George W. Bush v. Al Gore, 2004

[© tweed]

The rematch -- Gore runs again in 2004 and easily wins the nomination.

He chooses Bill Graham of Florida as his running mate, because he's now obsessed with winning Florida, so to speak.

What would maps look like?

[© tweed]

I meant Bob Graham, obviously.

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I think Gore would have run with the same populist battle cry he employed in 2000, only a little more fiery.  His sharp criticism of Bush in 2003-4 was a result of him not being a candidate.

That said, I think he still loses, although it's closer than Kerry v Bush.



Gore loses Ohio by 78 votes, and soon thereafter slips into depression.

[© tweed]

Bush/Cheney: 53.2% 380EV
Gore/Dean: 45.8% 158EV

If Gore's bitter behavor as an '04 candidate was the same as he was as a non-candidate, no chance for him at all.  I see Gore choising Dean (as Dean does not run at all for the nomination), making the ticket even worse for Gore.

Gore wouldn't commit electoral suicide and choose a northeastern VP.

[© tweed]

Al Gore screaming about how the president "Betrayed America", would win him more votes than Kerry?  What planet do you guys live on?

If Gore was a candidate, he wouldn't have become a pit bull.  He wouldn't have come close to the performance illustrated by politico, but he'd have been a stronger candidate than Kerry almost certainly.

I'd say he'll draw the PV to a <1% Bush lead and cut Ohio's margin into a third of what it was, but still lose narrowly.

[© tweed]

Gore might have won. Kerry didn't talk about the economy enough. I don't think Gore would have made that mistake.

Another mistake Kerry made was spending an hour of his convention speech talking about Vietnam.  The convention was a completely blown oppurtunity for Kerry, and the largest flaw with his campaign.  (Other then, of course, that he was just a bad candidate)