Campaign Trail Results: Game #1455807
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This Game:
- Year: 1896
- Player Candidate: William McKinley
- Running Mate: Lyman Gage
- Difficulty Level: Impossible
- Winner Take All Mode?: Yes
- Game Played:
View overall results, or a specific state:
| Candidate | Electoral Votes | Popular Votes | Pop. Vote % |
|---|---|---|---|
| ---- William McKinley | 280 | 6,993,837 | 50.65 |
| ---- William Jennings Bryan | 167 | 6,662,920 | 48.26 |
| ---- John Palmer | 0 | 150,629 | 1.09 |
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.I appreciate the faith of the American people and consult always with the Lord before I make my decisions. I will run a moderate, sensible agenda that appeals to the broad majority.
- 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?The big newspapers should remind the voters that I represent a return to prosperity after the Democratic disaster of the previous four years. They should be paying as little attention to Bryan as possible.
- Bryan's reputation amongst industrial workers is actually suspect (he is often perceived as being too pro-farmer and too evangelical). Do you have any plans to win this traditionally Democratic block of voters?Let's remind the immigrant populations that Bryan is a religious fanatic who opposes the sale of alcohol.
- 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're certainly not winning any states down there with the strategy we have now. It's time for us to accept reality and become a whites-only party in the South.
- Your surrogates have taken to reminding some workers that factories and railroads will certainly be forced to close if a radical like Bryan takes office. Do you encourage such tactics?Well... all I can say is that they're correct. Bryan's policies would continue the disaster we have suffered under Grover Cleveland.
- 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?Much of California's livelihood comes from gold mining. I reject any call to undermine gold through the free coinage of silver.
- 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?There is a burgeoning textile industry in the Upper South. Their success depends on cheap cotton, protection, and an absence of destabilizing labor issues.
- 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?We are running a 45-state strategy. I want our victory and repudiation of the silver Democrats to be as large as possible.
- There is talk of Bryan and John Altgeld appearing together in Chicago today. Does this place Bryan on the political fringe?Bryan was already at the fringe, so this appearance makes perfect sense. Let's hope that Altgeld also loses in November.
- 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?Let's continue to focus on the Midwest. Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, etc.
- Can you state your definitive position on the American monetary system?I support a strict adherence to the gold standard, which is fundamental to American prosperity.
- What is your definitive position on the tariff issue?We need high tariffs on a variety of products and commodities to stimulate American manufacturing.
- 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?I can't stress this enough. The most important thing we can do right now is increase our tariffs to protect American business.
- 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.
- Does the success of the tin-plate industry within the U.S. prove that protectionism stimulates industry?There is nothing I'm more proud of from my time in Congress than creating the conditions that allowed for a booming tin industry to flourish within our borders.
- Should Confederate veterans be included in the federal Civil War pension system?I will not support a program that delivers pension funds to the very men who rebelled against our Constitution. I hope this is the last time I ever have to answer this question.
- What is your position on the struggle for independence in Cuba?As President, I will do whatever it takes to defend the sovereignty of the Cuban people from the tyrants of Spain. America remains resolute in the principles of the Monroe Doctrine.
- Should there be some regulation of working hours for children, particularly those under the age of 12 or 13?I believe this is warranted in the industrial trades. Let us not forget that all hands are needed on the farm, not least of all in this day and age.
- Would you support a program to compensate workers who are injured on the job? Is this a proper responsibility of the federal government?This is more properly a state responsibility. It is outside the scope of the federal government to regulate working conditions in this manner.
- Some labor leaders have called for regulation standardizing a ten or even an eight hour workday. Do you support these calls?I do not see the authority for regulating this under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. This is something that individual states would need to investigate.
- Do you believe that America has a duty to civilize the lesser nations of the earth?This isn't something that we should be making an active effort to do. There are enough problems within our own country for us to worry about the state of civilization in some far-off, primitive land.
- What is your opinion on the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy by the Dole group? Do you support the annexation of Hawaii into the United States?This cabal may be hoping for recognition from the United States, but for now they are simply a group of Pacific island adventurers. I have no wishes for either their success or their failure.