WI: much later 9/11-like attack?

Gan

Banned
So, opposite of my previous thread, what would happen if 9/11 didn't occur. What if Al Qaeda instead carried out a similar attack sometime in Fall of 2004(before November 4th).

What would occur during the years between 2001 and 2004, without the attacks? How would the attacks occurring in 2004 affect the US Elections?

Scenario 2: This occurs in December of 2005, with John Kerry having won the election.

How will the change of administrations affect the response of the US? How would Bush deal with it during his last month? How would Kerry handle it upon his inauguration?
 
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So, opposite of my previous thread, what would happen if 9/11 didn't occur. What if Al Qaeda instead carried out a similar attack sometime in Fall of 2015(before November 4th).

I can't say what would happen if it happened in the fall of 2015. Obama would either be blamed for it or get a rally around the flag effect.

What would occur during the years between 2001 and 2004, without the attacks? How would the attacks occurring in 2004 affect the US Elections?

If the attacks don't happen in 2001, The Bush Presidency is going to look very different. For starters, I think he's going to struggle to get his agenda through as the country was in recession in 2001 and his approval ratings were falling through the summer of 2001 (they were at exactly 50% the day before the attacks OTL if I remember correctly) on top of that the controversy surrounding the 2000 election isn't going away ITTL either. The Enron scandal is even bigger and hurts Bush as they were his biggest donors n 2000. The Democrats retake both houses of congress in the '02 midterms due to job loses and a failed attempt to invade Iraq. Outside of a prescription drug plan for Medicare (Medicare Part D), government is gridlocked in 2003-2004. A terrorist attack of the same magnitude happens in September of 2004. Bush who had low approval ratings going into the elections got a small boost due to a rally around the flag effect. However it is not very strong and this not last long as critics of the President successfully made the case that the attack happened because the President failed to keep the nation safe, and because of this and because of poor debate performances by the President, The Democratic candidate, Speaker of the House Dick Gephardt, Defeats President Bush decisively:

genusmap.php


Speaker of the House Dick Gephardt (D-MO)/Senator John Kerry (D-Ma) 51% PV 336EV
President George W. Bush (R-TX)/ Vice President Dick Cheney (R-WY) 48.5 PV 202 EV
 
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