Campaign Trail Results: Game #704518
Play The Campaign Trail
This Game:
- Year: 1896
- Player Candidate: William McKinley
- Running Mate: Matthew Quay
- Difficulty Level: Impossible
- Winner Take All Mode?: Yes
- Game Played:
- jrdocpol
View overall results, or a specific state:
| Candidate | Electoral Votes | Popular Votes | Pop. Vote % |
|---|---|---|---|
| ---- William Jennings Bryan | 408 | 8,143,920 | 58.66 |
| ---- William McKinley | 39 | 5,492,142 | 39.56 |
| ---- John Palmer | 0 | 247,891 | 1.79 |
Answers:
- Which of the following will be your primary campaign message?My opponent's ideas are almost as dangerous to the survival of the United States as the Democratic traitors were in the 1860s.
- 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.Labor agitators and agrarian radicals are threatening to overthrow our system of government. They have put forward a preposterous array of Constitutional Amendments and confiscatory welfare programs.
- 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?Bryan's naked ambition knows no bounds. It is unbecoming of a candidate to make campaign appearances on his own behalf.
- 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 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?There is a certain element of conservatism in the southern states. I don't think that their temperament aligns with that of Bryan. I will simply repeat the message that he is a radical.
- 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.
- You will be making another speech today from the front porch of your home in Canton, Ohio. What will you discuss?I feel like discussing the incredible danger that Bryan represents to our Republic.
- Word has it that at one of Bryan's nighttime revivals, the torches were arranged to cast a halo around his head. Do you think this kind of religious imagery is appropriate for a presidential candidate?If this story is true, I would consider it to be a blasphemous appropriation of religious symbolism.
- 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?Railroads exploit the hard-working farmers of this country. That's not a commitment I can make.
- 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 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?Bargaining for wages is the business of a man and his employer. Collective bargaining has no place in American society, and I commend Grover Cleveland for having the courage to act decisively.
- What is your opinion on measures that would aim to restrict the sale or production of alcohol?It is my dream to see a Prohibition Amendment passed before I die.
- 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.
- 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.
- Would you ever consider government ownership of the railroads?The government provided the land that these railroads were built upon. When the railroads gouge the consumer in turn, the government has every right to take ownership of them.
- The Dependent Pension Act of 1890 greatly expended the the pension system for Union Army veterans. What are your thoughts on this act?I have no issue with pensions awarded for battlefield injuries. But the current system is veering towards a blanket program which would explode the very deficits that Republicans claim to be concerned about.
- 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?We extend our sympathies to the people of Cuba in their struggle for independence from Spain.
- Do you think that the United States Navy is large enough to adequately defend American interests on a global level?The Navy is more than adequate to meet our current needs, and will remain so as long as imperialist Republicans avoid intervening in Cuba or Hawaii.
- Are you pleased with the recent defeat in Congress of the Pacific Railroad Funding Bill, which would have provided federal support to the Southern and Central Pacific railroads.It is my firm position that we need to nationalize the railroads of this country. Their power has stood beyond reproach for too long.
- Should the federal government make an effort to build a canal through Nicaragua to more efficiently link trade in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans?Am I understand that we will be sending thousands of men to dig through the hills of Nicaragua on this pipe dream of a project? Allow me to predict that there will never be a canal in that country.