What Would the USA/World Be Like If Al Gore Had Won In 2000?

[Surfrider]

Just for fun...what if the Supreme Court chose Gore over Bush?

I think things would be very different right now, what say you?

[Acer]

Assuming Congress would not have changed?

9/11...yes. Vague hints and conspiracies aside, that one was under everybody's radar.
Afghanistan invasion...probably.
Iraq invasion...no. That was purely Bush administration driven.

After that, very difficult to say.
Iraq is the big variable. The deficits and the political divisions within the country it caused are tremendous.

Our deficit would have been much smaller, making it easier to maneuver through the recession, and reduce the blowback that resulted in the Tea Party.
Our reputation world-wide would be better, though not sure what that really means in day to day terms.
OTOH, the reduction in government spending from not prosecuting th Iraq war might have blunted the boom of 2004-2006 somewhat.

[Chakravartin]

Can't find the clip from the episode "Meet the Quagmires," but here's a summary:

...the best we have right now is this clip to your right from a recent episode of Family Guy where Peter Griffin and his dog are transported to an alternative universe where Al Gore has killed Osama bin Laden with his bare hands, adopted universal health care and eliminated all street crime. Oh, and flying cars that run on vegetable oil.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Acer wrote:
OTOH, the reduction in government spending from not prosecuting th Iraq war might have blunted the boom of 2004-2006 somewhat.

You left off Bush tax cuts after starting two wars. As I have said before, it has been the only time since the American Revolutionary War with the British that taxes were not raised after starting a war, and it was financed solely by selling debt to foreigners.

[Acer]

Good point. Back then the proto-federal government had no authority to demand taxes. They had to beg from the states, which would please the 2011 Tea party to no end. Of course, by 1787 The Founding Fathers had abandoned that model because it was a failure.

But that's for another thread.

[freeradical]

Surfrider wrote:
Just for fun...what if the Supreme Court chose Gore over Bush?

I think things would be very different right now, what say you?

Well, the Supreme Court did not "choose" Bush.

As to your question, playing "what if" games with history is a complete waste of time.

[Mac1337]

The world would have been a much cooler place.

[OWC Jamie]

We'd all be on our knees facing Mecca several times a day.

[Surfrider]

'As to your question, playing "what if" games with history is a complete waste of time."

Obviously you have enough free time to post a response, so my work here is done:ohsnap:

[davester]

billb wrote:
We'd all be on our knees facing Mecca several times a day.

I don't know why you say that bill. It was Bush who allowed Clinton's campaign against terrorism to lapse and ignored the Clinton administration's warnings regarding the importance of it. I think there's at least a fair likelihood that this move by Bush is what allowed the terrorists to pull off 9/11 and switch al qaeda from being a fringe group to being a powerful force.

freeradical wrote: Well, the Supreme Court did not "choose" Bush

If you believe that I've got a bridge to sell you.