Bush loses 2000 SC Primary, McCain becomes President

wormyguy

Banned
I don't think that McCain would have gone to Iraq in the first place. Although I think he might put many more troops in Afghanistan, and possibly expanded the war into Pakistan as well.
 
Here's the change point:

February 10, 2000
George Bush was gaining momentum after his defeat in New Hampshire. South Carolina was a conservative state, and he was targeting the conservative base. He attacked McCain on veterans' affairs and appealed to the religious right.
McCain was desperate to regain momentum. He even released an ad entitled, "Desperate", which compared Bush to Bill Clinton and accused him of lying about paying for Social Security and the Deficit. Bush's advisers were pleased about McCain taking the negative route. Bush recorded his own ad, "Integrity", saying McCain's remarks were "over the line." Historians are in doubt as to if the ad could have helped ensure a Bush victory. Unfortunately for Bush, what happened that night would prevent the ad from airing and result in Bush's ultimate downfall.
After shooting the ad, Bush media adviser Mark McKinnon and a cameraman/driver set out to transport the finished footage to be edited for airing as soon as possible. McKinnon was tired and understandably nervous. He at first directed the driver to head in the wrong direction, which they did, at high speeds. After they found out they were headed the wrong way, they turned around, and accellerated. Not long after, the rental car carrying McKinnon and the cameraman collided with an off-duty police officer at over 100 miles per hour.
After the accident, the officer managed to call for paramedics and police. McKinnon and the cameraman were badly injured and were airlifted to the nearest medical facility. The SC Highway Patrol soon arrived on the scene to investigate the accident. It didn't take long for the investigators to determine the rental car in which McKinnon and the cameraman were in was travelling at excessive speeds. The damaged rental car was taken to the impound lot, with the tape of the ad still inside.
The Bush campaign was notified of the accident not long after McKinnon and the cameraman were in the hospital. The news began to hit the media not long after. By next morning, the headlines read "Bush staffer, cameraman injured in accident". Unfortunately, the information released by the Highway Patrol would soon emerge...

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This scenario is partly based on an actual event. McKinnon and the cameraman were indeed speeding on the night of February 10th. In OTL, they narrowly missed hitting an off-duty policeman, who then pulled them over. (Said policeman let them off after learning they worked for the Bush campaign.) This incident was documented by McKinnon in Newsweek, November 20, 2000 (Available online at: http://www.newsweek.com/id/86763/page/8 ), and by Bush campaign staffer Stewart Stevens in "The Big Enchilada: Campaign Adventures with the Cockeyed Optimists from Texas who won the Biggest Prize in Politics" (Free Press, 2001, p. 144)
As for the ads, you can read the transcripts here:
McCain "Desperate":
http://www.gwu.edu/~action/ads2/mccaad12.html
Bush "Integrity":
http://www.gwu.edu/~action/ads2/bushinteg.html
Finally, in regards to the date of said incident, I base it on the commercial's original air date of February 11th, and the Newsweek article's "12 hour" reference. I may be off slightly...
 
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