My guess the best POD for this is to prevent the 9/11 attacks, but if you have a better POD please share. What would the Bush Presidency look like if this happened? Would Dick Gephardt be Speaker of the House, or would Nancy Pelosi get the job 4 years earlier than OTL? What, if any, legislation would be passed if this happened? Would Bush get re elected?
WI: Democrats re take congress in the 2002 midterms?
- Thread starter dw93
- Start date
I don't think it so much requires different events on Sept 11, 2001 as it requires that day to go down in history as just another day.
The whole drive behind the Republicans taking Congress was their milking the fear of the American people of a new or worse 9/11, combined with the concept that Republicans are strong on foreign policy/defense and Democrats are weak on that. Either 9/11 is a close run thing that highlights extreme Bush administration incompetence, or 9/11 is completely butterflied and something else angers Americans enough to turn to the Democrats.
The whole drive behind the Republicans taking Congress was their milking the fear of the American people of a new or worse 9/11, combined with the concept that Republicans are strong on foreign policy/defense and Democrats are weak on that. Either 9/11 is a close run thing that highlights extreme Bush administration incompetence, or 9/11 is completely butterflied and something else angers Americans enough to turn to the Democrats.
It would have been hard to paint the Bush response to 9/11 as incompetent, since he was still polling in the mid-60s in 2002. There would have to be some huge butterfly.
That being said, prior to 9/11, approval ratings were a mirror of Reagan and Clinton, who both got crushed in their first midterms, but went on to win reelection under a rising economy. If the Democrats had retaken the House, Gephardt would have been Speaker, which then (probably) butterflies away his run for President in 2004, and maybe that means Dean takes less heat leading up to Iowa and we miss out on the Dean Scream.
That being said, prior to 9/11, approval ratings were a mirror of Reagan and Clinton, who both got crushed in their first midterms, but went on to win reelection under a rising economy. If the Democrats had retaken the House, Gephardt would have been Speaker, which then (probably) butterflies away his run for President in 2004, and maybe that means Dean takes less heat leading up to Iowa and we miss out on the Dean Scream.
Orville_third
Banned
How to show Bush incompetent? Easy. Have Daschle announce an investigation into 9/11. Have Bush and his advisers testify under oath.
I think that would have been perceived as playing politics with a tragedy.
Unlike what the President did OTL of course.
Well, I think the economy was starting to slump in 2002, also no 9/11 would make 2002 a very dem year.
What if you get some kind of leak where a high ranking GOP lawmaker or official more or less states "I'm so glad that 9/11 happened, now we can finally get all of that defense pork we've been dying to get" or something to that effect?
I mean the GOP was already pretty transparent in its drive to capitalize on a national tragedy...
I mean the GOP was already pretty transparent in its drive to capitalize on a national tragedy...