Both Bush and Kerry were incompetent.

[stretch827]

George W. Bush had a very reckless foreign policy in regards to Iraq, as the US stayed there for 8 years, and his tax cuts created a huge national debt. At the beginning of his term, the debt was at $5.5 billion, but when he left it was well over $10 billion. Meaning, the debt went up 89% during the eight years he was in office.

However, John Kerry was no better. He was a flip-flopper who could not keep his positions straight. First, he sided with Bush on the Iraq War but afterwards, he claimed to be an "anti-war candidate". Then, he claimed he supported the PATRIOT Act, but now he claims it to be a threat to liberty. In 1996, Kerry criticized Gov. William Weld of Massachusetts for supporting the death penalty for terrorists, but now he himself supports it.


In short, 2004 was a year when both of the candidates were incompetent. What are your opinions?

[PolitiJunkie]

2004 was certainly a "lesser of two evils" election; no doubt about it.

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

George W. Bush had a very reckless foreign policy in regards to Iraq, as the US stayed there for 8 years, and his tax cuts created a huge national debt. At the beginning of his term, the debt was at $5.5 trillion, but when he left it was well over $10 trillion. Meaning, the debt went up 89% during the eight years he was in office.

Sorry, had to fix.


But I completely agree otherwise.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Cheney was the one incompetent. Edwards couldn't expose his weakness like Graham or Warner could have. Rove was the master strategist compared to Shrum.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

George W. Bush had a very reckless foreign policy in regards to Iraq, as the US stayed there for 8 years, and his tax cuts created a huge national debt. At the beginning of his term, the debt was at $5.5 tRillion, but when he left it was well over $10 tRillion. Meaning, the debt went up 89% during the eight years he was in office.

Sorry, had to fix.


But I completely agree otherwise.

I had the urge to fix as well.  Dubya's fiscal incompetence is indeed one of his major legacies.

[barfbag]

2004 was certainly a "lesser of two evils" election; no doubt about it.

That's every election, but Bush was seen in much better light throughout his first term. He was seen as the champion of the war on terror who would do whatever it takes to defend our nation and do whatever he felt was right no matter what others thought. On the economy, his philosophy was that your money should be your's to keep. Voting for Bush meant you kept more of your own money. He was very open about his faith too and seen as a man of values. I can remember the man saying "this administration has balanced the budget by paying for the mistakes of politicians on the backs of the taxpayers and when I'm president, we're going to give the surplus back to those who worked to provide it."

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

Nah, only Kerry was.

[Pessimistic Antineutrino]

Agreed although Kerry was probably more so. Wouldn't make a difference who won in 2004-Kerry would have been defeated handily in 2008 if the financial crash happened as it did in real life.

[Comrade Funk]

I wonder what would've happened happened had Kerry presided over the 2008 crisis with a GOP Congress. I wouldn't be surprised if the GOP radicalized earlier, and voted against the bailouts, thus causing a depression.

[Kevin]

I wonder what would've happened happened had Kerry presided over the 2008 crisis with a GOP Congress. I wouldn't be surprised if the GOP radicalized earlier, and voted against the bailouts, thus causing a depression.

It doesn't matter because no President could politically survive a crisis like that. Esp. if it were the October surprise just like in RL.

[Comrade Funk]

I wonder what would've happened happened had Kerry presided over the 2008 crisis with a GOP Congress. I wouldn't be surprised if the GOP radicalized earlier, and voted against the bailouts, thus causing a depression.

It doesn't matter because no President could politically survive a crisis like that. Esp. if it were the October surprise just like in RL.

I know. The point I was making was would a more radicalized GOP controlled congress approve the bailout.

[Person Man]

I wonder what would've happened happened had Kerry presided over the 2008 crisis with a GOP Congress. I wouldn't be surprised if the GOP radicalized earlier, and voted against the bailouts, thus causing a depression.

It doesn't matter because no President could politically survive a crisis like that. Esp. if it were the October surprise just like in RL.

I know. The point I was making was would a more radicalized GOP controlled congress approve the bailout.

It did not help McCain that the Democrats were in control of Congress went it all came down. What could of happened is that the Republicans would have nominated someone much more conservative and would of had a Congressional majority very similar to the Democrats in 2009. By November 2010, the Republicans could almost start us where they left off on October 1929. There would be a huge backlash sooner if things go poorly and later if things went well.

[minionofmidas]

Still are.