my dad was a political science professor, and even then - or later in the 60's - I knew that he was 'very' conservative. But I think by today's standards he wasn't at all! The Right has become so crazy.

What a good man he was.

edit to fix typo from ffs (fat finger syndrome)

I wasn't quite old enough to vote in 68' but I sure wanted to!

profit from a longer account of your journey. (Also, the historian in me wants to put in a plug for you getting your thoughts down in writing as a form of 'family history' and 'social history.')

My first was Jimmy Carter in 1980 (after considering and rejecting John Anderson's 3rd Party campaign). Voted proudly Dem ever since with nary a regret.

He was the closest I could find to a Libertarian candidate. (We didn't even have the word "libertarian" in common parlance back then.) It really took a hiking & camping tour of Vietnam to straighten my head out.

I voted in the San Francisco State University dorms. In the I-don't-know-if-it's-true-but-it-makes-a-good-story department, somebody told me that McGovern carried the precinct (no surprise; McGovern carried San Francisco) and Nixon finished third behind Dr. Spock.

I was 5 and I remember my father telling me that if you vote for Goldwater he will take away all your Christmas toys. I still laugh about that.

on the political continuum.

I remember when Goldwater was an extreme right-winger. Now he couldn't even play in Republican Reindeer games!