Dammit! I guess I'm older than you, the first one I followed was Eisenhower/Stevenson. (Not Lincoln/Douglas as some might think.)
LOL! Yeah, I'm only 22. Still a young fresh-faced conservative.
Actually, at the tender age of 16, I did follow the 2000 election just a little bit. I didn't know much about politics at the time, but I just knew one simple fact: Al Gore must NEVER be president. And that kept me interested enough...following the travesty that came after election night was quite an experience. It taught me another simple fact: liberals are whiny, immature, self-sniffling little twerps.
And I went from there.