Bush/Lieberman 2000?

I don't like either of them at all, but do you think this could have been possible? I have three ideas for how it could have happened:

1. Bush the bipartisan
While Bush campaigned from the Right on many issues (Especially when attacking John McCain), and certainly governed from the Right, he did try and attempt to be bipartisan, having a few Democrats campaign for him, and occasionally praising Democrats. Lieberman may be socially liberal on some issues, but he is most definitely to the Right on others. Bush could attempt to gamble on Lieberman to possibly appeal to Democrats and Jews. (Perhaps, in this scenario, Bush would avoid a close election by carrying Florida...and maybe his birthplace of Connecticut...)

2. Cheney the Texan
Under the Twelfth Amendment, no electors are allowed to cast their votes for a President and Vice-President from the same state as the elector. In 2000, Dick Cheney lived in Texas, and was registered to drive and vote in Texas. (He did move to Wyoming prior to the election.) A group of Texas voters filed a lawsuit attempting to prohibit Cheney from being VP, but it was thrown out. However, if it stayed in... Bush would have a majority of the Presidential electors, while Lieberman could have a majority of the Vice-Presidential Electors. (Of course, this assumes the Texas Electors would vote for Lieberman...)

3. Too close to call
If the election is too close to call, the House votes for the President, which would give Bush the victory. However, the Senate votes for the VP, and, with a tied Senate, Gore would break the tie for Lieberman.

Of course, if this happened, how would the Bush administration be different? Lieberman would have supported Iraq, but how would he have voted to break the tie votes that Cheney broke? How would it affect the cabinet? Would Bush stick with him in 2004?
 
This is very funny; not the scenario, but the fact that I was thinking about this scenario today!

To answer your question, I think there would be a lot of the media storming off, huffing and puffing, a lot of Democrats calling Lieberman a traitor and Republicans calling Bush a traitor, and perhaps a few arguments between the presidential duo in the White House.

As for those three scenarios, I'll answer all three:

1. Bush the bipartisan
While Bush campaigned from the Right on many issues (Especially when attacking John McCain), and certainly governed from the Right, he did try and attempt to be bipartisan, having a few Democrats campaign for him, and occasionally praising Democrats. Lieberman may be socially liberal on some issues, but he is most definitely to the Right on others. Bush could attempt to gamble on Lieberman to possibly appeal to Democrats and Jews. (Perhaps, in this scenario, Bush would avoid a close election by carrying Florida...and maybe his birthplace of Connecticut...)
This is technically possible; if Bush won the GOP primaries and had a running mate to choose, he could easily choose Lieberman before Gore can. The 2000 Democratic National Convention was held from August 14 to August 17, 2000, while the 2000 Republican National Convention was held from July 31 to August 3. However, I just don't think Bush was quite that bipartisan. Here's my final answer on this one: It's a 50-50 shot. I don't seen any reason why he couldn't, but there's something about this scenario that just doesn't seem right.

2. Cheney the Texan
Under the Twelfth Amendment, no electors are allowed to cast their votes for a President and Vice-President from the same state as the elector. In 2000, Dick Cheney lived in Texas, and was registered to drive and vote in Texas. (He did move to Wyoming prior to the election.) A group of Texas voters filed a lawsuit attempting to prohibit Cheney from being VP, but it was thrown out. However, if it stayed in... Bush would have a majority of the Presidential electors, while Lieberman could have a majority of the Vice-Presidential Electors. (Of course, this assumes the Texas Electors would vote for Lieberman...)
I'm a little confused about all this, but what I take from this - correct me if I'm wrong - is that no voter in Texas can vote for Dick Cheney to be the VP. So, if Bush wins Texas for president and Lieberman wins Texas for vice president, there will be two different electoral results:

FOR PRESIDENT

genusmap.php


Governor George W. Bush (R-TX) - 271 EV
Vice President Al Gore (D-TN) - 267 EV

For Vice President

genusmap.php


Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-Connecticut) - 299 EV
Fmr. Sec. of Def. Dick Cheney (R-TX) - 239 EV

President-Elect: George W. Bush (R-TX)
Vice-President-Elect: Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-Connecticut)

Yes, I can completely see this one.

3. Too close to call
If the election is too close to call, the House votes for the President, which would give Bush the victory. However, the Senate votes for the VP, and, with a tied Senate, Gore would break the tie for Lieberman.
That's actually probably the most probable result. I've noticed, after playing around with the electoral map, that if you give Pennsylvania (which was won by Gore by only 4%) to Bush and Florida (which, needless to say, was extremely close) to Gore, you get 269 EVs each! I'll show you:

genusmap.php


Al Gore / Joseph Lieberman - 269 EVs
George W. Bush / Dick Cheney - 269 EVs

So that's my opinion on all of these. Correct me if I'm wrong about the second scenario.
 
As a note, an easier way for 269-269 without Pennsylvania going GOP is the following:

Iowa, New Mexico, and Wisconsin go Republican.

Florida goes Democratic.

Giving us this electoral map:

pe2000whatif2.gif
 
I just find the whole idea extremely difficult to buy into. Bush made an attempt to be bipartisan, but he never would have chosen a Democrat as his running mate.

The only plausible way to get Lieberman on a Republican ticket in 2000, in my opinion, would be by giving McCain the nomination. Had it not been for a successful Bush smear campaign in South Carolina, McCain's momentum there would have been unstoppable. So, a simple POD of a stereotypically fiery response to Bush's push polling could give McCain the nod. McCain is known for his close friendship with many Democratic Senators, especially Sen. Lieberman, and in an attempt to show bipartisanship, a McCain/Lieberman ticket (which is actually the ticket McCain wanted in 2008) could have happened in the more moderate climate of 2000.

That ticket, assuming the GOP backed it, would have been unstoppable. But a Bush/Lieberman ticket... I just find that a bit difficult to believe.
 
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