History VideoGame / W

* TotallyRadical: If Wesley Clark is the Democratic nominee, Bush can attempt to reach out the anti-war youth who dislike Clark's jingoistic rhetoric. This results in a very awkward scene of Bush trying to orient himself among the young fans of a rock concert in Seattle and even getting a hug from a bystanding {{Emo}} girl, much to the horror of his security detail.

* StillWearingTheOldClothes: In Byrd's [[spoiler: Iran war]] ending, a pro-Rumsfeld Republican hit piece argues that Byrd's seeming unwilligness to confront the Islamic terrorism and protect American security abroad can be understood by viewing him as a resentful Lost Causer who is attempting to arrange the return of the Confederate States of America. The ending is accompanied with a photo of Byrd playing a Confederate officer in ''Film/GodsAndGenerals''.

** In the ending where Bush loses ''all 50 states'' against Gephardt and Ventura, [[spoiler: he suffers a humiliation of historic proportions that leaves a permanent stain on the reputation of his family and all his close associates. However, [[HeroicBSoD being disillusioned by the sheer absurdity of his failure]] and having nothing to lose anymore, George, for once, finds inner strength to defy Poppy's expectations and continue living as his own man, free of his father's oppressive shadow]].

* ResignInProtest: If Bush doesn't invade Afghanistan and either blocks or fails to get congress to vote for invading Iraq, an embittered Dick Cheney resigns his Vice Presidential office in disappointment and is replaced by Bill Frist. The same goes for Paul Wolfowitz and Ari Fleischer,

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: [[spoiler: While Bush is capable of crushing most of his opponents by a comfortable margin with a good combination of choices, facing Robert Byrd gives him the opportunity of achieving one of the biggest landslides in The Campaign Trail's history. A combination of Byrd's unpopularity due to his past as a KKK member, anti-war tendencies and advanced age can allow Bush to win not only the fifty states, but also the heavily blue city of Washington D.C as well. Doing this would make him the first president since George Washington to win every single electoral vote.]]

** Some of the Democratic nominees are noted as such, either in-game or [[WordOfGod supplementary material]]. Wellstone takes the world by total surprise with his win, Sharpton wins unexpectedly because all other major candidates sat the race out, and Byrd wins due to his only major opponent being the jingoistic Clark.

* DoNotGoGentle: Byrd is an old man who's voter "base" more accurately resembles a house of cards, and as such Bush's weakest opponent. All that doesn't stop Byrd from going across the country and delivering rapturous speeches to enthusiastic audiences about Bush's misdeeds à la Truman. This arguably doubles as VillainousValor, and [[spoiler: foreshadows how intelligent Byrd actually is beneath all his odd quirks and signs of senility if he somehow gets a hold on power]].

* GeneralRipper: Wesley Clark is a retired general and an ultra-hawkish presidential candidate who attacks Bush for being too soft on the growing Axis of Evil between China, Russia, and Iran. [[spoiler:He is also the only other President who can launch a WorldWar3, if he enters the office after Bush escalates tensions with both Russia and China amidst the high jingoist mood. Fittingly enough, his World War 3 achievement icon is a photo of the actual [[Film/DrStrangelove General Jack D. Ripper]]]] during his infamous MotiveRant.

* ResignInProtest: If Bush doesn't invade Afghanistan and either blocks or fails to get congress to vote for invading Iraq, an embittered Dick Cheney resigns his Vice Presidential office in disappointment and is replaced by Bill Frist.

* DoNotGoGentle: Byrd is an old man who's voter "base" more accurately resembles a house of cards, and as such Bush's weakest opponent. All that doesn't stop Byrd from going across the country and delivering rapturous speeches to enthusiastic audiences about Bush's misdeeds à la Truman. This arguably doubles as VillainousValor, and [[spoiler: foreshadows what how intelligent Byrd actually is beneath all the odd quirks and signs of senility if he somehow gets a hold on power]].

* DoNotGoGentle: Byrd is an old man who's voter "base" more accurately resembles a house of cards, and as such Bush's weakest opponent. All that doesn't stop Byrd from going across the country and delivering rapturous speeches to enthusiastic audiences about Bush's misdeeds à la Truman. This arguably doubles as VillainousValor, and [[spoiler: [[Foreshadowing foreshadows]] what [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass how intelligent Byrd actually is]] beneath all the odd quirks and signs of senility if he somehow gets a hold on power]].

* DarkHorseVictory: [[spoiler: Wrestling/JesseVentura can deadlock a close race between Bush and Gephardt if he wins in Minnesota and Alaska and thus deprives both candidates of the needed 270 electoral votes to win. If this happens after Bush maintained good enough relations with the Congress, Ventura can be unexpectedly elevated to the Presidency in the aftermath of the constitutional crisis and Bush's failed attempt to reclaim his office from Gephardt]].

'''''W.'' '''(pronounced "Dubya") is a [[GameMod Game Mod ]]for the browser game ''[[VideoGame/TheCampaignTrail The New Campaign Trail]]. ''In it, you play as [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush George W. Bush]], 43rd President of the United States of America, in an alternative timeline in which the [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror September 11 Attacks and the subsequent War on Terror]] never took place. Consequently, Bush never benefits from a popularity boost from its fallout, and finds himself in a difficult position as he emerges bruised and battered from the 2002 midterm elections. From there, you will need to maneuver in the next two years, to push your agenda through, choose whether to pursue war or peace abroad, and secure your re-election at home. It can be played [[https://campaigntrailshowcase.com/campaign-trail/?modName=2004%20-%20W]] on the ''Campaign Trail Showcase'' site.

'''''W.'' '''(pronounced "Dubya") is a [[GameMod Game Mod ]]for the browser game ''[[VideoGame/TheCampaignTrail The New Campaign Trail]]. ''In it, you play as [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush George W. Bush]], 43rd President of the United States of America, in an alternative timeline in which the [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror September 11 Attacks and the subsequent War on Terror]] never took place. Consequently, Bush never benefits from a popularity boost from its fallout, and finds himself in a difficult position as he emerges bruised and battered from the 2002 midterm elections. From there, you will need to maneuver in the next two years, to push your agenda through, choose whether to pursue war or peace abroad, and secure your re-election at home. It can be played [[https://campaign-trail-showcase.github.io/campaign-trail/index.html?modName=2004%20-%20W here]] on the ''Campaign Trail Showcase'' site.

** In one of the endings if Bush drops Cheney, it's stated that this is still the case. Despite not even being VP anymore, Cheney continues to run the admin, kicking Bush out of his own office and keeping him entirely out of the loop. May be subverted since this ending is likely intended to be satirical exaggeration and probably doesn't represent real events.

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: It's impossible to successfully pass Social Security reform, Bush's tax cuts, ''and'' the [=AUMF=]. The prompts to make a decision on whether or not to support the relevant bill, and if so, how, come in that order, and the penalties of failure grow increasingly high; this means that if you manage to ride a Bushite high all the way until the [=AUMF=], a lot of your progress will be set back very quickly.

[[caption-width-right:1000:''[[Music/APerfectCircle Don't fret precious I'm here...]]'']]

* BittersweetEnding: In many endings, Bush achieves reelection, partly securing his legacy as more than a lame duck, but he still doesn't get the approval of his domineering father, [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush George H. W. Bush]], leaving him to feel empty inside as he goes to greet the ecstatic crowds.

* OddFriendship: The ending slide for Paul Wellstone defeating Bush with an ongoing war in Afghanistan depicts [[spoiler: an unusually close relationship between President Wellstone (a left-wing academic and anti-war activist from the Sixties) and David Petraeus (a long-serving US Army general) as they together develop a new United States counterinsurgency doctrine that would shift its focus to low-intensity conflicts and psychological warfare]].

->''"Then, with Laura at his side, he stepped out onto the stage before blinding stage lights. He could not see the crowd in front of him but he could hear their voices."''

* {{Retraux}}: The mod's interface is made to resemble the websites of early 2000s, with cheesy pop up ads adding to the nostalgic feel of the Bush-era Internet.

* DarkhorseVictory: [[spoiler: Wrestling/JesseVentura can deadlock a close race between Bush and Gephardt if he wins in Minnesota and Alaska and thus deprives both candidates of the needed 270 electoral votes to win. If this happens after Bush maintained good enough relations with the Congress, Ventura can be unexpectedly elevated to the Presidency in the aftermath of the constitutional crisis and Bush's failed attempt to reclaim his office from Gephardt]].