43* When Gore Beat Bush by Jeff Greenfield

43* When Gore Beat Bush Reviews

• 
  Richard Derus

  Rating: 3.5* of five
  
  I'm always just a little disappointed in realistic alternative histories. "What?! The world *isn't* cat-free and religionless if {thing X} happens instead of reality? Boo! Hiss!"
  
  
  http://tinyurl.com/nxq24fm
  
  No one does an alternative Reality better than a political pundit. After all, punditry is by its nature counterfactual. Greenfield's Gore-wins essay makes it clear that nothing will ever be perfect in this worst of all possible worlds.
• 
  Tyler Riggs

  The premise of this book sounded interesting: What would have happened in America had Gore been declared the winner (we all know he actually did win, technically) of the 2000 election against George W. Bush.
  
  Greenfield does a respectable job of incorporating realistic events, actual quotes, and probable scenarios into how he plays out the time period between the 2000 Election and the ultimate events of the book in 2002. Even given the author's statement that there are potentially millions of possible "alternate universe" ways in which this story could have played out, the sequence of events the author selected were, for me, flawed in that what triggered the events was too minor, and the "butterfly effect" of consequences was too severe.
  
  For a quick read that was $1.99 on the Kindle, this was fine and minorly intriguing. I was hoping for much more, however.
• 
  Moira

  This is the wave of the future, these not-quite-novella-length ebooks? Not sure if I like them or not.
  
  The original setup (Gore doesn't lose Florida partly because Elian Gonzales' mother didn't die in the crossing) was interesting, but then it sorta went OFF THE RAILS, which is just about what happened in the bigger (actual book-sized) book of his alternate histories, which I got after reading this, which I suppose I was supposed to do. So basically this is sort of like a fictional ad for his not-a-novel. sigh.
  
  Greenfield's a funny and slick nonfiction writer, but his fiction is sort of thuddingly traditional.
• 
  Dan C.

  Jeff Greenfield wrote one of my favorite books of 2011, Then Everything Changed, which examined three different political alternate histories. I’m kind of a sucker for alternate history, but the problem is that it is so rarely done well. Then Everything Changed was so different. Meticulously researched, using actual quotes from the real history mixed in with completely imaginary events, Greenfield created three very plausible alternate late 20th century histories.
  
  In response to his book, he got a lot of mail asking him about other moments in history, but far and away the most asked about historical turning point people wanted him to write about was the razor-thin 2000 Presidential election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. What he came up with involved a decisive Gore win, a controversial foreign policy decision and a very different September 11, 2001. I wouldn’t dream of spoiling the book – the way it unspools is half the fun – but rest assured, political and late-20th-century history junkies will not be disappointed. It also doesn’t take the easy road by signing on to how much more wonderful everything would have been had we been spared a Bush presidency.
  
  43: When Gore Beat Bush is less a book and more a bonus chapter to Then Everything Changed, but I can hardly hold that against it. I wish Greenfield would write more of these because at 99 cents each – it’s a Kindle Single and also available in the Nook store – I would buy and read just about anything he would choose to write about.
• 
  Matt

  I always enjoy a little alternate history to keep my mind fresh and wondering 'what if'. Greenfield did a good job in this novella, examining one of the great 'what if' tales of the 21st century, but did not take the usual route to do so. He tackled the 2000 US Presidential Election less from the hanging chad perspective and more from an outright victory for Gore. This does, certainly, open up many more possibilities, ones that had not crossed my mind at the time or even until I read them on the page. I thoroughly enjoyed his alternate happening possibilities, based in factual accounts and 'could be' happenings. Well woven, for sure.
  
  While one can only go so far, I could see this novella being a full-fledged book, though the threads of history would surely unravel to the point that we, as readers, may not recognise things that continue on. A two year snapshot in this alternate world is enough to show just how maligned things could have been and how someone other than Dubya could have steered the US into another disastrous period of their history.
  
  Well done, Mr. Greenfield. I have some of your other work and may entertain myself with it in the near future.
  
• 
  R.E. Thomas

  Jeff Greenfield's short story "43*" isn't the only alternate history about what might have been if Al Gore had defeated George W. Bush in 2000, but it is in my opinion the best thought out. When he does a counterfactual, Greenfield has a knack for starting by making one small change that most people, if any, have not previously thought of as that important. In this instance, he presents a plausible scenario where Elian Gonzalez's mother survives her crossing from Cuba, defusing the crisis that polarized the Cuban-American community in Miami, thereby delivering Al Gore tens of thousands of extra votes in Florida.
  
  Greenfield is also very good at weaving real life considerations into his narrative. For example, Joe Lieberman essentially stabs Al Gore in the back after 9/11. Some commentators have found that harsh, and even accused Greenfield of having an axe to grind with Lieberman, but any observer who remembers the period should recall with perfect clarity that Lieberman campaigned only half-heartedly for Gore in 200, and then went on to betray the Democratic Party over supporting the Neo-Conservative foreign policy. Saying he would not do something like the same thing just because he was Vice President is blinkered or myopic.
  
  Twists like that, the automatic, hypocritical, opportunistic, and unflinching Republican intransigence to the Gore administration, and several others make the story an enjoyable short story. However, I suspect Greenfield's background as a journalist has led him to introduce too many "balancing" notes into the story, in order to make neither it or himself sound like a Gore partisan.
  
  An example is that early in his administration, Richard Clarke and Gore successfully circumvent bureaucratic resistance to arm Predators, years ahead of when this actually transpired. A Predator attack drone was then used to kill Osama bin Laden prior to 9/11. Having pushed hard to make that happen, he then bends over backwards to explain why the same thing could not have been done to prevent 9/11, grasping at Labor Day weekend and a string of coincidences to do it. I suspect he made a choice, and that choice was that to have Gore beat Al Qaeda so completely would come across as too partisan.
  
  Choices such as that one abound, so ultimately Al Gore cannot catch a break, no matter what he does. By the end of the story, he looks to be sailing towards a fierce primary challenge in 2004 from Hillary Clinton, and in all likelihood winding up a one-term president. Of course, all of that assumes (as Greenfield did) that Gore would simply roll over and ineffectually take it. The man who successfully turned American opinions on climate change around with a single documentary is completely absent from the analysis.
  
  Any counterfactual scenario is ultimately about choices, and it is easy to come in and second guess the choices made. With that in mind, I happily give 43* a four-star rating, and would tell any political nerd that it is a light, easy read that is hard on facts, good on analysis, and overtly fair to everyone concerned. Therein lies the reason it is not a five-star story, however. Real life is seldom fair.
• 
  Sandi Layne

  This story was, in essence, "fan fiction" - of history. A "What if?" story played out to a certain point before stopping. The premise is that Gore, not George W. Bush, won the 2000 election, and the events of September 11, 2001, played out as they did - but with a couple of significant changes. So as not to give away spoilers, I won't say what these changes are, but they stem from a possible action or two that might have resulted from Gore's policy choices.
  
  The author, Jeff Greenfield, freely admits that this is just a string of ideas based upon his observations and some interviews he conducted, but they play out plausibly.
  
  This was not a deep or meaningful book or analysis. Do I recommend it? Only for people who really do enjoy the alternatives in different events. And I pretty much guarantee that if you buy it, you'll find things that will strike you as wrong about it. Because it didn't really happen.
  
  So...meh. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.
  
• 
  John Brumbaugh

  I initially picked this up because I couldn't think of anything else to read, and when that happens I try to pick up Kindle singles since I know I will be done with them rather quickly.
  
  I read this while on an airplane, and that is exactly what this was an airplane book / longform magazine article. A decent, but not great look into the fantasy of what would have happened had Al Gore defeated George W Bush in the 2000 Presidential Election. The interesting thing to me was just how it read could definitely have plausibly happened, but I felt like a few too many guesses were made. Of course, this is fiction and no one knows what would have occurred. But I still thought the best part of this was how he tied in the Elian Gonzalez thing into whether or not Gore was elected and stayed away from the Florida vote count.
• 
  Cheryl Killingsworth

  Interesting What If. And the content itself, although conjecture with historical facts to stay on subject, is so poorly written! Jeff Greenfield was so articulate on CNN whether you agreed with him or not. I can only assume his editor was his golfing buddy's 12 year old son who gets C- in English, grammar, and prose. It is short so you aren't spending days on it and the 'what if' is compelling and telling from a factual point of view. Unless you don't have anything else better......
• 
  Laura

  Just stayed up most of the night finishing this! A gripping and very plausible alternate history. A must for political junkies. (Oh, and there was a minor plot development that seemed to be taken out of "The West Wing"!)
  
  I also really liked Greenfield's "The People's Choice"; I'll have to make a point of reading more of his books.
• 
  David Finger

  An interesting alternate history that felt plausible
  
  With a realistic and plausible point of diversion, 43 envisions a fascinating world where Al Gore edges George Bush in Florida and, like Bush, faces one of America’s darkest days as president. A Gore presidency faces a different national mood over his response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and readers are left to wonder if Gore’s presidency would, in this alternative universe, be viewed as a failure. But the personalities feel accurate and real, and the overall feel of the book is effective and entertaining. Certainly worth checking out for any political junkie or any fan of alternate history.
• 
  Richard Sansing

  Short speculative story on the first 18 months or so of a Gore presidency if Gore had won in 2001. Not as good as "Then Everything Changed." Greenfield is at his best when speculating about nomination contests and presidential elections.
• 
  Teri

  I didn't care much for Jeff Greenfield's 43*:When Gore Beat Bush - A Political Fable. I realized it was a complete work of fiction, but wish the author had put the afterward, or at least parts of it, at the began, as a preface. I didn't agree that things might work out the way the author presented it and wondered if he had any notes to back up his theory of the potential play out had Gore beat Bush. Several things, he felt would have played out the same as Bush. I disagree. Would have liked for him to touch on how energy and global warming topics might have played out more, rather than to completely focus on Al Qaeda and 9/11.
• 
  Joshua Spencer

  Greenfield explores what may have happened in the first few years of the millennium had Gore been president. The main differences are that he would have likely targeted and killed bin Laden prior to the 9/11 attacks, and in the wake of 9/11 Gore would probably have attempted to keep the USA from a protracted operation in Afghanistan and from invading Iraq. Because it's framed as a narrative there's not that much content, and of course it's all speculative. It would've made for a much more interesting essay.
• 
  Brendan M.

  Jeff Greenfield's style is clear, concise, and has all the hallmarks of good political reporting. As with his previous title, "Then Everything Changed," this alternate history one-off is great when discussing the geo-political and iffy when talking about the cultural. His concept of what could have happened to lead to an even more horrifying 9/11 during a Gore administration is intense, but his description of the Bruce Springsteen song that followed is...less so.
• 
  David

  In this "what if", Gore beats Bush, takes out bin Ladan but does not prevent 9/11. Along the way the Republican House, tied Senate and ambivalent VP Lieberman stop all legislative progress. Iraq remains the evil doer. Greenfield must have read Stephen King's "1963" because King writes that time is sticky (or something close to that) - no matter how hard we try, what happened will happen. This is a quick read Kindle Single speculation - take for what it is worth.
• 
  Kerry

  I enjoy Jeff Greenfield's newspaper work but the prose here seems pretty stilted. Perhaps too much explanation and telling and not enough showing for a novel. It lost quite a bit for that for me.
  
  I guess the basic takeaway from this book is that the more things change, the less they actually change. The inertia and vested interests in DC are not very easily changed and things keep merrily ploughing along the way they always have.
• 
  Jim Kelsh

  This is my first e book.
  
  I like Jeff Greenfield's work and this is pretty good.
  It's a what if treatise...what if Al Gore won in 2000.
  Greenfield suggests a couple of tweaks to the national narrative that push the election to Gore's column. This what if scenerios proceeds in an interesting and kind of plausible path.
  Lots of fun and it's good to revisit Greenfield's take on the world.
• 
  Mike

  This is more like an additional chapter to Greenfield’s 2011 book Then Everything Changed than a stand-alone book. Greenfield does an acceptable job integrating real life events into a believable alternate history. When I read these books, I do wonder what the real life characters think about it when the author kills them off or involves then in a scandal.
  
  
• 
  Kieran

  I always enjoy Jeff Greenfield's counterfactual histories, and this was no exception.
  
  But, I thought it was unnecessarily harsh to make 9/11 even worse for Al Gore. This was a catastrophe which would have shaken any presidency, Bush, Gore, anybody. But to make it even worse, and change it so Gore was deprived of a 'rally around the flag' effect, seemed to me to be a step too far.
• 
  Ray

  
  
  mildly entertaining, though a bit a stretch in its twist. I bought this as a lark at super discount and by that standard it was fine. not sure I would have liked it as much had I paid more. but a good book to take a chance with if you're into politics or speculative fiction.
• 
  Don

  This was a fascinating alternate history story that focused largely on how a President Gore would have handled the circumstances surrounding and following 9-11. It was a quick read that definitely kept my attention. I highly recommend it!
• 
  Fred

  An interesting story about what could have been. Some might disagree with it, but it makes for fun reading. If you re a political and/or history junkie, give this a try!
• 
  Rob

  Not as good as his previous imaginings about recent American political history.
• 
  Linda Keiles

  Short, interesting slice of "what if". Great discussion starter...
• 
  Dannel Stanley

  what drivel, I want my 45 mins back from reading this.
• 
  Russ Skinner

  Not nearly as good as it could have been. In some cases, just a chance to get off gratuitous swipes at what has actually transpired since.
• 
  Allyson

  Interesting twist-a sort of choose your own adventure for adults. A politically balanced narrative of what might have happened if Gore had been President on 9/11.
• 
  Gary Anthony

  Interesting, but I wouldn't call it good. Seems half finished, and the ending is abrupt, unclear, and unsatisfying.
• 
  SweetPea

  2 1/2 stars. Not as well written as it should have been but raised some interesting ideas of what might have (or not) changed if Gore had been the president instead of Bush.