Him and Spade, ya know.
Elizabeth Dole had served under every Republican president from 1968 onward except GW Bush, including as Secretary of Transportation and Secretary of Labor. She was a sitting senator at the time McCain made his running mate pick in the OTL, and she had recently served as the Chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Furthermore, she had been a serious contender for the 2000 Republican nomination very early in the race, with polls placing her in either second or third place, and was on the shortlist for Bush's vice presidential nomination. She was considered solidly conservative, even more so than her famous husband. She also had a JD from Harvard, to boot.
In short, it seems to me that, with Dole, McCain could have brought about the same historic first of a woman Republican vice presidential nominee that he made happen with Sarah Palin in the OTL, except with someone who was actually unambiguously qualified to serve as VP. With Dole, McCain's criticism of Obama's relative lack of experience would have seemed much more sincere than it did with Sarah Palin, who had even less relevant experience than Obama.
So, would Dole have been a good choice for McCain? How would things have gone differently with her instead of Sarah Palin? Might the Tea Party movement have been weaker without Palin's arrival on the national stage?
Let's assume that Bush still wins out over Gore by a razor thin margin and the 9/11 attacks still happen. The 2004 election is still up for grabs though.
