The Towers Still Stand: An Alternate take on early 21st Century America.
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Fair point. Perhaps legislation to eliminate the intelligence wall using the Saudi Arabia base attack as a pretext
It would take a major attack for that to happen, which one haven't at this point
Bush has won several major victories on Domestic policy so far, but he needs to shore up foreign policy a bit. Perhaps tougher sanctions on North Korea and an expansion of NATO
Bush ran in 2000 on a humble foreign policy. Granted, we now know he wanted to invade Iraq even before 9/11, but outside of that, Bush campaigned on a more restrained foreign policy. Why would he all of the sudden get hawkish without a 9/11 scale attack?
Without 9/11, Greenspan doesn't lower interest rates as much and therefore while there is a bubble, it will inflate slower. I don't think Bush or anyone else would be that concerned about TTL, even OTL Bush ran for re election on the highest homeownership in history, so even in OTL there wasn't THAT much concern on Bush's part. His attempts to reign in on Fannie and Freddie OTL IMHO were pretty half assed.
I doubt it. Mortgages, including the subprime ones, were largely seem as risk-free pre-2008.
The lack of a 9/11 would butterfly away much of the financial crisis, true.
On the foreign policy front, Bush's biggest goals was the utilization of American soft power to gradually spread pro-democracy sentiment and democratic government. Without the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars sucking most of the attention and energy, we would likely see this focus moved to other fronts. The Balkans, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and North Korea - especially North Korea. I predict that when North Korea starts to get close to the bomb it will be much more of an item and provoke a much larger response. Bush would be wise to address this concern
This didn't really happen until after 9/11. As a matter of fact, outside of Iraq and the Hainan Island incident of 2001, I really didn't find much of anything related to Bush's pre 9/11 foreign policy, I'm just going off of what he campaigned on during the 2000 election more or less.
I agree that this will be an issue, for whoever wins the 2004 election.
We'll probably see more free trade agreements. I wonder if relations with Russia will be better here
January 4th, 2004. The first of Two Democratic Debates in Iowa take place:
The first of two Democratic Debates in Iowa took place on January 4th, 2004 and all five of the Democratic candidates were in attendance. This debate mainly centered around Foreign Policy, namely Iraq and North Korea. First, the candidates were asked about North Korea. In the previous year, North Korea had announced its' intention to withdrawal from the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty and in 2002, the "Agreed Framework" of 1994 had broken down over a United States assessment that the North Koreans had a Uranium Enrichment program, which could be used to produce Nuclear Weapons and would violate commitment to not have these Weapons. Vice President Al Gore answered by saying "it was the failure of the Bush Administration and Republicans in Congress that caused the failure of the Agreed Framework. Not too long after we signed the agreement in 1994, the Republicans took control of congress and refused to sufficiently fund the transitional Oil Supplies, which were to hold the country over while their Nuclear Reactors were shut down and the Light Water reactors they agreed to construct as part of the Framework to replace those reactors were Constructed. This resulted in late Oil Shipments and created other problems in implementing the agreement. Once the Bush administration got in, the framework was destined to die, and once it did, they did not work to put anything in its place and now North Korea is on the path of creating Nuclear Weapons. This November, we need to elect a President that is willing to do what needs to be done to keep North Korea from producing and using Nuclear Weapons, and I think I can say that all of us on this stage take this issue very seriously and will do what needs to be done." Speaker Gephardt responded by saying "I agree with the Vice President, this administration failed with regards to North Korea. While the Agreed Framework had issues, we did make some progress with it and if elected I will work to put something similar in its place."
With regards to Iraq, Senator Paul Wellstone told viewers that "we need to rethink our policies on Iraq. We've been doing more or less the same thing for 12 years and, and I supported many of those polices in the mid to late '90s, but in reality we really haven't gotten anywhere with them, I think it's time we go in a more diplomatic direction." Governor Dean expressed agreement with the Senator's remark, while Senator Edwards, Vice President Gore, and Speaker Gephardt disagreed. All three argued that Saddam Hussein had been contained throughout the 1990s, and that it was the Bush Administration's policies, particularly its response to the Prince Sultan Air Base, that made Iraq an even greater problem than it was before Mr. Bush took office. All the candidates did agree about the implementation of UN Resolution 1442 however.
And we are officially in 2004!
How long are you hoping to continue the timeline? Up to the present day?
How long are you hoping to continue the timeline? Up to the present day?
I'm hoping to go to either November 2016 or January 2017 at the latest.
January 11th, 2004. The Second Iowa Democratic Debate:
The Second Iowa Democratic Debate took place on January 11th, just 8 days before the Iowa Caucus. This debate focused on entitlements. The candidates were asked about Social Security and how they were going to protect the plan and ensure its solvency. Senator Wellstone answered by saying that "the party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt has an obligation to protect Social Security and I think our party demonstrated that when we stopped President Bush from handing part of the trust fund over to Wall Street. If I get elected President I will continue to fight to protect Social Security and I will keep the program solvent in a responsible way." Vice President Gore responded by saying "Four years ago, I ran on a plan that would keep Social Security solvent for 50 years. I still believe that plan will work today. Four years ago I also said that we needed to put Medicare into a lockbox. People may've cracked jokes about that at the time, but now I think it's not only crucial that we put Medicare into a lockbox, I think it is also very crucial that we put Social Security into a lockbox so that both programs can be protected from Republican attempts to Privatize them and so that we can ensure that they remain solvent." Speaker Gephardt answered by saying that "I led the fight in the house against President Bush's attempt to give Wall Street a handout with money from the Social Security Trust Fund. I am fully commited to protecting this program, as so many Americans depend on it. We can protect the program and we can ensure it solvency, just as Tip O'Neil Ronald Reagan did in 1983." Governor Dean and Senator Edwards also gave plans to protect entitlements that were similar to the other three candidates. They however, were not given much speaking time due to falling poll numbers.
January 19th, 2004. The Iowa Caucus:
The Iowa Caucuses took place on January 19th, 2004, and the Democrats saw a close contest. Former Vice President Al Gore narrowly won the caucus with 36% of the vote. Speaker of the House Dick Gephardt came in a close second with 34% of the vote, while Senator Paul Wellstone took third place with 20% of the vote. Senator John Edwards came in fourth place with 9% of the vote, and Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean took 1%. Vice President Gore thanked the people of Iowa in his victory speech and ended his speech by saying that "the fight for a stronger economy, responsible governing, and a cleaner environment continues."
Speaker Gephardt also spoke to his supporters that night, but did so through a streamed video, as he had to fly back to the Nation's Capitol the night before the caucus as the President was to give his State of the Union Address the next day. He thanked his supporters, congratulated Vice President Gore, and told supporters that even though they may've came short of a victory, it was still close and the race was far from over. The Speech that was most memorable on the Democratic side on the night of the Democratic primaries however was that of Governor Howard Dean, who with only 1% of the vote, suspended his campaign. Dean thanked his supporters across the nation for supporting him and said that while his campaign may be over, he will continue to fight for what he believes in.
On the Republican side, President Bush won the Caucus as expected. However, no one expected Congressman Ron Paul to win 15% of the vote. Paul Supporters cited the Federal Budget, which went from being balanced to being back into a record deficit under President Bush, immigration, as Paul called President Bush's immigration reform plan "amnesty," and the role of the Federal Government as their biggest issues in the campaign. The Texas Congressman also garnered some support from Young People, as Paul committed time to campaign at College Campuses. He was the Second choice among 18-24 year olds after Senator Paul Wellstone. Many attribute this to Paul's support of legalizing Marijuana and his more libertarian stances on other Social issues. However, given that half of Paul's support also came from voters above the age of 24 who felt Bush was not a true small Government Conservative and felt Bush was Pro Amnesty, the President was going into his re election year with a party that was not 100% unified behind him, and that's never a good thing for an incumbent President seeking a second term. Polling also showed Paul gaining in the next contest, the New Hampshire Primary, with up to 30% of support in some polls. While many expected the President to win his party's nomination, the Iowa Caucus and polling going into New Hampshire showed that the President wasn't going to have an easy path to it.
He got a lot of support from Young People and I'd also imagine some Nader Supporters from 2000 as well. Liberals in a No 9/11 Bush Presidency are probably also less afraid to act openly Liberal to.
Fifteen percent? That's nothing.
Bush should get McCain to campaign with him in NH
Bush should get McCain to campaign with him in NH
Dubya should dig for dirt on Paul, discover he's a racist asshat, and spread that info to bust his image as a libertarian.
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