# What if Al Gore had been elected president in 2000? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 6, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-al-gore-had-been-elected-president-in-2000/363367 "2006-07-06T14:40:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-al-gore-had-been-elected-president-in-2000/363367/41 "2006-07-07T20:42:28Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > [Here’s how things would have worked out differently.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWFMUMytm3U) > > 😃 Thank you. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-al-gore-had-been-elected-president-in-2000/363367/42 "2006-07-07T21:12:08Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Spoken like someone who didn’t read the cite I provided: Oh, I read the article alright…I just don’t happen to agree with that assessment. YMMV… > [@rjung](#): > > I’ll take the military analytical skills of a Brigader General over a 101st Fighting Keyboard Bush apologist (term specifically chosen to annoy Shodan ) any day, thank you very much. You’ll take said assessment only because it conforms to what you WANT to hear…or would you take a counter assessment from another general that disagrees with this? No? Thought not. And I apologize for nothing…certainly nothing Bush et al has done. But you go on trying to paint me as a Bush supporter there bro…its working well for ya. -XT ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-al-gore-had-been-elected-president-in-2000/363367/43 "2006-07-07T21:26:51Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I think September 11 still would have happened. Gore would have taken the problem more seriously, but by the time he got into office it was probably too late. A number of the hijackers were already in the country, and the CIA/FBI squabbling and other problems were still in place. I’m not sure anyone could have overcome those obstacles in less than eight months. Maybe I’m wrong. Anyway, I’m sure Gore and Lieberman wouldn’t have let energy industry executives help write the country’s energy policies. That’s about what I think. Gore would have taken it more seriously, coming out of an administration that ranked bin Laden as the #1 security threat, as opposed to an administration that was going to make Hussein the #1 priority regardless of the real situation. However, it was really a simple operation, with very few working parts. It would have been tough to stop. They knew the names of guys who took flying lessons but didn’t care about landing. Were they going to prevent these guys from getting on any plane? Have a full time fed who travelled wherever these pilots did, and got on whatever flight they did? That’s part of the terrible beauty of the plan - the pilots were separate - it looked like they were getting on flights as unarmed _individuals_. The “muscle” on each flight were unassociated with the pilots, and were total unknowns to intelligence (I think). The arms were small knives anyway. Maybe a Gore administration would have simply harrassed the pilots enough to make them give up without trying it - that’s about the only way I can think of they would have realistically prevented it. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-al-gore-had-been-elected-president-in-2000/363367/44 "2006-07-10T16:45:32Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > (term specifically chosen to annoy **Shodan** 😉 ) In that **Shodan** has not yet even participated in this thread, this is a gratuitous swipe that is not appropriate. If you need to take shots at posters–particularly posters who are not even participating in the threads where you target them–open up your own thread in the **Pit**. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![SpartanDC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@SpartanDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpartanDC)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-al-gore-had-been-elected-president-in-2000/363367/45 "2006-07-10T18:51:37Z")
9/11 probably would have still happened… but after that I would guess that everything would have changed. Though Bin Laden might still be on the loose. Assuming Gore wouldn’t have invaded Iraq, you’d have more military in Afghanistan, but even then, I think that gives us, at the most, a 60 percent chance of having caught Bin Laden by now. It’s just not a very easy thing to do. FEMA under Clinton was a very efficient, respected bureaucracy and likely would have remained so under Gore. So Katrina still happens, but the response is better, and Nagin and Blanco get almost 100 percent of the blame. By this point, Gore’s probably been pushing to get Kyoto ratified in the Senate, but either a GOP majority or a GOP filibuster keeps it from happening. Katrina, and Gore’s great response to it, gives him the capital he needs, though, to get Kyoto passed. I agree with the earlier comment that Gore would sieze upon 9/11 and ride it to Democratic gains in Congress in 2002. Remember, the House was very closely divided and the Senate at 50/50 when Bush took office (it would have been 51/49 GOP if Gore had won and Lieberman become VP, cause I believe CT had a GOP governor at that time). So Gore complains that the GOP is blocking his environmental programs, his progressive tax cut plan, etc. In that scenario, it’s easy to see the Democrats winning control of Congress. We’d probably also have a minimum wage increase, too. I suspect we’d have something very similar to the first Patriot Act, but probably with more firm sunsets built in. And we’d still send people to Gitmo, but there’d be an actual process for getting them out of there. The average American’s life would be marginally better. Not by much, but by a little bit. And my guess is the American auto industry would be in slightly better shape, because they’d be more on-the-ball (either because of law or because of common sense) about fuel-efficeint vehicles. At least I hope so (I’m from Detroit originally, can’t help it!) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-al-gore-had-been-elected-president-in-2000/363367/46 "2006-07-11T15:41:58Z")
> [@bup](#): > > However, it was really a simple operation, with very few working parts. It would have been tough to stop. They knew the names of guys who took flying lessons but didn’t care about landing. Were they going to prevent these guys from getting on any plane? If there was enough on Moussaoui’s computer to tie the pilots into a conspiracy, you arrest them. If not, you hold them for questioning as long as is legal, then track their every move, and, yes, bar them from getting on a plane until you’re sure you know what the conspiracy was, and who else was in on it. If they want to leave the country, let 'em leave by land, or if they want to go overseas, let 'em leave on a military flight, under guard. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-al-gore-had-been-elected-president-in-2000/363367/47 "2006-07-12T02:52:46Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > In that **Shodan** has not yet even participated in this thread, this is a gratuitous swipe that is not appropriate. :dubious: A gratuitous swipe on **Shodan** is **always** appropriate, **tomndebb,** and you know it precious well! ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-al-gore-had-been-elected-president-in-2000/363367/48 "2006-07-12T03:21:30Z")
Be interesting to see how Tom replies to that incredible statement… -XT ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-al-gore-had-been-elected-president-in-2000/363367/49 "2006-07-12T14:44:22Z")
OK, so I left out the 😉 ! BFD! ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-al-gore-had-been-elected-president-in-2000/363367/50 "2006-07-12T18:07:53Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > :dubious: Ever seen a map of Tora Bora rjung? 4000 marines (hell, 40,000 marines) could easily be swallowed up in there with room to spare. This doesn’t even get into how you would propose to SUPPLY even 4000 marines that early in the war, when the country side was still hostile. And would have been a hell of a lot MORE hostile if the US had invaded on that scale. > > But hell man…hold onto your fantasies if you like. We’ll never know, ehe? > > -XT The US wouldnt have invaded. The US and its allies which were galvinized after the Trade Center would have gone in with us. We wouldnt have been international oportunists and cowboys. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-al-gore-had-been-elected-president-in-2000/363367/51 "2006-07-12T18:09:52Z")
> [@Least Original User Name Ever](#): > > The US wouldnt have invaded. The US and its allies which were galvinized after the Trade Center would have gone in with us. We wouldnt have been international oportunists and cowboys. In which case, post-war reconstruction also would have been a NATO joint project. Interesting to speculate how that would have worked out. I think it would have been a much, much better thing for Afghanistan. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-al-gore-had-been-elected-president-in-2000/363367/52 "2006-07-17T16:12:40Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > :dubious: A gratuitous swipe on **Shodan** is **always** appropriate, **tomndebb,** and you know it precious well! No. A gratuitous swipe is inappropriate in **GD** , regardless who the target is. You will not repeat that type of comment, here. (Sheesh! I leave a thread alone for a few days because it seems to have wrapped up, and when I come back I find impertinence.) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-al-gore-had-been-elected-president-in-2000/363367/53 "2006-07-17T21:27:28Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > No. A gratuitous swipe is inappropriate in **GD** , regardless who the target is. > > You will not repeat that type of comment, here. > > (Sheesh! I leave a thread alone for a few days because it seems to have wrapped up, and when I come back I find impertinence.) I was actually sniping at **you** there, **tomndebb.** I don’t think **rjung’s** off-the-cuff ever-so-minor dig at **Shodan** skirted any Board rule I know of. **You** were crossing the line there, Mister Mod! IMO, but it’s not worth a Pit thread or anything. [shrug] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-al-gore-had-been-elected-president-in-2000/363367.md?page=2)