While most people probably no longer recall this (like Elizabeth Dole and Lamar Alexander, he dropped out before the Iowa caucus), John Ashcroft was a candidate for the GOP Presidential nomination in 2000. What if he got the nomination, and beat Gore? I know that's kind of unlikey, but I think any credible Republican might have beat Gore in 2000, due to Clinton fatigue, and Fundie fatigue hadn't set in back then like it has after 7.5 years of the Bush/Cheney administration, so if Ashcroft were the nominee, he'd have been at least semi-viable. Suppose a drunken George W. Bush fell down some stairs and fractured his spine in the summer of '99, in order to get Ashcroft nominated - serves the little bastard right, frankly. I'm a right-wing Republican myself, and even I find this scenario terrifying.
What would Ashcroft's reaction to the 9/11 attacks have been? Would he have considered the nuclear option? Would America now be a fascistic police state (you know, a lot more so than IOTL)? I'd say a war with Iran, and a draft, would both be near certainties.
What would Ashcroft's reaction to the 9/11 attacks have been? Would he have considered the nuclear option? Would America now be a fascistic police state (you know, a lot more so than IOTL)? I'd say a war with Iran, and a draft, would both be near certainties.