Gore 2000: Maybe It was a Good Thing He Lost the Florida Recount

[liberalpragmatist]

Here me out: I really wish that Gore had won and I think things would have been better today. Please try to understand what I'm saying: had there still been a Florida recount, but the SC didn't stop the it and Gore narrowly won, I think the following would have happened:

Bush would have been the Republican nominee this year. Gore would not have been well-served by an economy that would likely still not be in a great position (better than under Bush, but there is the natural business cycle to things) and he would've had an obstructionist GOP in Congress. Bush would have run hard-right, claiming he could "get things done" and quite possibly running hard-right on national security as well, openly proclaiming a nationalist neocon ideology calling for "holding Saddam Hussein accountable," getting tough with Iran and North Korea (Gore would have adopted a more conciliatory and more productive approach) and calling Gore weak and indecisive. Especially if Al Qaeda had struck the US (PLEASE let's not get into an argument over whether or not 9.11 would've occurred under Gore - I'm just saying that IF hypothetically SOME terrorist attack were to occur these last 4 years - a very likely possibility, even it weren't the 9/11 attacks), it's likely that Bush would have declared that Gore wasn't fighting Al Qaeda hard enough and argued that 12 years of the "Clinton-Gore administrations" had cost America in the world.

I think that such a strategy would have given Bush a narrow victory after whipping the country into a hysteria. He would have swept the red states and rural areas, connected with evangelical voters across the country, and probably won a narrow victory. And I have a feeing that a 2005-2009 Bush presidency would have been even more dangerous than a 2001-2005 Bush presidency. At least we're nearing the end of his reign and, God willing (Note: it's an expression), Kerry will be president.

Now, just for the record, I think that if Gore had won without there being a dispute (i.e., had there been no butterfly ballot), Bush wouldn't have had another chance. This is what I wish had happened. Gore would have faced 50-50 odds of being reelected and I think he'd probably have faced either Frist or Hagel. Possibly Giuliani if 9/11 or a terrorist attack in NYC had occurred.

[UpsideDownFlag]

1. um....no.

for the following reasons:

sept 11th
iraq
no justice for enron
plame
etc. etc. etc. all this would have been avoided.

[pacalo]

3. Exactly! Don't forget WHY we have hatred for Dubya...

Don't forget all the damage he's done to our country, for heaven's sake.

[FlaGranny]

2. Don't have time to post much, but

must correct you a bit (while I agree a little bit with your general premise) - but Gore did not lose the Florida recount - because it never took place. The Supreme Court blocked any chance of recount because it was "unfair" to Bush. A few counties had recounts, but SC blocked state recount.

About to have 60 mph gusts come through here and I have to shut down in a few minutes and get out of here.

[NMDemDist2]

4. Bush wouldn't run again in 04 if he lost in 2000

it wouldn't happen

[Deere_John]

5. If Gore had won a recount, Bush still would have become president.

Jeb and the Republican-dominated Florida legislature would have declared the Florida courts' rulings as invalid and would have appointed a second slate of electors for Bush. The Republican-dominated (US) House would have seated them and Bush would have been "elected" anyway. The Supreme Court probably would have upheld this because it has a lot more legal support than what they actually did do, and besides, they could just have declined to act, which is far easier than actively jumping in.

A second strategy would have been to "persuade" some electors pledged to Gore to flip their votes, since the "real" election returns, before the Democrats and the courts futzed with them, favored Bush (they would say, not me). This is entirely legal, since electors have no obligation other than tradition to vote for anyone in particular. And, as we all know, the Bushies can be very persuasive when they want something really badly.

[vetwife]

6. No...1000 more troops would be alive if Gore had taken the office

There is no such thing as a good Bush presidency !

[Terran]

7. Firts of all, Bush wouldn't be the nominee twice

It doesn't work that way anymore. If you lose once, your butt is out. They'd probably be nominating McCain, but no way would it be Bush.

[liberalpragmatist]

12. Not for the Republicans

Republicans tend to nominate the same guys over and over again. Nixon was on the ticket 5 times, even after losing a race in '60 that few thought he would lose.

And I'm not saying Bush would've gotten the nomination again had Gore won without a dispute. But had the Florida fiasco ensued and Bush was declared president by the media and then LOST the recount and lost Florida, the GOP would have turned Bush into a martyr, arguing that the Democrats "stole the election." Bush would've been easily renominated. They would've been FAR nastier about the whole thing than we were after Gore *lost*.

[hang a left]

8. Hypothetical- Gore is President

9-11 gets pulled off anyway. What would Al have done?

[Old and In the Way]

9. Assuming Gore had run.....

(1) There would have been a slowdown of the economy, no question. But Gore would have had a surplus that he could use to stimulate the economy. I think he'd have used his 1st term to prime the economy for growth by creating tax incentives to develop alternative/renewable energy technologies. This would have been weighted towards a policy that would promote new jobs through decentralized energy and more stringent environmental policies.

(2) He'd have paid attention to the Hart-Rudman recommendations and, since he wasn't party to the PNAC idea of starting wars of occupation in the ME to steal oil, I have no doubt 9/11 would have been avoided. Certainly, we would not have had a lying President getting us into the Iraqi quagmire.

(3) With Gore in, there's a good chance that we would have taken back the House and/or Senate....remember all the time Bush/Cheney spent campaigning on those races in 02....

[On the Road]

10. I Understand What You're Saying, but...

I think Gore would have become a beloved president like Clinton has. He would have had twice the stature GWB has after one term.

[tom_paine]

11. BULLSHIT!

This nation has been daamged in ways too numerous to count.

Hell, after four years of Herr Chimpler* it even remains in question of whtehr America will remain free or turn "Free-Market Stlinist" (but Kinder and Gentler as in the book Farenheit 451).

ABSOLUTE DISAGREEMENT!

[KamaAina]

13. So you're saying the last four years of hell were a *good* thing?

At this point, any repuke presidency is an unmitigated disaster. We must work not only to elect Dems across the board, but to ensure that the national repuke party goes the way of those "selfish hedonists" in Illinois.