If you had been in George W Bush's shoes in January of 2001...?

[kentuck]

What would you have done to "unite" the country? Knowing that you were sitting in the WH because there was a "friendly" Supreme Court decision and that you had actually lost the popular vote to your opponent? Knowing also that many people were very angry and untrusting of their government after the Supreme Court decision? What would you have done differently from George W Bush? What actions could you have done to show the people that you were going to be a president for all the people and not just some special interests?

[SadEagle]

1. I'd start a bit before that,

with a selection of Al Gore for Secretary of State, and a considerable number of Democrats for the cabinet, trying to make it 50-50...

[solinvictus]

4. I agree

I'd have tried, as much as partisanship would allow, to create what would amount to a coalition government. I'd have balanced my cabinet 50/50 with both parties and appealed to the legislature to try to place America's national interest over partisanship. Then, I would start dodging the gunshots that would come from my corporate sponsors' hired assassins.

[kanrok]

2. I would have stepped down

I would have gone on TV and said: "ya know, Gore actualy won this thing...I cannot tell a lie. I quit."

[Devlzown]

5. Yep.

Me too.

[Cleita]

8. That would have been what a man of honor would have done.

eom

[GregorStocks]

3. Step one: buy a gun.

Step two: Complete this step.
Step three: Attempt to attend my own funeral.

[meti57b]

6. can you imagine this guy jumping up and down, saying ....

'last week, I couldn't even spell "prezadunt" and today I are one.'

[unblock]

7. well, 50-50 cabinets wouldn't work.

leaks happen, and with a 50-50 cabinet, fault lines would create naturally and leaks would create ruptures.

bush did keep mineta (transportation) on board, so there was a token democrat. maybe so they wouldn't have a republican in that position to catch blame for 9/11. :tinfoilhat:


anyway, it's not people, it's policy. the key to gaining genuine credibility as a bipartisan president is to actually reach into the other party's agenda and pull out something worthwhile. bush pretended to do this in texas (he proudly put his name on bills and loudly touted victories when his own vetos were overridden).

but what's been so partisan about this administration is both the single-minded pursuit of extreme republican agenda and the virulent attacks on any hint of disagreement.

the best the offer is to pry away a few votes from the most conservative of democrats.

this is NOT the stuff of bipartisanship.

[manfriend]

9. He kept the CIA director

Bush kept Clinton's CIA chief as well.

[Lisa]

10. even before then ...

As soon as the election was deadlocked, I would have sat down with my opponent and had a good long talk about what we would do, "for the sake of the country".

There would be a joint TV appearance the next day, where we would announce that there would be recounts. I would also ask my brother to recuse himself from politicking in Florida, and my opponent and I would a) ask the US Supreme Court to advise us on procedures to allow the current President to remain in office past Jan 20th 2001, if necessary; and b) call for an independent inquiry into the goings-on in Florida, with a revote if necessary.


Whatever the outcome, the result would be a mixed Cabinet (with the runner-up probably being offered a post). It would be a new kind of government ... no month-long vacations for me, I would be spending weekends going around to various places trying to reassure my constituents that I wasn't trying to break up the country.