Which other Bush 2000 veep finalist could have won in 2008?

[Suburbia]

Texas Gov. George W. Bush was going to pick former Missouri Sen. John Danforth or Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating as his running mates before picking Dick Cheney, former Defense Secretary and his VP search CEO.

Other choices included former Joints Chiefs Chairman Gen. Colin Powell and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge.

Which one of these men could have won on their own in 2008 to succeed Bush had the Bush presidency in real life been successful?

[Ferguson97]

No Republican was winning in 2008.

[OSR stands with Israel]

A different VP could have meant at the very least a more competent handling of Iraq due to Rumsfeld not becoming Defense Secretary so it could prevent 2006 from being as bad as it was but after Lehman no Republican was winning in 2008.

The only possible way you could avoid it is if a different VP can convince Bush to get rid of Greenspan in 01 or 02

[President Johnson]

A different VP could have meant at the very least a more competent handling of Iraq due to Rumsfeld not becoming Defense Secretary so it could prevent 2006 from being as bad as it was but after Lehman no Republican was winning in 2008.

The only possible way you could avoid it is if a different VP can convince Bush to get rid of Greenspan in 01 or 02

I'm not sure there was actually a "competent handling" of Iraq in the long run. The only right decision would have been to stay out of Iraq, as bad as Saddam was. At least the invasion was always happening for made-up reasons, which greatly hurt the American reputation abroad.

I don't think any Republican would have won 2008, no matter who Dubya's vice president was. At least not without changing much more events in the meantime.

[courts]

No Republican was winning in 2008.

yeah more likely to happen if some democrat won in 2004

[OSR stands with Israel]

A different VP could have meant at the very least a more competent handling of Iraq due to Rumsfeld not becoming Defense Secretary so it could prevent 2006 from being as bad as it was but after Lehman no Republican was winning in 2008.

The only possible way you could avoid it is if a different VP can convince Bush to get rid of Greenspan in 01 or 02

I'm not sure there was actually a "competent handling" of Iraq in the long run. The only right decision would have been to stay out of Iraq, as bad as Saddam was. At least the invasion was always happening for made-up reasons, which greatly hurt the American reputation abroad.

I don't think any Republican would have won 2008, no matter who Dubya's vice president was. At least not without changing much more events in the meantime.

Maybe not but the absolute chaos of the way the US did de-baathification could be avoided plus a more competent defense secretary probably doesn’t outright dismantle the Iraqi military which directly led to the insurgency becoming as big as it did .

Like yes the best solution would have been not to go in but in OTL we went in and the immediate post invasion phase horrifically.

[darklordoftech]

No Republican was winning in 2008.

[GregTheGreat657]

If it was going to be anyone on this list, it would be Colin Powell.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Colin Powell isn't Clarence Thomas whom doesn't believe in quotas

Obama legacy was to get Hillary in 2016 to get a 5th D Justice that's why Ginsberg didn't retire she thought Hillary was gonna get elected but we nominated the wrong person, I always liked OMalley and he could of won in 2016, Trump would have had a difficult time winning on 4 PERCENT unemployment without Benghazi

[Pericles]

None, and Bush was so unpopular that the Republican Party was much better off at least trying someone less linked to it like McCain than any hypothetical Vice-President.

[Alben Barkley]

No Republican is winning in 2008 if Bush's presidency still goes the way it did. However, if you buy into the whole idea that Cheney was the real mastermind behind Bush's presidency, then replacing him with someone else like Powell might change things a bit. Of course, a different VP pick might also butterfly things to cause Bush to lose in 2004 or even 2000 in the first place too. But if we're just assuming all else equal, then yeah no R is winning, but Powell would have by far the best chance.

[Suburbia]

No Republican is winning in 2008 if Bush's presidency still goes the way it did. However, if you buy into the whole idea that Cheney was the real mastermind behind Bush's presidency, then replacing him with someone else like Powell might change things a bit. Of course, a different VP pick might also butterfly things to cause Bush to lose in 2004 or even 2000 in the first place too. But if we're just assuming all else equal, then yeah no R is winning, but Powell would have by far the best chance.

You don't think Vice President Danforth wins in 2008? I think if Bush-Danforth was the ticket instead of Bush-Cheney, Ashcroft would have probably sent Gov. Carnahan, God rest his soul into political retirement had he not died, or just defeated him, and Ashcroft would not have been AG.

Danforth would have made the difference in Missouri, probably helping Talent and Ashcroft.

[Ferguson97]

No Republican was winning in 2008.

yeah more likely to happen if some democrat won in 2004

Yeah Kerry probably loses in 2008 due to the recession... pretty wild that we might've had 3 one-termers in a row...

2001-2005: George W. Bush
2005-2009: John Kerry
2009-2013: Mitt Romney
2013-2021: Hillary Clinton

Pretty plausible imo

[OSR stands with Israel]

No Republican was winning in 2008.

yeah more likely to happen if some democrat won in 2004

Yeah Kerry probably loses in 2008 due to the recession... pretty wild that we might've had 3 one-termers in a row...

2001-2005: George W. Bush
2005-2009: John Kerry
2009-2013: Mitt Romney
2013-2021: Hillary Clinton

Pretty plausible imo

Heck their is a possibility you get Jeb 2008 here as well or maybe W 2.0 if W won the popular vote by more than a point in 2004 while losing

[OSR stands with Israel]

No Republican is winning in 2008 if Bush's presidency still goes the way it did. However, if you buy into the whole idea that Cheney was the real mastermind behind Bush's presidency, then replacing him with someone else like Powell might change things a bit. Of course, a different VP pick might also butterfly things to cause Bush to lose in 2004 or even 2000 in the first place too. But if we're just assuming all else equal, then yeah no R is winning, but Powell would have by far the best chance.

I don’t think Cheney was the mastermind but rather a co president (especially till sometime in 2006) where Bush basically ran domestic/economic policy but Cheney ran foreign policy . I’d say Danforth was VP Iraq may be avoided all together or at the very least not for anywhere near as bad as OTL. That probably keeps Bush from being really unpopular till Lehman when he’d collapse and you wojod get a President Hillary Cli ton .

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

None, and Bush was so unpopular that the Republican Party was much better off at least trying someone less linked to it like McCain than any hypothetical Vice-President.

Maybe fresh GOP face not linked to administration might have won against John Edwards or a similarly scandal-plagued guy. But 2008 was otherwise basically unlosable for Democrats, and VP is too close to the President for them to stand a chance.

[Person Man]

No Republican was winning in 2008.

yeah more likely to happen if some democrat won in 2004

Not in our 2008 unless you are saying W only won in 2004 because of Cheney.

[VPH]

Doubtful any Republican could win, but maybe Hagel if he ended up with a reputation of being a thorn in Bush's side and could point to a record of challenging him on Iraq towards the end of his second term. I seem to remember that Democrats approached Hagel about switching parties at one point.

[NewYorkExpress]

Powell and Ridge wouldn't have won the nomination, being pro-choice.

I don't think Hagel would have invaded Iraq, whereas I think both Danforth and Keating would have, so I think Hagel would have been capable of winning in spite of the economic collapse (assuming Clinton was the Democratic nominee in 2008-he isn't beating Obama.)

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Jeb waited too long after being Gov of FL he should of tried in 2008/ it was Palin whom destroyed the R party against the Rs

[Sir Mohamed]

NOTA.

[Brother Jonathan]

Obviously, with the economy being what it was in 2008, no Republican was winning. Honestly, not having the incumbent VP on the ticket was probably much better for the party in 2008, regardless of who the VP was. That being said, Powell would be the most interesting and would likely make the race much closer than any of the others.

[dw93]

Unless a Democrat wins in 2004 AND Jeb decides against running in 2008, no non Cheney Bush VP is winning in 2008.

[Suburbia]

I think if Bush picked Keating or Hagel, they could have won in 2008 like Bush's father did in 1988....

Powell and Ridge were pro-choice, non-starters.

Pataki as well. Whitman as well.

Keating, Hagel, Danforth were pro-life.