D. B.W. I. President George W. Bush

What if Puerto Rico had not voted for statehood in 1993? In 2000, Puerto Rico provided the Electoral College margin of victory for President Gore. If Puerto Rico's 7 electoral votes were not there and the House of Representatives had not been enlarged, Bush would have won a 271 to 267 victory in an Electoral College that would have still only had 538 members like it was from 1964 -1992. Of course, you also have to consider the litigation because of the recount of Florida's results in the 2000 presidential election. OTL the Supreme Court stopped the recount while Bush was ahead and reduced Gore's electoral vote margin to a narrow 274 - 271, but ITTL, five unelected conservative justices would have put the popular vote loser into the White House. As Governor of Texas, Bush had a reputation for working across party lines. ITTL, he would, like John Quincy Adams and Rutherford B Hayes, had faced an opposition angry over being robbed. Gore would have been considered the legitimate President by much of the Democratic base. That would have made him a shoo in for the 2004 Democratic nomination. Who would have won the rematch of 2004?
 
What if Puerto Rico had not voted for statehood in 1993? In 2000, Puerto Rico provided the Electoral College margin of victory for President Gore. If Puerto Rico's 7 electoral votes were not there and the House of Representatives had not been enlarged, Bush would have won a 271 to 267 victory in an Electoral College that would have still only had 538 members like it was from 1964 -1992. Of course, you also have to consider the litigation because of the recount of Florida's results in the 2000 presidential election. OTL the Supreme Court stopped the recount while Bush was ahead and reduced Gore's electoral vote margin to a narrow 274 - 271, but ITTL, five unelected conservative justices would have put the popular vote loser into the White House. As Governor of Texas, Bush had a reputation for working across party lines. ITTL, he would, like John Quincy Adams and Rutherford B Hayes, had faced an opposition angry over being robbed. Gore would have been considered the legitimate President by much of the Democratic base. That would have made him a shoo in for the 2004 Democratic nomination. Who would have won the rematch of 2004?

Probably Gore, or whoever runs. But that's mainly only if Susan Collins declines to run(amazingly enough, she almost did); she won over 300 electoral votes in '04-it certainly helped that people were getting tired of 12 years of Democrats, but her winning personality and genuine moderation was what put her over the top. Her margin of victory against Hillary Clinton in '08 was fairly narrower, though, thanks to the economic crisis that year.....and, as a result, we got President Joe Biden in 2012(also, let's face it, Sarah Palin was a shitty candidate: she almost even lost her home state!).

But if Gore had won in '04, then the Republicans would have a better chance in '08, if the subprime crisis still happens. (Probably not Palin/Santorum, though!)
 
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