The presidential election of 1996 ended up pitting Bob Dole vs. Bill Clinton. The Republican primary/caucus season that year featured some very colorful characters along with just a few specific memories:
Steve Forbes (AKA: Teeve Torbes)
Phil Gramm (I had his t-shirt)
Bob Dornan (who said, "We've never had a president named 'Bob'")
Arlen Specter (who later became a democrat)
Lamar Alexander (who played the piano and had his catchy "ABC - Alexander beats Clinton" phrase; flannel shirts)
Dick Lugar (who ran one TV add that seemed to imply that he would personally beat up terrorists)
Morry Taylor (I ride a motorcycle!)
And also Pat Buchanan -- the focus of this story.
Somehow I got on the mailing list for the Buchanan campaign. I got several postcards, letters and answering machine messages from them that season, encouraging me to vote for Pat.
The problem?
I was still in high school. The election was in November of '96 and I didn't turn 18 until March of 1997.
I finally got up the courage to answer the phone on one of the calls they made. I even remember which phone, it was the mauve colored phone in the basement (you know, back when phones had cords and stuff). I explained this to the volunteer who answered, and I remember she was kind of speechless. She ended up just saying, "Oh." and politely ending the call.
Phil Gramm (I had his t-shirt)
Bob Dornan (who said, "We've never had a president named 'Bob'")
Arlen Specter (who later became a democrat)
Lamar Alexander (who played the piano and had his catchy "ABC - Alexander beats Clinton" phrase; flannel shirts)
Dick Lugar (who ran one TV add that seemed to imply that he would personally beat up terrorists)
Morry Taylor (I ride a motorcycle!)
And also Pat Buchanan -- the focus of this story.
Somehow I got on the mailing list for the Buchanan campaign. I got several postcards, letters and answering machine messages from them that season, encouraging me to vote for Pat.
The problem?
I was still in high school. The election was in November of '96 and I didn't turn 18 until March of 1997.
I finally got up the courage to answer the phone on one of the calls they made. I even remember which phone, it was the mauve colored phone in the basement (you know, back when phones had cords and stuff). I explained this to the volunteer who answered, and I remember she was kind of speechless. She ended up just saying, "Oh." and politely ending the call.
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