2000: John Kerry is the nominee

[Zedonathin2020]

How would he fare against Dubya four years earlier?

[Blow by blow, the passion dies]

Loses by more than Gore due to being a flip-flopper and not Vice President.

[Alben Barkley]

Loses by more than Gore due to being a flip-flopper and not Vice President.

But he won three Purple Hearts!

[Blow by blow, the passion dies]

Loses by more than Gore due to being a flip-flopper and not Vice President.

But he won three Purple Hearts!

He had more waffles than a house of pancakes

[darklordoftech]

Kerry wouldn’t make the mistake of attacking Bush for being an isolationist instead of attacking Bush for being a neocon.

[dw93]

I think many here are underestimating Kerry. He damn near beat Bush in an environment that was much more favorable to the GOP than 2000 was and Bush was also a war time incumbent in 2004 to boot. With that in mind, I think Kerry would stand a very good chance at beating Bush if he were the nominee in 2000 instead of Gore.

[OSR stands with Israel]

I think many here are underestimating Kerry. He damn near beat Bush in an environment that was much more favorable to the GOP than 2000 was and Bush was also a war time incumbent in 2004 to boot. With that in mind, I think Kerry would stand a very good chance at beating Bush if he were the nominee in 2000 instead of Gore.

Democrats though were far more galvanized in 2004 than they were in 2000 so it could be a two way street and George W Bush's performances in the debates were far worse in 2004 than they were in 2000.

I would say Kerry dominating Bush in the debates allowed 2004 to be a semi-close election , otherwise Bush probably wins by 4-5 points NPV and gets 300+ EV

[Alben Barkley]

I think many here are underestimating Kerry. He damn near beat Bush in an environment that was much more favorable to the GOP than 2000 was and Bush was also a war time incumbent in 2004 to boot. With that in mind, I think Kerry would stand a very good chance at beating Bush if he were the nominee in 2000 instead of Gore.

It's possible he wins everything Gore did (except Florida) plus New Hampshire, and that alone would have been enough at the time.

[NewYorkExpress]

Being from New England, Kerry flips New Hampshire without any difficulty at all, and with it, wins the Presidency.

George H.W Bush/Dick Cheney (R) 49%
John Kerry/Tom Harkin (D) 49%

[lLamamano777]

Can't see him doing any better, no southern connection like Gore had. Maybe he wins West Virginia because he wouldn't make the environment as much of an issue. Otherwise, probably wins New Hampshire, loses Iowa and New Mexico. Basically 2004 +maybe WV lol. At the very least, Bush wins Florida by a decent margin without Kerry picking a native like Bob Graham.