Would things be better now under Al Gore?

[monsoon]

I think by almost any measure, the United States is much worse off now than it was when GW Bush took office in the 2000 controversial election. The election where he lost the popular vote and where Al Gore was forced to concede when the Supreme CT. ruled to stop the Florida election recount. Bush got a reprieve however in 2004 when Americans clearly voted to return him for 4 more years.

Now 8 years later the United States has taken on debt that will substantially reduce the standard of living of the next couple of generations, we are bogged down in two very expensive wars with no plans to get out, the rest of the world is either scared of us or pities us, we have lost some of our constitution rights in a play on fear, 10s of millions have lost good paying jobs forever, and now we are told by this President that our economy faces a total meltdown. This from someone who as insisted up to about 2 weeks ago that our economy was sound.

And look at what has happened to our cities. There are two metro areas that have been destroyed by storms and we are unable to fix them. The lack of investment in infrastructure now means that 1 hurricane, can cut off energy supplies to 1/3 of the country. Investment in infrastructure has disappeared. And finally investment in high tech transit has is all but non-existant. Since Bush took office just 4 cities have built light rail and one of those was done with no federal funding, and these systems had to be purchased from foreign manufacturers. It's a disgrace when compared to the rest of the industrial world as the United States has fallen another decade behind when one considers the transit initiatives that existed in 2001 which were canceled by the Bush administration.

IMO, it is a complete and total failure of leadership that is supposed to be there for the people. So my question is this, would things have been better if Al Gore had taken office in 2000 instead of GW Bush? Are there any defenses for GW Bush?

[Neo]

We'll never know for sure, but I have a hunch we would be in a much better position than we are currently under the Bush administration. I'm a big advocate of environmentally friendly actions and I have no doubt that Al Gore would have succeeded in that regard more than any President we've ever had. I'm glad that he's pushing that initiative privately, but had he pushed it while being President we could have seen some great change come to America and the world.

[Gard]

Definitely better. I personally liked Gore and his ideas & I would bet we would even be much further along with alternative energy than we are, given his large concern for the environment. We may have been able to shrug our shoulders at out of control oil prices as not being an issue because we use different fuels. Also, it can't be any worse than the Bush administration.

[suburban george3]

I think things would be much better had Gore won in '00. I think he would have pushed environmental issues and we would have continued prosperity from the Clinton years.

[atlrvr]

Who knows...when you throw in a "what if", there are so many variables.....certainly without having control of both the House and Senate until 2007, he would have been severly limited in what he could have accomplished on the environmental front. He would have also had to deal with 9/11 and the insistence of the joint chiefs that Iraq was a credible threat.

He may have had good intentions, but who knows if he would have been able to act upon it, or if he would have handled foreign relations better than Bush. Remember, he was one of only a few Democrats that supported George Bush the First in the original Gulf War.

[Charlotteman]

Al Gore brings me great pride....he's a good reason to take pride in being an American. Al is a visionary, an intellectual, and a citizen of the world who has done much good in his life.

George W. Bush brings me shame. As many many people have said, when they go abroad they constantly have to apologize for Bush. If I went to Europe, I might even avoid mentioning I'm American. I would hate to think someone would associate me with such a horrible person.

[Gard]

George W. Bush brings me shame. As many many people have said, when they go abroad they constantly have to apologize for Bush. If I went to Europe, I might even avoid mentioning I'm American. I would hate to think someone would associate me with such a horrible person.

[dxartist]

we'll never know for sure. Too many variables. But it's more than likely the military would never have gone to Iraq, we would probably be a greener world, the rest of the world wouldn't hate us (as much), and I could go on. As for the current financial crisis, it wouldn't matter who the president is/was. Be it George W. or Environmental Al. I wouldn't blame any president for the mortgage crisis and housing crash. I blame on the Democrats'.

[Southron]

^ One of the major factors that led to the financial crisis is the massive increase in federal debt caused by Bush's gargantuan budget deficits. Clinton left office with the budget in surplus, but Bush and the GOP Congress put us back deeply in the red with these historic deficits. That would not have happened in a Gore Administration.