Campaign Trail Results: Game #1385661
Play The Campaign Trail
This Game:
- Year: 1896
- Player Candidate: William McKinley
- Running Mate: Garret Hobart
- Difficulty Level: Normal
- Winner Take All Mode?: Yes
- Game Played:
- EdwardNelson
View overall results, or a specific state:
| Candidate | Electoral Votes | Popular Votes | Pop. Vote % |
|---|---|---|---|
| ---- William McKinley | 245 | 6,754,577 | 48.60 |
| ---- William Jennings Bryan | 202 | 6,921,072 | 49.80 |
| ---- John Palmer | 0 | 222,368 | 1.60 |
Answers:
- Which of the following will be your primary campaign message?I am the candidate who brings the reasonable, tested ideas of sound money, protection, and prosperity. Bryan on the other hand will usher in radicalism and instability.
- What points do you wish to touch upon as you accept the Republican nomination? A written transcript will be transmitted to voters across the country.William Jennings Bryan makes an eloquent appeal to the heart. It's important for voters to realize that his solutions will not help our country.
- Bryan's nomination has electrified the western voter, and he is now planning to campaign on the rails, six days a week. Will you break precedent as well and make a speaking tour of the nation?There's no way I can compete with Bryan's oratorical talents. Instead, I will receive groups of visitors at my home in Canton, Ohio. We have the financing to pay for these visits, and anyone who shows up will receive a free sandwich while I deliver a speech.
- You have the support of the important newspapers, and they are willing to accept your guidance on the proper campaign message. What do you want them to print?I'm not comfortable coordinating my message with the press. I trust that they will find the right way to present a contrast between me and my opponent.
- The "lily-white" faction of the Republican Party claims that they can make your ticket competitive in some Southern states. Are you willing to make a statement of support?We have already promised patronage jobs to the black-and-tans for their support of my nomination. It will look bad all around if I go back on my word.
- The West Coast is a very competitive region. Can you make the case for Republican policies there, particularly in those places such as San Francisco which rely on foreign trade?Bryan is the type of do-gooder politician who would attempt to impose his own morality on this independent region.
- Some of the border states (Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky) are very close this year. Do you have a strategy to make these states jump to the Republican side?I will remind them that we support Cuban independence.
- Will you send campaigners to Nebraska, in an attempt to deliver an embarrassing defeat to Bryan, or should those resources be focused on South Dakota, Wyoming, and Iowa?That's not a good idea. Let's be realistic and devote our efforts to the states that matter.
- There is one week left until election day. Every state is important, but where will you give an extra push with what is left of your financial resources to educate the American voters?Our speakers should converge on Illinois from all directions. We need to blanket this state with advertising and with political parades.
- Can you state your definitive position on the American monetary system?I support the free, unlimited coinage of silver at a fixed price ratio of 16-to-1 against gold.
- What is your definitive position on the tariff issue?In limited areas where we have new industries forming, tariffs can be higher. They should be low on most products.
- The United States is in the midst of a financial calamity, with masses of unemployed men on the streets. What will you do to revive business in this country?We need to reaffirm our commitment to non-intervention in business affairs. Companies need stability before they will have the confidence to expand.
- Grover Cleveland sent federal troops to Illinois to end the Pullman Strike without the request of Governor Altgeld. Was this an overreach on his part?It's not the job of government to regulate labor disputes, but the fact of the matter is that these strikers were allowing no rail traffic to pass through Chicago whatsoever. Something needed to be done.
- What is your opinion on measures that would aim to restrict the sale or production of alcohol?Perhaps if our goal is to prevent drinking on Sunday, or public drunkenness, I am all for those measures. But a blanket temperance law is a different story.
- Grover Cleveland led the push to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1894. What are your thoughts on his actions during that period?I support the coinage of silver, and this action was a step in the wrong direction. It took money out of the system when we needed it the most, and is partly to blame for the depth of our current downturn.
- Do you think coinage of silver would have a positive effect on industrial workers? Or conversely, how would they benefit from the continuance of the gold standard?The gold standard will support a business recovery, and it will enhance the value of wages. At the end of the day, it is business that creates the jobs, and we must be sure that business is healthy again in America.
- What do you have to say about the efforts of the "Sugar Trust" to shield itself from the effects of the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act?My goal as President is to ensure that 100% of sugar consumed in the United States is made in the United States.
- What do you say to the notion that high tariffs hurt farmers?The answer here is obvious. High tariffs force farmers to purchase overpriced equipment and do nothing to increase crop prices.
- Should Confederate veterans be included in the federal Civil War pension system?There's just one problem with this idea -- Confederate veterans will never accept money from the Federal government. Since they deem this idea to be an exercise in humiliation, I am left with no choice but to oppose it myself.
- It has been alleged that opportunistic young women have married Union Army veterans for the sole purpose of exploiting the pension system. Do you consider this to be a form of corruption? Would you implement some standards that widows must meet before they can inherit these pensions?Have you seen some of these couples? I believe if a marriage was initiated after 1880, then the pension benefits should cease upon the death of the veteran.
- What is your position on the struggle for independence in Cuba?We extend our sympathies to the people of Cuba in their struggle for independence from Spain.
- In United States v. E.C. Knight and Co. the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government cannot regulate manufacturing monopolies under the Commerce Clause. Would you support an Amendment to the Constitution to overturn this ruling?I don't know if an Amendment is the best choice in this situation. As President I will appoint judges with a more reasonable view of the Constitution.
- Do you think that there should be federal oversight of the New York and Chicago trading markets?The New York Stock Exchange is a private company providing liquidity to other companies. The last thing our fragile economy needs is some hare-brained intervention in this process.
- Do you think that local jurisdictions should be allowed to use hanging or other forms of capital punishment for crimes?This is perfectly within the realm of acceptable punishment.
- Do you support greater regulation on the sale and labeling of opium, cocaine, and morphine when used in patent medicines?This isn't an issue we should be concerned about. Additional regulation of drugs and medicinal practice would undermine our national liberty.