Who here would have traded 4 yrs. of Dole in 96 for 4 yrs. of W?

[MikeG]

Remember, no Lewinsky investigation, more concentration on terrorism because the President was not distracted by relentless attacks. In addition, a President who can spell.

Who here would take that bargain? No other options available.

[Gman]

1. In a heartbeat

assuming no other options.

[MidwestTransplant]

2. Me 2

Dole is a decent guy.

[unblock]

6. you must not have followed his career much

he's only a decent guy in comparison to the pure evil that leads the gop these days....

[MidwestTransplant]

21. Dole is a real Republican

He differs politically from us. Bush is a danger to democracy and the world in general. No comparison.

[0007]

3. ((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((gong))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))


Please give it up MikeG

[MikeG]

10. Exactly what are you trying to say, Mr. 0007? Hmm?

Its just a friggin question, not a performance.

[unblock]

4. i HATE you for putting that question to me!

it shows how bad shrub is that he makes pit bull dole look like a gentlemanly statesman by comparison.

well, the real question is if dole were elected president in '96, who would have won in 2000? gore? or just about any democrat? if so, i'll take 4 years of dole.

then again, the prospect that the reich-wingers might be in the process of thoroughly discrediting themselves once and for all might just make these 4 years of pain worthwhile in the long run ... time will tell....

[Dookus]

5. I dunno

I'd hate to give up those Clinton years. But I never hated Dole. I always thought he was a decent man.

[philosophie_en_rose]

7. Nope.

I have no doubt that Bob Dole is a better human being than George W. Bush. However, the force behind W would still be in place - Cheney, Wolfowitz, et al. Bush or something like him would have followed and there isn't really a guarantee that anything would have changed now.

[jobycom]

16. Bingo, right answer!

Dole is a better person (by a little), but he was in politics so long he had no real convictions. At Bush Daddy's national convention, Dole gave an interview about the need for a balanced budget, and how he expected Bush to address that issue. Bush came out and preached Reaganomics instead. As soon as it ended Dole turned to the media with a self-deprecating look and said "Like I said, looks like I'm a supply sider again." It was classic Dole-- hilarious, deconstructive, and totally without any underlying ideology.

Does anyone doubt what would have happened when PNAC landed on Dole's desk?

[On the Road]

8. Absolutely!

Even at the time. And Clinton would have been eligible to run again, too.

[Dark]

9. Well, that's hard to tell.

The coke-head or the Viagra spokesman? Dole, simply because it couldn't have been much worse.

[Nite Owl]

11. I don't hate Dole,

don't feel anyway towards him like Bush* but no I wouldn't trade. He's a Repuke and I don't trust any of them. He's no dummy, he had to see what was going on in his party and he stayed.

[Ysabel]

12. what is this...?

let's all build up the republicans day...?

um - no thanks...

er - rather:

fuck no - all republicans gotta go...!

[Zero Gravitas]

13. You're asking two different questions

Dole wouldn't have been half the President that Clinton was in his second term despite Lewinsky and the rest of the right wing's mean spirited, anti-American attacks on his presidency. Sure the fascist bastards made it more difficult for Clinton to concentrate on the terrorist threat, but it is purely hypothetical that Dole would have taken bin Laden as seriously as Clinton did. For all we know he would have been too busy whoring for Big Business to pay any attention. So no I wouldn't trade Dole for Clinton as after all electing Dole in 96 wouldn't preclude Bush* from becoming president later.

As to your other question, sure Dole would be a million times better than Dumbass Dubya, our current part-time "president". Dole is a real patriot and a real American, although I disagree with most of his polices. Dole would have more sense to listen to the PNAC crowd, he, unlike the coward Bush, has actually put his life on the line and I doubt he would have invaded Iraq. Also he might be a right winger, but at least he is not a fascist.

[MikeG]

14. The point is would it have saved 3,000 lives?

Plus the 600 in Iraq, not counting the 1000's of Iraqis.
Remember Dole served his country, lost the use of an arm in combat, and would not have sent the troops as quickly as W.

[jobycom]

19. No. It would have given PNAC an early start. Clinton was brilliant

Without Clinton, who knows where we'd be. The Millenium Plot may have succeeded, the 11 airliners may have gone down. Dole would have invaded Afghanistan, and PNAC would have gotten him to invade Iraq.

None of what Bush did was done by Bush. It was all in the plans in 98, or sooner. The Iraqi invasion would have happened a few years earlier, Bin Laden would still have been ignored, and who knows how many plots would have made it.

One thing missed about all of this 9-11 stuff is that the plans seem to have been bigger than what actually happened. Because of Clinton, the FBI and CIA had what they needed to solve 9-11 and probably to disrupt any other plots within days. So even if Dole had blocked the Millenium Plot, and the 11 airliners plot, and some we don't know about, I'm sure, 9-11 may have been a bigger thing.

Everything Bush did after 9-11 was a plan Clinton and Gore had proposed before 9-11, and each was blocked by the Republicans. Without Clinton, they may not even have had those plans ready to install.

No, never substitute good leadership for the lesser of two evils.

[KAZ]

15. "Traded 4 yrs", yes. But that's a ridiculous question.

Assuming just 4 yrs. Assuming no stolen election. Assuming they wouldn't try to ignore elections with impeachment. Assuming the Senate would not pass a PBAborion law in '97. The Republican party as I knew it was gone, and Dole was just a hollowed out shell of a pol trying to win the hearts of the brown shirts who controlled his party. Sorry, he can shove his Viagra up his ass, for all the good it will do him, or her.

[MikeG]

17. To develop the positive message that wins campaigns,

you first have to think about and be sure of what you don't want.

I myself think a President as good as Clinton comes along only once in a lifetime, but what positive agenda has been put forward since 9/11? Does anyone remember what we were fighting for on 9/10/2001?

We need to go back to that. More than anything else, the agenda has been hijacked by W. That is the real cost of 9/11.

[dogman]

18. Pick your puppet.

Four less years of good economy so they could have this Iraq business out of the way. PNAC could have us in Iran or Syria now or maybe both.

[oustemnow]

20. What makes you think Dole would have focused more on terrorism?

Sure, if Clinton hadn't been dogged by the constant "scandals," he might have been able to deal with terrorism more, but then again, as it's been demonstrated, his administration WAS concerned about terrorism in the first place. As far as I know, most Republicans have been more apt to fund terrorists in the first place. Is there any evidence that Dole showed an interest in fighting terrorism? In fact, I recall Dole being part of the "Wag the Dog" crew when Clinton DID go after terrorists.