Next Republican President if Gore wins

[CT23]

If Gore won the election in 2000, who would the next Republican President be?

Would George W. try again in 2004 and win for instance? Or would we maybe see President McCain or President Giuliani somehow...or someone else from the party?

[d32123]

McCain would be the certain favorite for the nomination in 2004. It'd be a close contest with or without 9/11 after what would be 12 years of Democratic rule but I bet Gore could win re-election. 2008, in this scenario, is a certain Republican win due to a number of factors, even more so than OTL 2008 was a Democratic certainty. I think Mitch Daniels, Jeb Bush, and Mark Sanford would all be strong favorites in 2008.

[ColeMercury]

"President Gore, just like President Clinton before him, weakened this country by crippling our national defense. This directly led to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, in which three thousand innocent civilians died. Had the Republicans been in the White House, there could never have been a foreign attack on American soil! And now, President Gore continues to undermine our national security by refusing to address the very real threat of Saddam Hussein's Iraq -- a known sponsor of world terror.
"In November 2004, vote for a man who will be tough on national security. Vote for a man who has experienced combat and served his country in uniform -- a war hero, who spent five and a half years as a prisoner of war. This November, vote for John McCain for President!"

I can picture McCain winning in 2004 over Gore. The Republicans will be merciless in blaming Gore and Clinton for 9/11 -- with the economy almost certainly still good that's all they've got going for them, but it's a powerful attack. And after all, McCain had his reputation as a moderate maverick -- that should swing some of the more conservative Democrats or Democratic-leaning voters, given that McCain would be perceived as "not so bad" as Republicans go. Cue Iraq invasion, two years later than OTL.

[DanMcCollum]

I figure Mitt Romney in 2008. Likely McCain runs in 2004, but Gore manages to edge him out (its close, but not so close as 2000). McCain will attempt to blame Gore/Clinton for 9/11, but I don't really think it will stick considering the atmosphere of the country.
2008, the economy collapses, and democratic ticket of Leiberman/Shweitzer is buried by Romney/Huckabee.

[ColeMercury]

Originally Posted by DanMcCollum

2008, the economy collapses, and democratic ticket of Leiberman/Shweitzer is buried by Romney/Huckabee.

Hmm, I don't think those'd be the most likely candidates for 2008 should Gore be re-elected in 2004.

For one thing, there's no absolute guarantee that a sitting VP will be nominated for the Presidency, even if they enter the primary race. And Lieberman is fairly uninspiring to begin with and will be faced by numerous challengers. For another thing, there's Lieberman's increasingly right-wing views on national security which will be poisonous to the Democratic base. As for Schweitzer, I doubt he'd accept the position of VP on what is virtually guaranteed to be a losing ticket.

And regarding Romney -- I guess you simply picked the most popular Republican after McCain in OTL's 2008 race, but there's one thing you haven't considered: George W Bush has never been President. That means the Bush name still has a good reputation. The Republicans will run their war hero McCain in 2004, but for 2008 I think they'll run Jeb Bush. Huckabee is a possibility for VP though.

[Gaius Julius Magnus]

It depends on how well Gore responded to 9/11 and if the econonomy is doing fine. The people who would probably run would McCain, Bush, Rommney, or maybe even Jeb Bush