Every election we’re told that “this is the most important election ever”–or alternatively, “this is the most important election of our lifetimes.” (Which for many Gen-X’ers/Gen-Y’ers is the equivalent, since their sense of history essentially begins there.)
Betsy Newmark believes that the first time the “most important election ever” phrase was first used during the 1864 election, though she argues that it was the previous election which actually qualifies, and it’s tough to disagree.
(Though both election years featured particularly pitiful efforts by MTV to “Rock The Vote“, since MTV nor rocking existed back then, according to current anthropological research. Kinescopes of Dick Clark’s American Bandstand only go back as far as the Reconstruction era.)
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