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I have a specific series of events in mind, but they're inconsequential to this thread--the important thing is that Gore wins the 2000 election. How is American politics and the world changed by this?

I imagine 9/11 would still happen; as much shit as I gave Bush over his many questionable decisions leading up to it, upon reflection, I doubt anything he could have done would have stopped it. Consequently, some sort of Afghanistan war would likely have happened, and when it comes to on the ground tactics, strategies, alliances, etc, I don't see that being much different. The character would likely be very different, though. There would certainly be no Gitmo, for example; POWs would be treated as POWs and terrorists would be tried and convicted of their crimes. And there definitely would be no Iraq war. Giving credit where credit is due, Bush did try to clamp down on the Islamophobia that surged after 9/11--but I can't help but imagine that Gore doing the exact same thing would be labeled a weakling by Fox News.

No Iraq war changes quite a bit. The entire Middle-Eastern balance of power, for one thing. Does this delay the Arab spring? Does that affect Russia's aggressiveness? Would Gore have had any policies that would have?

In the next election, who runs? Would Obama have still run, with an economy presumably in much better shape? If he did, would he have still beaten Clinton? Would McCain have still run in and won the Republican primary? (I think yes to the last one.) Assuming a McCain vs. Clinton race, I think McCain would have won--the Republicans just had too much of a smear campaign ready for Clinton.

With butterfly nets in place, I doubt any of this changes what went down in (and lead up to) Ferguson, only this time it's happening under a White, Republican president. No way in Hell it's not splashing onto him and his party in some way. Alas, that's pretty much it for things I can intelligently say about the McCain presidency in this scenario. ACA wouldn't have happened, obviously; possibly legal marijuana would have had a harder time. Gay marriage would still be the law of the land, because that's a Supreme Court decision--ooh, that's something; he'd have gotten to replace Scalia when he died, and I can't imagine his pick would have been as bad as Gorsuch (not that his pick's politics would have made me happy, of course).

All in all, I imagine McCain wouldn't have been a horrible president, though I obviously don't think he'd have been as good as Obama (certainly not for my politics :p) simply because Obama was a hell of a statesman, but he would probably get more done, given that he wouldn't have an opposition party that was openly at war with him. But he'd happen to be the man who was president when the new Civil Rights movement popped off, and that would tarnish his legacy. This and healthcare would likely lead to a Democrat winning in 2016--but who that Democrat is, I have no idea.
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