NationStates Jolt Archive

I was reading about Hunter S. Thompson's life, and I had a funny thought.

What if Al Gore had won the presidential election in 2000? How would he have reacted to 9/11? Would he start a war on terrorism? Would we be in an energy crisis? Would the patriot act exist? In short, what would the world be like had Gore won?

I really really really want to hear some opinions on this...

He would have taken the opportunity to use it for massive amounts of self-promotion.

Climate change would have ended, world poverty would be ended, and there would be peace on Earth. And he might not have got quite so fat.

Positives: I think Gore would have gone into Afghanistan, but not Iraq after 9-11. The deficit wouldnt be nearly as high as it is now, and more advances would have probably been made into alternative energy.

Too bad :(

Negatives: We wouldnt have had the perfect high official to make fun of for the last 8 years.

Climate change would have ended, world poverty would be ended, and there would be peace on Earth..

Bwahahahahaha.

The apex of Barack Obama's career would be being Mayor of Chicago...

If gore had won (I thought he did anyway, just got Florida stolen from him by dodgy vote counting) the world would probably be a better place, no war in Iraq/Afghanistan, more action on climate change, more money in public services in America and just perhaps the world economy wouldn't be so messed up.

no bs war on terror, no patriot act and a slightly more sane government for the last 8 years, there would still be an energy crisis but moves would have begun 8 years ago to actually develop sustainable energy and a carbon neutral economy in the us, whether it would have made much difference is another matter.

I think he would have taken al queda seriously and addressed them as the huge threat to the world that they are :tongue: and not just as a neo con method of control - control a population through the politics of fear in order to keep moral standards high.

but seriously he would probably have reacted better than bush did anyway and caught those involved.

What if...

Perhaps thing would be different in the US. Perhaps not.

All I know is that when someone mentions Al Gore, I get flashbacks of ManBearPig and being super super serial so...

gore would have attacked alqaeda bases in afghanistan but would not have invaded the whole country. he would have sent in squads to find and kill bin laden

when he did not find and kill bin laden he would have lost his re-election bid in a republican landslide led by colin powell.

no one would have ever invaded iraq.

Actually, things probably would be pretty similar. Considering the Patriot Act was passed 98:1, it's highly unlikely any of the post-9/11 security measures would be any different.

That being said, we'd probably have a considerably lower budget deficit and maybe no full invasion of Iraq, but a lot of things would remain the same. Hopefully, Gore would've taken action on climate change early enough to allow us to reap the benefits of additional investment and research; we basically lost out on a lot of opportunities due to the stonewalling in regard to fuel economy and alternative energy standards during the 1990's and early 2000's.

Actually, things probably would be pretty similar. Considering the Patriot Act was passed 98:1, it's highly unlikely any of the post-9/11 security measures would be any different.

I disagree - the Act only passed with a 98 majority because the Democrats were spineless in Congress. With Al Gore in office, the Act may never have been proposed, and the Democrats may have had the balls to stand up for civil liberties.

That being said, we'd probably have a considerably lower budget deficit and maybe no full invasion of Iraq, but a lot of things would remain the same.

I agree with this - we only went into Iraq because the Bush dynasty hated Saddam Hussein. Gore wouldn't have had that motivation and would have stuck to Afghanistan. Additionally, I don't think he would have squandered goodwill America had after 9/11 in the same way Bush did, so Afghanistan might have been a truly international effort, as opposed to it being mostly America's war.

I don't think he'd have lost in 2004, because he'd have experienced the huge bounce in popularity that Bush did and not lost so much through a quagmire in Iraq... I do think however that 2008 would have been a Republican year, but that's going too far away from reality to think of anything...

There would be no rock 'n roll. Just good ol' wholesome tunes.

The world would be a wonderful, warm and friendly place. Each Israeli and each Palestinian would couple up and to the Nasty once a month just to be more sociable. Our cars would all run on dirt and every time someone burped, daisies and kittens would shoot out of their mouths.

:)

The world would be a wonderful, warm and friendly place. Each Israeli and each Palestinian would couple up and to the Nasty once a month just to be more sociable. Our cars would all run on dirt and every time someone burped, daisies and kittens would shoot out of their mouths.

:)
sigh.

why did we get bush instead?

sigh.

why did we get bush instead?

An inherent masochism in American society, perhaps? I was wondering about it too when I was living there, especially since I voted for Gore. It really sucked that he lost.

Do we know for sure Gore would have "gone into" Afghanistan though? Maybe he would have sent in special forces, maybe authorised a few more missile strikes - but actually overthrowing the Taliban was a very neocon response, wasn't it?

Also, the response to the dot.com bubble would have been different. Different tax cuts, more direct government spending on stuff, perhaps earlier bailouts of large employers like the car manufacturers.

Negatives: We wouldnt have had the perfect high official to make fun of for the last 8 years.

Fun, you say. Granted, in the beginning George W. Bush proved to be a veritable comedy goldmine. However, after a few years the laughter died. The man is like a black hole for humour. First there was mirth, then came stupefied disbelief and in the end the majority of humanity was just jaded.

An inherent masochism in American society, perhaps? I was wondering about it too when I was living there, especially since I voted for Gore. It really sucked that he lost.
i didnt realize that you are an american citizen.

yeah it did suck. at the time i thought that bush had a chance to do an OK job (not that i voted for him). wow was i wrong.

i didnt realize that you are an american citizen.

Because of my father, yes, I have the American citizenship.

yeah it did suck. at the time i thought that bush had a chance to do an OK job (not that i voted for him). wow was i wrong.

One learns from past mistakes. I'm hopeful that after 8 years of the Dubya, a change with Obama is what the US needs. *crosses fingers*

Gore as president?
The sanctions regime on Iraq would have continued leading to tens of thousands of premature deaths - Gore was more risk averse than Bush and would have allowed this to persist rather than engage with a military high adventure. His Vietnam experience would leave hime less vulnerable than Dubya was to insinuations of a lack of military patriotism, and so better able to tell the hawks "NO!".
He couldn't have significantly changed the US power structure in the middle east, and so the Al Quaeda attacks would probably still have been attempted
Gore would have introduced a debate on a new energy policy, which might have reduced the vulnerability of the US on cheap imported oil, but the debate would still be early at the time of the attack.
But, post 11th September, a military response was obviously needed to sustain the authority of the Republic: it had to be anti Moslem, and meet the wider objectives of the state to deny resources to emerging powers. I think on balance he probably would have mustered a punitive expedition (as we used to call them) against Afghanistan, trashed the Taleban, set up a Quisling in Kabul and got out quick.
But who can really say! Anyone ever asked him?

Because of my father, yes, I have the American citizenship.



One learns from past mistakes. I'm hopeful that after 8 years of the Dubya, a change with Obama is what the US needs. *crosses fingers*

I'm not. :(Then again, I don't want to threadjack.

On the subject of Gore being President:

GROAT! GROAT!

I'm guessing he wouldn't have gone through the whole beard phase.