WI: Dubya won the Electoral College vote clearly, but Gore still won the popular vote

What if Dubya won the Electoral College vote by enough votes that there weren't any doubts, hanging chads, vote counting saga, court cases, etc., but Gore still won the popular vote? Would there be less people claiming that the election was stolen?
 
I think it might depend on what the margins are. Is the extra vote coming from extreme bloat and super-wide margins in deep blue states for Gore, or by even more by-a-bit-more-than-a-hair states where Bush wins by 0.9-1.1% across the board where/whenever he takes the lead in states that go for him? The nature of where and how the votes come from will definitely have an effect. Running up the tally on the coasts by 5-10% will be enough to swing a couple percentages in his favor, without shifting the electoral result of course. Similarly for a narrower Bush victory over more states - where a close call in 1 state can be debated, but it being close in 5 or 10 states might mean that all anyone can really say is "it's really, really close" - but I think that a 5 or 10 state spread, say, of super-narrow victories for Bush would give greater fuel to people wanting to reform or abolish the EC.
 
Would there be less people claiming that the election was stolen?
Absolutely. Granted 2016 is way different than 2000 and Trump is far from being Dubya, it'd probably be the same situation. There weren't many saying that Trump stole the election, but there was still notice at the idea of replacing the Electoral College or faithless electors. I think it's going to be the same thing.
 

CaliGuy

Banned
What if Dubya won the Electoral College vote by enough votes that there weren't any doubts, hanging chads, vote counting saga, court cases, etc., but Gore still won the popular vote? Would there be less people claiming that the election was stolen?
Yes, there would be less people saying that the election was stolen. After all, if Dubya wins Florida by 10,000-15,000 votes rather than the official 537 votes which he won by in our TL, no one is going to believe that a new recount could have put Gore ahead--which in turn will result in more legitimacy for Dubya.
 
Yes, there would be less people saying that the election was stolen. After all, if Dubya wins Florida by 10,000-15,000 votes rather than the official 537 votes which he won by in our TL, no one is going to believe that a new recount could have put Gore ahead--which in turn will result in more legitimacy for Dubya.

Agreed, less people will be worried about recounts and such, though there would still be people whining about the electoral college vs. popular vote (as there are today). It would be more muted than now and the discussion of it now would be also be more muted because 2000 made a fair number of people think it was a key thing to focus on (even if only to denigrate your opponent's very clear win).
 
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