trend until, about the time the comedy

routines began to change on the late night shows. The stand up routines began to get more political, and they were more anti-liberal. I began to notice I didn't find what they were saying was very funny, but everyone around me, did. Could have happened before Leno, but I think Leno was the first one I remember tuning out completely.

[NOLALady]

116. Nov 4, 1980.

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing.

I can't even remember when and how I heard about the death of MLK. Somehow, in my mind, the election of Reagan was a worse tragedy than the assassinations of the 60s.

The 60s were tragic, but there was always a glimmer of hope. Change was in the air.

With the election of Raygun, I felt that all hope was gone.

[fifthoffive]

121. The re-election

of Nixon in 1972. It was clear to me at the tender age of 17 that the man was a crook, but the adults around me preferred to believe that the President wouldn't do anything underhanded. Worship of the man just because he held political office, as if holding political office automatically confers morality and wisdom.

The election of Reagan confirmed my belief that the American public is willfully ignorant. I've seen nothing since then to change that opinion. The anti-intellectualism pervasive in this country is scary.

[DailyGrind51]

122. I noticed a drift to "the right" in 1968, almost as reaction to the Chicago convention.

Both MLK and RFK had died that year and Eugene McCarthy supporters became embittered by the entrance of George McGovern as an RFK replacement candidate to challenge the more centrist, Hubert Humphrey. Had the Party taken a "left" turn and selected Eugene McCarthy as our standard bearer, everything, the Vietnam War, social policy, everything, might have been different. The selection of Hubert Humphrey seemed like the Party's snub of "the left", in fact, the first time I heard the term "neo-conservative" was following the '68 convention. It was used to describe Democrats willing to support Nixon rather than endorse the "New Left".

[Froward69]

123. roughly the same time

as you. for me it was regains second term I was 14 at the time. (At 10 I supported him.) I simply could not believe how fucking stupid people actually were...
Caused me to grow my hair out,
listen to Hard rock,
start to smoking Pot,
Most Important of all to question authority.

then i learned later in college
the dumbing down of the electorate started with Nixon. sadly has yet (thus far) to reverse the trend.

[Loge23]

124. Definitely Reagan was the tip-off

Particularly so close after Watergate. After Watergate, I actually thought that I would never see another rePuke president - boy was I wrong.
Then, to elect an image of a person over an human being was hard to take.
But nothing prepared me for 2000 & 2004. The day after election day '04 I felt physically ill.
But wait! There's more!
The country has gone totally brain-dead since then. We now debate the relative merits of a McCain and Palin against Obama and Biden!!
They are, by many accounts, tied in the polls! This after perhaps the most devastating administration in American history!
Look at the electorals - most of the country is red, even if the votes are close.
Many Americans actually like Palin - a dummy in heels. Hey it worked for Reagan.
The main talking points I'm hearing is that she's great beacuse she has the "liberals" all upset. No other reason - what other reason could she have - she's as dumb as a rock like the rest of the country.

Do Americans actually believe that this country will survive a Palin presidency?
Make no mistake about it. The U.S. will be a lone wolf in the world under Palin.

[RagAss]

132. Yes.. dumb as a rock and a reflection of her base.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

126. Late 1967 or early '68, I was in the Navy stationed in Cam Ranh Bay

I read a book written by a British reporter that had been in Vietnam with the French and watched the military weapons come into the country in white boxes with red crosses on them. He reported in a "fictional" story, all the things he saw. He said all the events in his story really took place, it was just too complicated to know who all the people doing the things were, so he fictionalized characters and wrote them into the story but revealed real events. What an eyeopener. I was in charge of the classified material in my squadron, I could read the classified messages, the Stars and Stripes and the San Francisco Chronicle and get three different stories of the same event.

It wasn't until I got out of the Navy and back into college that I learned American oil companies had negotiated rights to drill in the Tonkin Gulf with the French, and they didn't want to lose them.

Same old trouble we are in today huh? Here is a link someone sent me this morning:
http://www.propublica.org/feature/stanley-case-resources/

(spelling, and left a word out, so edited)

[Lugnut]

127. It was 1968 for me.

I couldn't believe the majority of voters were dumb enough to elect Nixon.

[Wilms]

128. All great answers on this thread.

I was pretty young in '68 but realized that things weren't going to work out so well.

By '73, I was convinced.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51W4tH54e7I

- on edit -

Make that 1974.

[MarianJack]

130. I'm 53...

...and for me it was 1984 and the media's collective orgasm over re-electing Reagan.

1968, 1972 and 1980, we essentially shot ourselves in the foot with our own party divisions and we pretty much handed away any chances to win with our desire to win points from other Democrats while the rethuglicans concentrated on winning the elections.

PEACE!

[eppur_se_muova]

131. Under-50 disruptor here ... Anderson/Reagan debate.

Anderson made RR look pretty dumb (or helped RR show it, whatever) but viewers gave Anderson the edge by a much-too-small margin. I was in college and of course every student I talked too said JA had clearly won, but the populace at large saw it differently. One had to wonder how.

[starroute]

133. 1952 I guess -- I was a 5 year old Stevenson fan

Actually, I'm not sure if I was aware of the "dumbing down" concept in 1952 -- as opposed to merely hating Nixon -- but I certainly was by 1956. In that year, we were assigned to draw a political cartoon for school, and I did one of someone who's so intent on the World Series that he doesn't even realize there's an election happening.

I wasn't alone at the time, either. Ike was the first president to pronounce nuclear as "nu-kyu-lar" and also the first to inspire jokes about how "Eisenhower proved anyone can be president." And his slogan was "I like Ike" -- an early predecessor of the who-would-you-rather-have-a-beer-with approach. People really did like Ike, and in large part because they believed he was no smarter than they were.

Kennedy was the last president to make any appeal to the intelligence of the voters, and even he wasn't elected on that basis. It's been all downhill from there.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

172. But Ike was smart

He didn't wind up running the entire ETO and aggressively de-Nazifying Germany after the War because he was a dim bulb. Reagan, Chimp or Grampy couldn't run a goddamn White Castle much the largest amphibious invasion force in the history of the world.

[starroute]

185. Nobody I knew in 1956 would have agreed Ike was smart

He played a lot of golf, massively mangled the English language, and left a lot of the heavy duty stuff to Nixon. Maybe he was just lazy and/or not very interested in actually being president. But nobody ever thought he had much grasp of issues or policy.

[hvn_nbr_2]

136. 1960 - eighth grade - Half the class thought JFK would donate the country to the Pope. nt

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

145. I remember my 5th grade teacher rooting for Nixon and crying a river

when he didn't win. She belittled the few Democrats in the class like me who were pulling for Kennedy (there were five of us and we were all pointed out to the others out by the teacher). My teacher told the rest of the class not to worry because she thought the electoral college would eventually give the election to the guy who would later be known as Tricky Dick.

[annabanana]

137. I remember, very clearly, in the '80's . . . I realized that I had more

questions AFTER watching the news than before it. They would give a story.. but they'd leave off the most important details.. Like "what company" or "which official" or "how many people".. All the facts seemed to be missing. I puzzled over it for awhile, then I guess I got used to it. And it wasn't until I started reading about some of the -really bad- things that were going through Congress that I realized that people were no longer paying attention.

[goodgd_yall]

139. Reagan/GWBush

I don't know if it was so much dumbed down but more, "whoa, what's happened to my country" with Reagan. I think it was with this current administration that I really was struck by the stupidity of my fellow Americans. If we lose this election, that opinion will be even more reinforced. I'll lose respect for my countrymen and women if that happens. I'm set to give them one more chance. Maybe the past 8 years has had some effect on them.

[Oak2004]

140. I'd attribute it to a combination of television, esp. the Republican intruduction of ad techniques

and the rise of the civil rights movement (ie, racial fears = brains out the windows).\

But I can't pinpoint it to any particular date. It has been a gradual process.

[comanche12]

141. Birth of People Magazine 1974

transformed journalism into the info-free vessel that it is today.

[RichardRay]

142. Been there and came back around...

I'm no longer impressed with 'smart' or 'accomplished' nor worried about the 'dumb' electorate. Yes, the electorate makes some dumb choices sometimes, but, in general, they do OK. Democracy is like that, ya know? I'll take the mistakes of the electorate over the mistakes of an oligarchy any day.

What would you prefer? Double votes for people who are 'smarter'? Do I even have to start down that road?

Democracy isn't perfect; it's just better than the other choices.

[Sam Ervin jret]

156. call me a cake and eat it person, but I want a democracy with an educated electorate and a strong

unbiased media.

[RichardRay]

163. Then you're likely to be disappointed.

And then what? I'll take 'just folks' doing the best they can. What makes you think you can get an 'educated electorate' and a 'strong, unbiased media'? What empirical evidence exists?

[PCIntern]

143. Stevenson vs. Eisenhower I 1952

I grew up in a household which rued the day Ike was co-opted to run as a Rethug by....guess who...Christie Todd Whitman's father, on a golf course near Atlantic City. Her governorship was the return of the favor...

My parents sat shiva for over 50 years...

[RagAss]

146. "sat shiva for over 50 years" ....classic line !!

[Iterate]

144. And another…

1968 and 1972 were two pretty stupid years, but the hate radio and talking points TV that took off in the ‘80’s seems to me to have made it worse – and persistent. The morning after reactions to any of the the debates in the past 30 years has been a shock that I can't ever seem to anticipate. Quayle in '88 meant that it was so bad that dumb didn't matter -and Bush knew it. Now, with Obama, I've noticed that press coverage is more likely to point out his childhood basketball skills than his years as President of the Harvard Law Review.

I don’t see how anyone could argue that we’ve ever chosen consistently well. Buchanan in 1856 was a low point and four years later Lincoln was elected only because the EV was split. In fact, the 1860 EV map looks just like yesterday’s poll.

I live in Germany now and it took the Germans about…oh…ten minutes to figure out this election. The last poll I saw here broke about 80% Obama and 6% McCain, but then it’s been a while since they’ve had that style of media.

[Imagevision]

147. Couldn't care less until I learned what the Warren Commision was really all about...

[demokatgurrl]

148. I agree, it started with Reagan as far as I could tell

but I didn't get pissed off enough to get involved until 1992. I saw us going down a path I didn't like (unfortunatley we are WAY down it now.)
The electorate have become like sheep. Dumbfuckistan is the best descriptor I have heard yet for most of the U.S. electorate.

[RagAss]

149. I first saw "Dumbfuckistan" used in a post here in DU a while back...

it was a brilliant description....and hysterically funny too.

[Raine]

150. Reagan I would agree. My family was always involved in politics

moderate Republican politics. When Reagan took over the party in 1976 calling Ford repugs "traitors" that did it for all of us. I remember my mother worked at the repug headquarters and she came home literally in tears because her and a friend were called a "traitors" because they supported Ford over Reagan! :argh: The last time anyone in my family voted repug was when they voted Ford or over Carter. Four years later when Reagan ran against Carter we ALL voted Carter.

[progressiveforever]

151. Reagan over Carter...then Bush over Kerry solidified

We are hopelesssly dumb.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

152. It was Reagan

He was the first national candidate who convinced a majority of the populace that there is no issue to which there was not a 5th grade level answer and that government was evil. Once people become convinced of such simplemindedness, it is virtually impossible to change them as they are then utterly resistant to facts. I see and hear infinitely more genuinely stupid people than when I was a teenager back in the 1970s.

[Dudley_DUright]

153. Reagan

I was a physics major in college and I remember debating people about Reagan's Star Wars scheme. We are still paying the price for that bit of Reagan idiocy. :crazy:

[L0oniX]

154. I noticed it in 10th grade back in 1969..

[benld74]

158. The actual slide was when Nixon got in the 2nd time,,,,

then Ford pardoned him. Carter everyone hated since he was telling it like it was and people DID NOT WANT TO HEAR IT. Well ya know what, he was right. Then a grade B actor got in and began to play the GOP GOD they were looking for. THAT was the beginning of the end.

[RagAss]

159. Kick for the Night Shift and thanks to everyone for your responses !!

[mmonk]

160. I think of it as more of a gradual thing of about 20-30 years.

The problem is I'm still amazed at where we are now.

[FogerRox]

161. How could have Nixon actually got re-elected?

Watergate was already in the news. We were told, its nothing, by the people who then went to the polls and voted for Nixon.

I was about 13-14.

[Historic NY]

162. 1968 or there abouts...we could kill off hope and replace it with dispare.

[VOX]

164. Nixon '68 was a bad choice in a horrible time. But Nixon '72 was another matter entirely.

Nixon '68 was the nadir of a very strange and terrible year -- the assassinations of MLK and RFK, riots in several major U.S. cities; the free-for-all at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago; and the Tet Offensive, which made most Americans realize that "victory" in Vietnam was unrealistic.

It was against this nightmare tableau that Nixon was elected in 1968, mostly on a "law-and-order" platform and the claim of a "secret plan" to end the Vietnam conflict. But then things *really* started going downhill: Nixon invades Cambodia; students are gunned down at Kent State; the economy was rocked badly, with inflation running upward to the extent that Nixon declared a wage-price freeze -- an unprecedented move in peacetime (if one considers the Vietnam War to be "peacetime").

As much as it sickened me, I can somewhat comprehend why Nixon got elected in 1968: false promises, a divided Democratic Party, etc.

But in 1972, the fact that the American public would want four more years of Nixon struck me as utterly insane. But that's what happened, in landslide fashion -- Nixon was voted in for another four years, of which he would only serve about two, his paranoia -- and his circle of enabling thugs -- having gotten the better of him.

[eridani]

167. I remember the bumpersticker--

DON'T CHANGE DICKS IN THE MIDDLE OF A SCREW
VOTE FOR NIXON IN '72

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

171. I had another one on my bass case in 1974:

Impeach the Coxsacker.

[eridani]

178. Omigod! How could I have forgotten that one? n/t

[needledriver]

165. Call me a political naif

but it wasn't until Arnold was elected Governor of California in a recall election that I realized that the human race was too stupid to survive its ability to destroy itself.

I grew some hope in the 2004 election, but had to sit in shock when the election was overtly stolen.

This did not do much to encourage a change of heart.

It wasn't until this year that I finally got energized enough to actually get off the fence and register to a political party.

The Democratic Party.

It's going to take a lot of hope and change to fix the mess that dummy politics has left us.

[tabasco]

166. The Reagan administration was subversive and criminal

and to see the numbers of Reagan worshipers after eight years of that shit convinced me this country was fucked.

I still think so. Even if the wackos are a minority, they are strident enough to keep the country on the path of destruction.

[MagickMuffin]

169. Nixon, when he campaigned to end the Viet Nam war to get reelected

Although I wasn't old enough to vote that cycle, I knew that Nixon was using that as a winning issue. And wouldn't ya know it, it Worked.

I cast my first vote for Carter.

Then came Reagan, and how he was portrayed as someone who was "awesome" choice. Meanwhile Poppy Bush was working behind the scenes to undermine Carter. Arms for Hostages. It Worked.

But it REALLY got worse as Poppy's little boy came along and the media pushed the "cult personality" on us BIG TIME. He's the one "Voters" wanted to have a beer with. Al Gore is a liar. IT WORKED.

04, Mad king Boy George is the "only one" who can keep us safe. Kerry is a liar. IT WORKED AGAIN.

The media IS responsible for dumbing down the electorate. However, the electorate should learn about the candidates, instead of relying on the media, however, the electorate are LAZY. Plain and Simple.

[Waiting For Everyman]

170. 1980, Reagan. That's when it went to a new level.

He was the first incompetent actually elected AS an incompetent, in my memory at least. Stupidity became a philosophy then.

I was 30. A little different perspective for me. I never would've believed then, that Reaganism would've lasted this long though.

[DFW]

173. 1968

After the election, a book came out called "The selling of the President, 1968,"
documenting all sorts of things like Nixon's dirty tricks team, etc. One of the
people who worked on Nixon's campaign was apparently so disgusted with the success
of their ruses that he left the country with his family saying no country that fell
for such nonsense was a place to raise his children.

[Enthusiast]

175. It was the same for me.

Like now, Carter was being mischaracterized by the media. And Reagan, like Bush in 2001-2003, was talking tough. This strutting around talking tough seemed to sway the electorate. It was/is pathetic.

[truthisfreedom]

176. Dropped out of college in Jan 1981 as reagan was being inaugurated.

I could see what was about to happen. It went against my will.

[olegramps]

177. McCain as president and Congress Democratic

I don't fear McCain being president if the Congress is veto-proof Democratic as much as the situation under Bush. I would certainly desire Obama as president, but a Democratic Congress could be McCain's worst nightmare. Some people are of the opinion that the worst situation is when you have a president whose party is also in control of congress as has been the case during most of Bush's presidency. If congress had been controlled by the Democrats two major issues that have taken a huge toll on our nation would have never been allowed to happen. The first was the tax breaks for the wealthy and second was the Iraq War. The PNAC's nitwit policies that the Republican Congress rubber stamped would have never come to their disastrous fruition. I am of the opinion that the working class people in this country have proven to be their own worst enemy. They bought the bull crap of management that unions were their enemy and that they would be well taken care of. They have been taken care of all right their jobs out-sourced, their pensions cut and health insurance canceled. The Republican's War on the Middle Class-MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

[GeorgeGist]

180. To be honest I never noticed ...

the electorate being 'dumbed up' until Bush was selected. But even that seems tenuous.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

181. Same for me...

I thought Ray-gun was a joke. I couldn't believe it. Still can't really. Except, god help me, I'd rather have Ray-gun in office now than that stupid twit.

[formernaderite]

182. between 74 and 75

I remember going back to my old Uni to visit some friends...campus had changed in just two years. Where I went to school during the heydey of protests and political/social action, I met an indifferent graduating and incoming student body. I was completely startled. How had this generational shift occurred so quickly? I don't find they're "dumbed" down so much as they're indifferent to anything that doesn't rage celebrity and excitement. Perhaps the reason we chose to raise our kids with little to NO television. Unfortunately I see the poll numbers as reflecting this indifference to anything but new celebrity.

[symbolman]

184. I think it was in first grade

our teacher decided to get us involved, so we "Voted" for either Kennedy or Nixxon, a secret ballot and everything - the teacher took our ballots to the front, counted them out, then put the results on the black board.. I think that was so inspirational to me, made me think that maybe we ALL DO have a connection to the process.. been an activist ever since, or at least had the attitude..

The results were nearly unanimous except for me, and I was very glad it was a secret ballot.. I figure most kids that age voted for who their parents were voting for, but I had a fairly large family and all that was lost in the mix.. I watched a lot of TV and had made my own mind up just by I guess the demeanor of the men running..

I was the only kid in my class that voted for Kennedy.

Remember, THIS was in the days of "Duck and Cover", where we'd all have to throw ourselves down on the floor and cover our heads under our desks, which can make you pretty paranoid.. in my catholic school when I was so small, all I could figure was that the POPE was coming by, and we all needed to be engaged in a major act of Supplication to him :)

But also running through my little kid brain was that I was damned sure the YOUNG guy wasn't going to blow us all to kingdom come, while that OTHER Freak..

[PlanetBev]

186. 1980 for me

Turned 30 that year and I think that was year that I really noticed the media going into a graveyard spiral.