WI: Gore/Nunn 2004

Former Vice President Al Gore decides to run for president for the third time in early 2002, he seals up the Democratic nomination by clearing the field. Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, North Carolina Senator John Edwards, Missouri Representative Dick Gephardt and others decide not to run. Gore wins the nomination by March 2004, and by June 2004, he picks former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn, who is more conservative, adds foreign policy experience to a post-9/11 campaign, and appeals to white swing voters who felt Gore was too liberal in his 2000 campaign. How would a Gore/Nunn ticket work out against Bush/Cheney '04?
 
Gore isn't a great candidate, but Kerry wasn't either. Gore would do better than Kerry, he was more formidable and had a more committed following, and he wouldn't be skewered on flip-flops because he opposed Iraq and wasn't a Senator since 1992. He would win a narrow victory over Bush as voters express buyers regret.
 
Gore isn't a great candidate, but Kerry wasn't either. Gore would do better than Kerry, he was more formidable and had a more committed following, and he wouldn't be skewered on flip-flops because he opposed Iraq and wasn't a Senator since 1992. He would win a narrow victory over Bush as voters express buyers regret.

What would Nunn bring to the ticket in your opinion?
 
What would Nunn bring to the ticket in your opinion?

he has national security and foreign policy experience, and they can contrast two recognized leaders against 'dumb, draft-dodger' Bush. Nunn has a solid Senate record so he can challenge Bush's claims to be tough on terror. Mind you, that didn't work out well for Cleland.
 
Gore already picked a conservative Democrat as his running mate in 2000, and as a result he alienated the left and lost the election by empowering the Naderites. So I don't see him going back to that well with an even more conservative Democrat in Sam Nunn.

Three more things about 2004:

1. Literally all of the energy on the Democratic side was from the "Netroots" left that very nearly got Howard Dean the nomination. Centrist Democratic politics were just not where it was at.

2. Gore personally became much more liberal after 2000.

3. Nunn, 66, has appeal by adding gravitas to a ticket, much like Lloyd Bentsen in 1988. But Gore's been a two-term, very active Vice-President; he doesn't need to shore up his leadership, gravitas, or national security credentials.

If Gore runs in '04, I'd expect someone like Russ Feingold (D-WI) as a running mate; someone who can tap into the energy from the Netroots left and reinforce Gore's core messages.
 
This. I don't often agree with all of Andrew's points, but I do so here. The only point of contention I have here is that I'm not sure if Gore would win the Democratic nomination in a walk, or if he would face real competition for the nomination.
 
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