Campaign Trail Results: Game #462540
Play The Campaign Trail
This Game:
- Year: 1896
- Player Candidate: William McKinley
- Running Mate: Lyman Gage
- Difficulty Level: Normal
- Winner Take All Mode?: Yes
- Game Played:
dylanhendrickson2001
View overall results, or a specific state:
| Candidate | Electoral Votes | Popular Votes | Pop. Vote % |
|---|---|---|---|
| ---- William McKinley | 277 | 7,326,064 | 52.93 |
| ---- William Jennings Bryan | 170 | 6,373,278 | 46.05 |
| ---- John Palmer | 0 | 140,844 | 1.02 |
Answers:
- Do you have any comments to make about the candidacy of John Palmer, a Gold Democrat and splinter candidate who is currently campaigning?It's a shame that Grover Cleveland allowed his supporters to bolt the party the moment it became clear their faction had lost this year's nomination.
- Which of the following will be your primary campaign message?My campaign will reach out to workers across the American spectrum, while Bryan's policies will leave them defenseless against foreign competition and will debase their wages.
- 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?I can't attack Bryan like the papers can without losing some of my luster. Let them publish the defamatory cartoons and opinion pieces.
- 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?Bryan would drive the important railroads of this region, such as Union Pacific, into bankruptcy by reneging on agreed-upon financing arrangements.
- 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?As a Civil War veteran, I am uniquely positioned to preach a message of sectional unity and Americanism. These states must know that we have allowed bygones to be bygones.
- You've got a fairly clean reputation in politics. Can you leverage this to mend the rift between the party establishment and the so-called Mugwumps (who tended to support Grover Cleveland)?We will change the bad policies of Grover Cleveland while continuing his legacy of clean governance and integrity.
- 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?Altgeld is the same man who pardoned the Haymarket Square anarchists. I can't believe a presidential candidate would appear with that man.
- The railroads have agreed to transport any interested voters to Canton, Ohio to meet you at a cut-rate cost. Of course, they only ask that you maintain the traditional Republican policy of amity and good-will towards their business practices. Are you willing to make this commitment?The Republican Party has always been the party of the railroads. We will defend them from any misguided regulation that may arise.
- 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 take the fight to Bryan. I want us to be campaigning the hardest in Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa. Our extra cash will ensure a landslide on election night.
- 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?Where we have mature, stable industries, tariffs can be lower. They should be high 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?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.
- Would you ever consider government ownership of the railroads?Absolutely not. It frightens me for the future of our country that radical Populist policies like this one can even be a subject for debate.
- The federal deficit has recently increased after two decades of steady decline. What are your thoughts on this?Once we reinstitute our tariffs, this deficit will disappear. Best of all, the lion's share of these taxes will be paid by foreign merchants.
- Would you support an Amendment to the Constitution allowing the people to vote for their Senators directly?The current system for selecting Senators is unimaginably corrupt. State legislatures have every incentive to select the most corrupt, retrograde candidate for the job.
- What are your thoughts on the Women's Christian Temperance Union? Is this group a positive force in American life?This is a well-meaning group of honest Christian women. I am neither especially opposed to nor especially supportive of their goals.
- Do you approve of Grover Cleveland's handing of the federal budget over the previous four years?Grover Cleveland is a citizen of integrity who has done his best under trying circumstances. He was simply found to be not up to the job.
- Should the federal government make an effort to build a canal through Nicaragua to more efficiently link trade in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans?I envision an American canal, built by American workers, property of the American government, supporting the actions of a robust American Navy. I fully support these plans.
- Will you press for your party to include a condemnation of lynching in the party platform?This isn't an issue worth addressing. It will please no one and offend everyone, at least within our party's rank-and-file.