Gore/Lieberman v Bush/Cheney v McCain/Cohen 2000

[Lincoln Republican]

In 2000, Governor George W Bush of Texas wins the Republican nomination in a hard fought contest with the other major candidate, Senator John McCain of Arizona.

Many McCain supporters feel the Bush campaign used dirty tactics to discredit McCain in the primaries, particularily in South Carolina.

As a result, McCain runs as an independent.  McCain gets former Republican Congressman, former Senator, and outgoing Clinton administration Defense Secretary William Cohen for his running mate.  He believes with the moderate Cohen, this will give the ticket a broader appeal nationwide.   

Democrat, Vice President Al Gore (TN)/Senator Joe Lieberman (CT)
Republican, Governor George W Bush (TX)/Former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney (WY)
Independent, Senator John McCain (AZ)/Defense Secretary William Cohen (ME)

Discuss please, with maps.

Thanks.

[WalterMitty]

a mccain/cohen ticket drains many more votes from bush than it does gore.

gore/lieberman (d): 40%, 285 EVs
bush/cheney (r): 37%, 173 EVs
mccain/cohen (i): 23%, 80 EVs

for his help in electing gore, mccain is nominated by president-elect gore to serve as sec of state.  cohen stays on as defense secretary.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Disagree. I think McCain would at least force the election to go to the House. He might even have been able to pull off a win. He would have had a good chance of winning IL, OH, IN, CA, NJ, PA, and possibly even NY. Even though he lost primaries in some of these states, remember that the ppl who vote in Republican primaries are more likely to be hard-core conservative republicans.