Talk Elections

What if Bush had managed to create a coalition after 2001, and kept Republicans and Democrats united in the face of adversety. He doesn't turn The "War on Terror" into a campaign talking point.  He decides not to invade Iraq, and captures Osama Bin Laden in 2004. He wins re-election in 2004, and appoints a few Democrats into his administration. How does this effect his legacy?

(You continue on with Ideas from here, his successor president, his post-presidency, yada-yada)   

In other words, what if Bush were not Bush? Pointless to discuss.

Maybe, "What if Colin Powell were elected in 2000?" would be a more appropriate thread title.

Basically, yes. What if everything had gone... well... right? Like he made some different choices, and acted as a "compassionate conservative?"

Those were obvious lies to get elected.

Perhaps, but what if he made good on it?

He would of faced Howard Dean in the general election instead of John Kerry, due to Howard Dean's words of Hussein, and that would assume that Howard Dean wouldn't have made the I had a scream speech. Howard Dean, would of been a better candidate and could have possibly won.

He would not have faced Howard Dean. Dean was an unknown and only became the leading contender after he strongly opposed the Iraq war and the DLC (which was discredited after 2002 and by the GOP's aggressive tactics).

What would have happened is more like what happened to some of the European incumbent parties, particularly in the UK and Germany. Politics are less polarizing and the Democrats would have put up a generic DLC style candidate in 2004, possibly Kerry, possibly someone else; but they would have had a lot less energy behind them. The wind out be out of the sails of any Obama DNC speech denouncing polarization. The Democrats would try to run on economic issues but wouldn't get much traction, and they lose by a significantly larger margin, possibly 6 or 7 points instead of 2. Overall less upswing in interest in politics, more emphasis on economic issues, and less trend toward the Democratic party among younger voters. The Democrats become seen as the party of old people and there would be new voices in the party calling for reforms by moving closer to the center. Hotelling's thesis becomes even more entrenched in conventional wisdom that both parties must move to the center to win.

The Democrats make gains in 2006 but fall short of capturing the House or Senate. Overall Bush would have a much stronger legacy with only the economic crisis in 2008 as a sad last chapter to his Presidency.

That's what I wanted to hear, beet. Ever since I was four, I was fascinated by politics. In 2000, I watched closely, always asking my family on the race. And in 2000, we supported McCain in the primaries, but quickly became Bush fans. I remember I was so happy when Bush finally won. We even have a refrigerator magnet of him. I eagerly supported my hero, Geroge W. Bush. THat was until I fell out of intrest in politcs. I only recently (2007) became intrested in it again, and by then, Bush was a lost cause and I didn't approve of him anymore.