2000: George W. Bush (R) v. Al Gore (D) v. John McCain (I)

[Lincoln Republican]

John McCain is successful in persuading the former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell, to join him on the ticket as the Vice Presidential nominee.

Together, McCain and Powell have tremendous appeal to independents, to independently thinking people, to Republicans who are not happy with the Republican ticket, to Democrats who are not happy with the Democratic ticket, and do well with minorities. 

The McCain/Powell appeal carried them to victory in many states, while the  vote splits between Bush and Gore in other states enabled McCain and Powell to win in those states.

McCain and Powell are able to tap into a deep rooted desire in the country for change and for new and inspiring leadership.     

McCain/Powell                291
Bush/Cheney                 155
Gore/Lieberman               92

[Lincoln Republican]

That is a fine analysis, Winfied, though I'd give Arkansas and Tennessee to Gore.

Thank you, and welcome to the forums.

You're right, Gore would most likely win Arkansas and Tennessee.  It would, as well, make for a more interesting and exciting election night.

Revised results

McCain/Powell          274
Bush/Cheney           155
Gore/Lieberman       109



This would make for a most interesting campaign and election night story.  However, since I have already posted the results, it would be pointless for me to write one.

[Lincoln Republican]

Winfield, your map favours Republicans and underestimates the number of people who would have voted Gore over both Bush and McCain when it came down to it.  So does yours, Spl2, to a lesser extent.

What you say could ultimately have happened in the 2000 election, however, if any independent ticket could have made these kinds of inroads, it would have been McCain and Powell.  Both were well known, respected, charismatic, in contrast to both the Bush/Cheney and Gore/Lieberman tickets, that were really not exciting tickets at all.

Besides that, both McCain and Powell had the credibility to actually be President and Vice President, unlike most independent or third party candidates, i.e. Nader, Buchanan, Perot.