OK, here's a thought. What if the GWB campaign was just a dry run? What if his supporters also expected that Gore was a runaway sure thing since they couldn't be sure that all their manipulations of the votes would work? What if the plan was to set the ground work for younger brother Jeb, who is, after all one of the subscribers to the Project for a New American Century? What if the reason things are in such a muddle is because the neocons weren't actually prepared to govern?
Could we conclude that we are actually lucky? That it's a good thing the only places that got attacked were Afghanistan and Iraq, countries that the rest of the powerful nations didn't really care about? Think about it? What if Jeb Bush, who's actually got all his marbles, were now vying for the Presidency against a chief executive weakened by the gradual eviceration, "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" perfected during the Clinton administration?
Who would be rising up to give Gore courage? Certainly not Dean. Where would be the impetus for a renewal of the democracy? Certainly not with Dean?
Can we say that we are lucky, considering what might have been?