what if Clinton had been impeached or resigned in 98?

It's one thing for a man to have sexual relationship with other women under your spouse's nose...

But it's another, much deeper levels of betrayal when a man impregnated his mistress, and deny that when said pregnancy is not obvious yet (I did not have sexual relations with that woman) but then when the baby is born, DNA test proved that Clinton is the father.

Fucking another women is forgiveable. Making and abandoning bastard child is another level.

Perhaps , but I doubt it would be enough. It would have had have been forcible rape or him murdering Lewinsky to cover it up for it to be raised to that level. You need 2/3 in the senate and you wouldn't get that under those circumstances.
 
Clinton deserved to be impeached but not convicted I think. Lying under oath ought to be formally called out, but given the context it didn't seem like enough to push a fairly-popular president out of office.

Gore likely wins in 2000 with incumbency advantage + the nation thinking the impeachment was a bit much. The OTL reaction to impeachment was bad enough, but TTL it'd be even more anti-GOP.

Who Gore picks as Vice President will be important. If he picks Lieberman that'll just be a very noticeable betrayal of Clinton, so hopefully he doesn't do that. Gore will need somebody who can deal with the legislature - Dick Gephardt comes to mind as a good person for this.

2004 would likely see a different crop of Democratic Candidates popping up than historically. Gore's VP will likely be the frontrunner, but after 3 terms you'd likely see demands for a change. W might not run in 2000 here for all we know given the different political environment, so maybe he's the candidate.

You aren't going to get to removal with OTL facts. You need 2/3 in the senate and you won't get that over a mere affair.
 
Clinton OTL considered resigning just to spare the country the stress and embarassment.

He also didn't in the end. If he does half the country will be speculating he is covering up something more serious. Outside of partisan Republicans most people didn't care. They knew he was a philanderer when he was elected. That is why I think it would have to be something far more serious such as forcible rape or murder.
 
Oh sure, Gingrich would probably be able to get impeachment proceedings through the house for Gore but it'd die in the Senate so much it'd be the Republicans' version of the Court Packing Plan.

9/11 wouldn't happen on 9/11, but I think it'd be likely shortly after Gore takes office. You might even see a Clancy-esqe scenario proposed and executed.
 

Philip

Donor
It's one thing for a man to have sexual relationship with other women under your spouse's nose...

But it's another, much deeper levels of betrayal when a man impregnated his mistress...

This is what finished John Edwards's political career.

Much of OTL Clinton's welfare reform focused on personal responsibilities to your children. I wonder how the press would have handled a Clinton-Lewinsky child in the light of 1990s buzzwords like 'dead-beat dads', 'welfare queens', and 'workfare' if Clinton denied paternity.
 
This is what finished John Edwards's political career.

Much of OTL Clinton's welfare reform focused on personal responsibilities to your children. I wonder how the press would have handled a Clinton-Lewinsky child in the light of 1990s buzzwords like 'dead-beat dads', 'welfare queens', and 'workfare' if Clinton denied paternity.

Especially if the mom was stuck in poverty and hardship...
 
You might get a much healthier Democratic Party oddly enough, one less shackled to the Clintons and their legacy. For one, we don't see the party become sychophants to Pantsuit Dukakis for the better part of two decades.

Third Wave Feminism might not lose a lot of its credibility, when it sided with Bill Clinton over his victims. Being able to call Bill a scumbag two decades ahead of schedule might be cathartic.
 

SsgtC

Banned
You might get a much healthier Democratic Party oddly enough, one less shackled to the Clintons and their legacy. For one, we don't see the party become sychophants to Pantsuit Dukakis for the better part of two decades.
That's a good point. But would not being shackled to the Clintons result in the Democrats going hard left earlier or staying more centrist?
 
Top