Who would/should be the GOP nominee if Bush did not run in 2000?

Who would/should be the GOP nominee if Bush did not run in 2000?

  • John McCain

    Votes: 52 65.0%
  • Elizabeth Dole

    Votes: 9 11.3%
  • Steve Forbes

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • George Pataki

    Votes: 3 3.8%
  • John Engler

    Votes: 1 1.3%
  • Christine Todd Whitman

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Frank Keating

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Alan Keyes

    Votes: 1 1.3%
  • Tom Ridge

    Votes: 1 1.3%
  • Fred Thompson

    Votes: 2 2.5%
  • Lamar Alexander

    Votes: 1 1.3%
  • John Ashcroft

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Tommy Thompson

    Votes: 3 3.8%
  • Bob Smith

    Votes: 1 1.3%
  • John Kasich

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Rick Santorum

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 2 2.5%
  • Colin Powell

    Votes: 4 5.0%

  • Total voters
    80
  • Poll closed .
I'm afraid we might be too quick to disregard butterflies. McCain is strong but I'm not sure if he really was a juggernaut in 2000 or rather a dark horse. Without Bush it would be an open field and there would be many potentially strong candidates.
 
There doesn't seem to be any evidence being a Vietnam vet helps electorally and that being a draft dodger hurts. It depends on the type of draft dodger, Engler could be an exception his example is pretty egregious, but also pretty silly.
 
Who would win Iowa caucus TTL? It could end up as a McCain vs Ashcroft race.
Iowa isn't all that important. If it were, Huckabee would've been the nominee in 2008 and Cruz would've been in 2016. Even if McCain were to lose Iowa in TTL, he could still end up the nominee.
 
Iowa isn't all that important. If it were, Huckabee would've been the nominee in 2008 and Cruz would've been in 2016. Even if McCain were to lose Iowa in TTL, he could still end up the nominee.

Yes but it would still show who his main opponent is and it was good for Bush in 2000.
 
On my Collaborative Throwback Timeline that I am restarting, I have Bush as the vice presidential nominee rather than the presidential nominee. Because I feel terribly uninspired by having to write another McCain 2000 Timeline (Pretty overdone on this discussion board), I was looking for another nominee that fits the dialogue of Ronald Reagan (elderly, a mentor of Bush, strong on foreign policy, etc.). I imagine the nominee in ATL would have to be a moderate, due to Bush having strong ties to evangelicals. It also fits how in OTL Reagan and Bush represented different factions of the Republican Party (Reagan was the conservative wing, while Bush was the moderate wing). I have posted a poll featuring candidates that ran in OTL and speculative candidates of OTL.
 
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I may start a TL soon, done in the scrapbook style, with the PoD being that Ann Richards beat George W Bush in the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election. I won't give away the winner but I have taken this poll and your responses and votes into account. I'm not sure if I will do the TL, what are your thoughts?
 
I may start a TL soon, done in the scrapbook style, with the PoD being that Ann Richards beat George W Bush in the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election. I won't give away the winner but I have taken this poll and your responses and votes into account. I'm not sure if I will do the TL, what are your thoughts?
A TL with that POD would be interesting
 
I may start a TL soon, done in the scrapbook style, with the PoD being that Ann Richards beat George W Bush in the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election. I won't give away the winner but I have taken this poll and your responses and votes into account. I'm not sure if I will do the TL, what are your thoughts?
Couldn't that POD create enough butterflies for Jeb! to win in Florida that year? He only narrowly lost.
 
The idea is no person named Bush is the GOP frontrunner in 2000 as both Bushes lose and their is an alternate nominee in 2000(McCain is one).
 
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