WHAT IF 2000 ELECTION WASN’T STOLEN?

WROTE THE FOLLOWING COLUMN ON NOV. 21, 2008

WHAT IF 2000 ELECTION WASN’T STOLEN?
You can vote on who would be president in 2009 if Gore won

By Martin Zabell

As I read reports about the recount in the Minnesota Senate race I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if Al Gore had won the 2000 presidential election.

I believe the election was NOT stolen by the U.S. Supreme Court. The legislature in Florida had already decided (one house formally, one informally) it was going to award the state’s electoral votes to George W. Bush no matter what the count was. In other words, the court prevented Florida Governor Jeb Bush from making the final decision.

However, the election was stolen months earlier when a Texas "security firm" that had donated millions to the Bushes for decades was hired. This company was ostensibly seeking to remove convicts from voting rolls, but instead gave Secretary of State/Bush campaign chair Katherine Harris a list of people with similar names who lived in Democratic areas. She was told of mistakes months before the election, but axed tens of thousands of voters anyway.

Here are some top options for what would have happened if the 2000 election had not been stolen. Which do you think is the most probable?

A. MITT ROMNEY ELECTED IN 2008:

Sept. 11 never happens. According to counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke, Bill Clinton acted decisively when confronted with evidence of a possible terror attack, but Bush ignored repeated warnings and acted like, well Bush. I believe Gore would have acted like Clinton and prevented an attack.

In this scenario, I believe Gore presides over a huge budget surplus and has success on the diplomatic and environmental front, but makes only modest strides toward other crises like 40-plus million people not having health insurance. Then, he beats George W. Bush in a rematch of the 2000 election.

In 2008, a Democratic electorate that wants dramatic liberal change nominates Barack Obama, but he is beaten by economics expert Mitt Romney as the nation wearies of Democrats and is receptive to a tax cut plan that last occurred in the 1980s.


B. JOHN McCAIN RE-ELECTED:

Sept. 11 happens despite Gore’s best efforts. Republicans loudly and harshly blame Gore, whose approval rating plunges to 30 percent within a few days. Under enormous pressure, Gore invades Afghanistan days later. There are many military mishaps – the kind you expect when action is taken too expeditiously.

Eventually, the American military triumphs, overthrows the Taliban, and blows up lots of caves. Osama Bin-Laden is presumed dead, but never found. By this time, the GOP’s "Democrats are weak" argument is popular and Americans favor more attacks on other nations.

In 2004, John McCain is elected. His invasion of Iraq goes so smoothly that U.S. troops are withdrawn months later and he decides to overthrow other dictators. He is re-elected over ex-VP Joe Lieberman, who runs on the real-life 2002 strategy of agreeing with the GOP on military matters, but opposing it on domestic issues.


C. HILLARY CLINTON ELECTED:

Sept. 11 happens. So does the GOP’s relentless attacks. However, Gore wisely resists an immediate attack. Like Bush Jr. in real life, he waits one month before attacking Afghanistan and the invasion goes very smoothly. Bin-Laden is captured and tried.

However, the victory is as irrelevant in 2004 as the 1991 win over Iraq was in 1992. With economic growth slipping, George W. Bush runs on a tax cut/"it’s the economy stupid" platform in 2004. Americans now believe the 10-year governor is experienced and he wins.

In office, Bush overthrows Saddam Hussein. Since the public was already satisfied that Sept. 11 had been avenged, there is never any support for the war and Hillary Clinton voted against it. In 2008, she trounces John Edwards on Super Tuesday to win the Democratic nomination. Obama dropped out before the first primary. Clinton beats Bush Jr. in the election.


D. BARACK OBAMA ELECTED:

The Sept. 11 attacks lead to John McCain defeating Al Gore in 2004 as described in Scenario B.

McCain’s management of the war in Iraq that began in 2005 was superior to Bush’s, but it turned out that competence wasn’t the problem. Even a perfect military effort couldn’t prevent the Sunnis vs. Shi’ites hatred that Saddam Hussein had bottled up for decades from flaring.

The war heats up in 2008 during the primary season. This enables Barack Obama to trounce Hillary Clinton, who voted for the war in 2005 when Obama voted against it. In the general election, the economy sours ....and well you know the rest.


E. ??????

Please cast your vote.