What would have changed if Gore won the electoral vote in 2000?

[ringmastery]

Would there have been 9/11?

What would he have done to get us out of the downturn in the economy that was first starting at the end of the Clinton administration?

What would he have done about the crappy trade deals and the outsourcing of manufacturing and tech jobs?

Would we have gone to war in Iraq?

[saltpoint]

1. Pryor and Pickering wouldn't be sitting on --

-- high benches and our European allies would still be our friends.

Gore's vehement words against the U.S. Patriot Act suggest we wouldn't have had it either, at least not in such severe form.

Not a bad list.

[wuushew]

2. DU would not be in existence

since its raison d'etre was the protestation of the election.

[Hokie]

3. No 911

I firmly believe that Al Gore would have prevented 911. He was well aware of the threat posed by Al Qaeda. He was a detail freak and a work-holic as opposed to the Appointed Moron. He would have added 2 + 2 and come up with 4 as opposed to the Idiot who was on vacation for half of 2001 pondering what to do with stem cell research for 4 weeks.

[bigwillq]

4. No 9/11, No Iraq War

Economy would improve. I don't have facts to support why I think this way but I don't think any of those things would've happened.

[gmoney]

5. very different

Gore might have responded to all the accurate intel regarding 9/11 and prevented at least some aspect of it, if not the entire event. Which would probably mean no need to invade Afghanistan (probably) and probably just continued containment of Iraq.

He probably would have had some economic problems, and Enron probably would have happened regardless. But I trust he would have shored up the foundation of the economy rather than trying to indulge in trickle-down tax cuts. He wouldn't have shoved through the estate tax elimination (which is going to be a HUGE addition to the deficit in time) and probably would have kept the budget and deficit within reasonable boundaries.

We wouldn't be in the boomtimes of the late 90s, but we wouldn't be shifting into the robber baron feudalism of the 1900s.

Of course, the right wing media would blame him for everything instead of giving him a pass on everything, and we'd have Gore facing re-election with shaky numbers and who knows, Bush or McCain challenging...

Just my fuzzy crystal ball reading.

[undergroundrailroad]

6. Answers:

Note: These are only my opinions.



1. No

2. Economy (+) = No War Factor + Surplus

3. Stopped them.

4. No

---

[Fridays Child]

7. He did win. Are you asking what would have changed if Chimpy hadn't...

...been the benefactor of an outrageous judicial coup? It's hard to say, given repuke majorities in both houses. I seriously doubt that we would have attacked Iraq, though.

[Rooktoven]

8. I'll answer indirectly, in a previously submitted comment--

Yeah, but can you imagine if Al Gore were president?

(regarding September the 11th and the aftermath)

Well, first the attack probably would have been prevented or not allowed to happen.

If the attack actually occurred, US military aircraft would not have had an order to stand down, and would have attempted to prevent at least one attack.

If the attack still occurred, the Bin Laden family would not have been allowed to immediately leave the country after all US planes were grounded.

* If the attack would still have occurred, the president would likely have been blamed.

If the attack occurred, there would be no war in Iraq because the focus would have been on finding Bin Laden and fixing Afghanistan.

If there was war in Iraq, it would not have been undertaken without UN support.

If a war was undertaken without UN support, the justifications for that war would be solely humanitarian, the American people would not have been panicked by tales of mushroom clouds and poisonous gas.

If a war was undertaken it would have been planned more thoroughly and the significant costs of that war would be explained to the American people.

* If the American people were presented with these costs and reasons for war at the outset, they would not have been supportive.

If war was undertaken, there would be no tax cut for the top 1% earners in America.

If a war was undertaken, there would be no lies told to justify fighting it.

If a person in the diplomatic community on an intelligence mission publicly challenged the administration about reasons for the war, that person's spouse would not have their career jeopardized out of spite.

If a person in the diplomatic community on an intelligence mission publicly challenged the administration about reasons for the war, there would be no revealing of the identities of American counter-terror intelligence agents out of spite.

If an agent was revealed, the administration would summarily discover, fire, and prosecute the leaker.

Yes, I can imagine.

[adamrsilva]

9. We'd be living in paradise

9/11 probably would have still happened, Al Gore would have invaded Afghanistan just the same and he'd be hailed as a great war president like Bush. But unlike Bush, he would use this oppurtunity to:

-Unite the world in the fight against terrorism
-Afghanistan would be stable
-SS would be reformed
-Healthcare for everybody
-Tough environmental laws
-No Patriot Act, No NCLB Act, no Iraq war...
-Democratic House and Senate, and a landslide re-election victory around the corner...

[jsw_81]

10. If President-elect Gore had been sworn in on January 20, 2001...

I think it's safe to say that the economy wouldn't be in the toilet, we wouldn't be bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Twin Towers wouldn't be rubble, we wouldn't have massive deficits, we wouldn't have insane fundamentalist nutcases (e.g. Pryor and Pickering) being appointed to the federal bench, we wouldn't be supporting the cruel "Mexico City" abortion policy that has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of poor women, and we wouldn't have a president who actively encourages oil, gas, and mining companies as they rape our environment. Other than that, nothing would be different; Nader is right when he says that Democrats and Republicans are two sides of the same coin. </sarcasm>

[Crunchy Frog]

11. I may get flamed for saying this

but this is my take.

9/11 probably would have been prevented, but no one would have known that it would have occured under Bush, so Gore would have gotten no credit for stopping it. He might even have been blamed for it almost happening.

The economy would still have gone into a downturn although not nearly as bad as under Bush. But no one would know how much worse it would have been under Bush, and Gore would have gotten all the blame for it.

The right wing, and that includes most of the mainstream media would have been on the attack 24/7, persuading the American people that Gore was the worst president in the nations history. Gore would not have had what it takes to stand up to those kinds of attacks and would constantly be on the defensive and in appeasement mode towards the right. He would have lost control over the House and the Senate and become completely ineffectual as a leader.

Persuaded by the economic downturn and the constant RW attacks, the American people would have made Gore a one term president with Bush waiting in the wings to emerge as saviour.

The inevitable RW takeover would have been delayed by four years, but Bush would have come in with a landslide victory and a genuine mandate, while the neocons would have had an additional four years to stew in their juices and make their plans.

This country would be fucked, it just would have been delayed by four years, and ended up being fucked even worse than it has been.

This is my very cynical answer to this question. Now flame away.

[ramapo]

13. No flame from here

To start with, the Republicans would never have rolled over as easily for Gore as the Democrats did for Bush. It would've been ugly right from the start. Of course the SUpreme Court decision might've gone the other way, giving Bush a recount so he could find the votes. That along with the Florida Repub-controlled govt might've made Bush the winner if the situation had been reversed.

Had 9/11 taken place on Gore's watch, the RWers would've been calling for Gore's head. The blame would've been laid right then and there.

They'd be all over the debt/deficit situation. Gore would've been crucified.

Maybe Gore's policies would've prevented much of the economic problems we're having. But he would've been contending with Republican House/Senate so he would've had a tough time getting his agenda through.

[arwalden]

12. 9/11 Is A Direct Result Of Bush* Foreign Policy (Or Lack Thereof)

Over 3000 people would not have died on September 11th... and over 500 of our men and women in uniform would still be alive.

-- Allen

[arewethereyet]

14. lets see

9/11 ? Yes.
Downturn ? Not much, some public works perhaps, no tax cuts likely. Possibly some protectionistic attempts.
Trade Deals/Outsourcing ? No different. Who put NAFTA through ? And India was alrady going to do what it did to the tech jobs. Y2K insured that as it doevtailed to a huge Indian initiative in that area that was alrady happening.
Iraq ? No Iraq. Maybe no Afghanistan either.

[rpf113]

15. We wouldn't have a $500 billion plus deficit.

No War in Iraq, that's certain.
Actual aide to Afghanistan, not the pennies we are throwing down the proverbial well there.