2004: No Iraq War but SARS-COV (SARS) become a pandemic

[BigVic]

What if we have a SARS Pandemic worse than OTL-COVID at the turn of the 21st century instead of the Iraq War. The first cases were confirmed in November 2002 shortly after the Midterms. WI it wasn't detected until January 2003 and it became a full-blown pandemic in March that year.

How will it affect the 2004 elections and society as a general? A global pandemic 18 months after 9/11 would be a good subject to discuss.

[Agonized-Statism]

Like with the "biolab" crap IOTL, there would be a lot of speculation that COVID-02 was a terrorist plot. The lockdown is way less doable with less widespread Internet, but society manages (schools send packets home and lectures are televised or via public radio, for example). Bush decides to deal with Saddam by other means, and wins soundly with a rally 'round the flag as the pandemic is folded into the post-9/11 hysteria. One interesting outcome would be no recession in 2008 with markets cooled for a while starting in 2003. Republicans probably get a strong anti-establishment movement going on-time over anti-masking though.

2004

President George Bush (R-TX) / Vice President Dick Cheney (R-WY) ✓
Senator John Kerry (D-MA) / Senator John Edwards (D-NC)

2008

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) / Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK)
Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) / Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) ✓