WI: Bob Graham 2004

How would Bob Graham fare against Bush in 2004? His opposition to the Iraq War would energize the Democratic base. Being from Florida would also help, as he was very popular there. Who would he choose as a running mate?
 
How would Bob Graham fare against Bush in 2004? His opposition to the Iraq War would energize the Democratic base. Being from Florida would also help, as he was very popular there. Who would he choose as a running mate?
Hey... My name's Graham and I did a TL about the 2004 election.
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How does he get nominated? Graham ran and his candidacy fell completely flat. Any alternative scenario should address the reasons why.

There is something strange about Florida and national politics. Florida is the third most populous state and has been pretty well populated since the 1960s. And its been a "swing state" since the late 1990s. But no Florida pol has been nominated for either President or Vice President by any party. No Florida pol has won a presidential primary. Last year, Marco Rubio became the first and so far only Florida politician to win a presidential caucus. In addition to Rubio, three governors of Florida ran for President. All got nowhere. Two were quite well regarded governors and the third was the son of a President and the brother of a President.

Florida is the largest population state to have not had a President either born from there or elected from there. The next largest population state in this category is Washington, at #13. The excuse was that Florida was settled recently. This somewhat reasonable. If you look at the list of states in order of admission to the Union, six out of the twenty-six admitted earlier than Florida never produced Presidents. If you are curious, the six consist of Rhode Island, Maine, South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, two small New England and five deep south states. The only President to have come from the deep South was Carter, just like the only Catholic President was Kennedy, so that might be the reason.
 
Perhaps if you butterfly away his open heart surgery, made him a little more charismatic, and have him announce his candidacy for president earlier, he may come closer to winning the nomination. Age will still be an issue, however. For a vice presidential nominee, Graham would need someone younger, experienced enough, liberal (because Graham was perceived as a centrist), not southern (for geographical balance), and/or someone with military experience (due to Iraq). Without a military record to defend (unlike John Kerry's) and having voted against the Invasion of Iraq (no chance to attack him for flip-flopping), Graham could wrest his home state from Jeb Bush and win the presidency. Graham would also devastate Bush in the debates. In 2008, however, we may see President McCain or Romney due to what he inherits as President.
 
Perhaps if you butterfly away his open heart surgery, made him a little more charismatic, and have him announce his candidacy for president earlier, he may come closer to winning the nomination. Age will still be an issue, however. For a vice presidential nominee, Graham would need someone younger, experienced enough, liberal (because Graham was perceived as a centrist), not southern (for geographical balance), and/or someone with military experience (due to Iraq). Without a military record to defend (unlike John Kerry's) and having voted against the Invasion of Iraq (no chance to attack him for flip-flopping), Graham could wrest his home state from Jeb Bush and win the presidency. Graham would also devastate Bush in the debates. In 2008, however, we may see President McCain or Romney due to what he inherits as President.
Here's a list of running mates that Graham could choose, based on your criteria:
Jack Reed (liberal, military experience, voted against Iraq)
Gary Locke (young, charismatic)
Barbara Boxer (liberal, voted against Iraq)
Russ Feingold (liberal, voted against iraq, young)
 
Here's a list of running mates that Graham could choose, based on your criteria:
Jack Reed (liberal, military experience, voted against Iraq)
Gary Locke (young, charismatic)
Barbara Boxer (liberal, voted against Iraq)
Russ Feingold (liberal, voted against iraq, young)
There's probably a few more, but I can't really think of any.
 
and no one has mentioned Graham's so-called quirkiness :)
Yeah this is the first Bob Graham thread where this wasn't mention. With that said, it'll still be competitive, as Graham flipping Florida and Bush failing to flip any of the states Kerry won OTL (New Hampshire, Wisconsin, etc...) would give Graham the presidency.
 
Quirkiness? I'm legitimately clueless about this. Please explain.

Funny story -- I once ran into Bob and Gwen Graham in the halls of the Capitol.
 
New York Times, OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR, Bob Graham: Release More 9/11 Records, Sept. 9, 2016.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/09/10/opinion/bob-graham-release-more-9-11-records.html

' . . . The recently released 28 pages were written in the fall of 2002 by a committee of which I was a co-chairman. That chapter focused on three of the 19 hijackers who lived for a time in Los Angeles and San Diego. The pages suggested new trails of inquiry worth following, including why a Qaeda operative had the unlisted phone number for the company that managed the Colorado estate of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, then the Saudi ambassador.

'Some of those questions might be answered if the government released more of the findings of the Sept. 11 commission, . . . '

' . . . is to avoid the corrosive effect that government secrecy can have on a democracy. The nation that denies its people information about what it is doing in their name is a nation slogging down a dark alley of public suspicion toward decline and mediocrity. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan put it, “Secrecy is for losers.” . . . '
So, Bob Graham is not hollering off in the wild blue yonder saying 9/11 is an inside job.

What he is saying is that Saudi Arabia may have gotten too much of a pass. And that secrecy has some damn long-term costs and does erode a functional democracy.
 
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