A Maverick in the Oval: McCain Presidency 2000.

Westbrook

The presenter's voice boomed out into the chilly air, echoing over the facades of the Capitol:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the 43rd President of the United States of America, John McCain!"

As McCain stepped out into the cold air of January, the assembled crowd roared. McCain, his famous grin firmly in place, thrust his arm into the air as high as he could, and waved to the crowd. The crowd cheered. Even at such an historic occasion, even through all the events of the past years, they still loved him, this Independent Republican from Arizona, and the crowd-Indeed, America as a whole-was sad to see him go.

As McCain settled into his seat, his wife Cindy by his side, to watch his successor's history-making swearing-in, his thoughts wandered. They moved past his 8 years in office, back to how his rise to the Presidency began, in a hotel room in South Carolina…..
 

Paul V McNutt

Banned
I am undecided on whether or not McCain will go to war with Iraq. Saddam never tried to kill his father but he had the same neo con advisors that worked for George W Bush.
 

Strategos' Risk

Some ideas for you! http://johnreilly.info/mccain.htm

Emboldened by the personal popularity which these successes accorded him, President McCain made one of the most daring moves in American political history: he ran for reelection as an independent. To some extent, this move was forced on him: the Republican Party had broken up. The president politely accepted the nomination of the convention with the greatest claim to institutional continuity, but he appeared on most ballots as the nominee of the “Rally for the Republic,” essentially a privately organized network of publicists, financial backers, and key constituency groups. The disintegration of the parties at the national level was a foreseeable instance of the general trend toward “disintermediation” between producers and consumers in all areas of life. In 2004, his principal opponent in the general election was still a “Democrat,” though the nature of that group had changed profoundly since 1992. Thereafter, the movement toward increasingly personalized politics seemed irresistible.
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McCain/Lieberman zombie Bull Moose run in alt-2004.
 

Atlantic Friend

Who would be his VP? Dick Cheney exerted a lot of influence over W, and part of it can be traced back to age difference and Cheney's association with GHWB.
 

Xen

Banned
I have doubts we would have gone into Iraq, that seems to be more of a Bush family vandetta than anything. We could have stiffened our rhetoric against North Korea with Dear Leader provoking a war. China is highly unlikely to interfere in this war and North Korea would be overrun but with massive US military and South Korean civilain casualties.

Russian-US relations are likely to fall to near Cold War levels, with McCain having a personal loathing for Putin.

US-Cuban relations are going to improve and the US is likely to open its embassy in Havana up for the first time since Ike. Normalization of relations will continue to move forward, perhaps even with American tourists coming to the island in droves with Royal Caribbean and Carnival cruise ships docking in Havana.:eek:
 

Westbrook

I've got my own ideas, but I'd like to hear your thoughts. Who would a President McCain appoint to the Supreme Court?
 

CaptainAmerica

I believe Patrick Fitzgarald would be an interesting possible Pick... He is young, moderate but leaning Conservative and he is willing to take on corrupt officals from both Parties...
 

mikegold

Possible VP's:

George W. Bush: Despite ideological and personal tensions, tickets uniting primary rivals (Kennedy-Johnson, Reagan-Bush) are often quite powerful. In OTL 2000, a Bush-McCain ticket was widely discussed.

Joe Lieberman: If the election was thrown to Congress, Al Gore would have cast the deciding vote in the Senate. Ironically, as a close friend and ideological soulmate of McCain, this is one his better possible VP's.

Tom Ridge: Moderate governor of Pennsylvania.

Tommy Thompson: Moderate governor of Wisconsin.

Christie Todd Whitman: Moderate, female governor of New Jersey.

Phil Gramm: A close friend of McCain, and a Texan - ameliorating the hurt feeling among Bush supporters.

Arlen Specter: Moderate, Jewish senator from Pennsylvania. Fairly old though.

Colin Powell: Moderate, widely respected, African American military man. Problem is that his wife opposed his ever seeking national office.

Lamar Alexander: Moderate former governor of Tennessee who had made his name in the 1996 primaries. A Southerner like Bush, and a chance to deprive Gore of his home state.

Ben Nighthorse Campbell: Moderate, Native American senator from Colorado. Unfortunately, as a moderate Westerner he's probably too much like McCain.

Rudy Giuliani: Highly successful, moderate mayor of New York City. The man who "cleaned up" new York has appeal among those of New York origin in swing-ish states like Connecticut, New Jersey, and Florida. Not worshiped as he was post-9/11, of course, but past the immediate afterglow 9/11 was always a double-edged sword for him. Cons - the messy breakup with Donna Hanover, his prostate cancer, and his hedging on the NY Senate race. Probably unsurmountable cons, really.

Jeb Bush: Respected, fairly conservative governor of the critical state of Florida. In all honesty, though, McCain can't possibly pick Jeb instead of George, and if he did Jeb would have to refuse.

Elizabeth Dole: Female, Southern, wife of the widely respected Bob Dole with an impressive career of her own. Briefly participated in the 2000 Republican primaries.

Alan Keyes: Laugh if you want, back in 2000 a lot of mainstream Republicans respected him. African-American, much more conservative than McCain, and a participant in the 2000 Republican primaries. Bad choice with hindsight, yes, but Palin shows McCain's penchant for impulse picks.
 
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Super_Cool

McCain hated the Religious Right and publicly attacked them in 2000. With him at the helm of the GOP, I wonder if the crazies would run to the Democrats.

McCain might have also started rappraochment with Cuba, because he rightfully thinks the embargo is stupid, exspecially after we normalized relations with Vietnam. Also, Iran wished to normalize relations with the US in OTL but Bush didn't take the bait. I think McCain goes for it and we have a "McCain in Iran" moment.

Basically, a better world, McCain being remembered as a decent president.
 

historybuff

@ HJ Tolp: Oops, my bad. Hmmm, how about for VP Tom Ridge. For Defence and State, no idea. For Treasury, stuck on that too.
 

mikegold

President: John McCain
VP: Tom Ridge
State: Howard Baker
Def: Colin Powell
Treasury: Phil Gramm
A-G: Ted Olson

I know Baker is the wild card in there, but he was an elder statesmen who OTL served as W's ambassador to Japan. Probably to old for the role of State, but it's a neat idea.

BTW Olson is a very possible Supreme Court pick. He was on W's short list as well.
 

mikegold

historybuff said:
@Mikegold: great choices. Howard Baker at state's interesting.
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Well, McCain's closest inspiration on foreign affairs is Kissinger - who is definitely too old to return to state. But the younger generation seen as Kissinger's disciples are people like Scowcroft and Eagleburger, who are a lot more "realist" and hesitant to use force than McCain or, really, Kissinger himeself.

I'm not really sure who fits this role best in 2000 - Richard Armitage, maybe, though he was closely tied to W.
 

Westbrook

How would McCain as the nominee affect the 2000 election on the downstream tickets-Senate, House? Would he have increased or decreased the lead?

And the next segment will be up soon.
 

mikegold

McCain might help the GOP in Congress... Gore seemed determined to loose that election, and the late-breaking news of W's DWI as well as W's foolish decision to spend part of the final week in California helped squander a significant lead. McCain also was more viable to moderate voters (though less likely to turn out evangelicals) and would outperform W at the debates.

However, McCain did have a temper, and the lesser turnout from the base might hurt. In the end, an election is just too unpredictable to forecast with any certainty. But I think it's very plausible that the GOP would do better under McCain.
 

CaptainAmerica

I think that Christie Tood Whitman would be a more interesting pick for Vice President and it helps McCain with the Female vote

Call me crazy but would not a George W. Bush as Secratery of State be interesting... It could be given as a reward for Bush campiagning to get the Christian Right to support McCain
 

CaptainAmerica

I would argue for Treasury Secreatary being Mitch Daniels not only was he a former Reagen staffer dealing with the Treasury but he served Senator Lugar, a moderate and I believe friend of McCain and lastly he had Business Experiance

I also believe McCain would have his cabinat composed of a mixture of old friends and young Republican Moderates, who McCain would attempt to mold into the future of the Republican Party
 
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