Campaign Trail Results: Game #1115678

This Game:

  • Year: 1896
  • Player Candidate: William Jennings Bryan
  • Running Mate: Adlai Stevenson
  • Difficulty Level: Impossible
  • Winner Take All Mode?: Yes
  • Game Played:
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View overall results, or a specific state:
CandidateElectoral VotesPopular VotesPop. Vote %
---- William Jennings Bryan2397,075,39950.62
---- William McKinley2086,764,05548.40
---- John Palmer0137,0450.98

Answers:

  • Which of the following most closely matches your overall campaign message?
    I am 100% committed to the coinage of silver. It's important however, that we strike a moderate tone on other issues to expand our appeal as widely as we can.
  • What do you have to say about William McKinley's campaign, at a high level?
    McKinley's insistence on the gold standard has alienated many prominent Republicans from his own party, such as Henry Teller.
  • The novelty of a personal visit from the "Great Commoner" could probably swing the West Coast states in your direction. However, it will take two weeks to travel and return via train.
    Will you divert your attention from the Midwest long enough to visit California, Oregon, and Washington?

    There is no time for that diversion. Heaven knows what rumors McKinley will spread while I am gone, and winning the Midwest should be our primary focus.
  • You have very little chance of winning New York this fall, and nearly all of that city's newspapers are anti-Bryan. That doesn't mean you couldn't draw a frenzied crowd in New York City.
    Perhaps the media attention would be beneficial in building excitement for your campaign on a national scale?

    I will give one big speech in New York City to open my campaign. Even if winning that state is hopeless, we need the national press.
  • You have alluded to the need for less prejudice between the races. Senator "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman, of South Carolina, privately seeks your clarification.
    Can you reassure him that the federal government will respect the rights of the states under your Administration?

    We will respect the rights of the states. I call for greater understanding, but certainly not for an overthrow of the natural order.
  • Horace Boies, the former Governor of Iowa, will be making a big speech tomorrow to capitalize on the crowds at the State Fair. Will you make the overnight trip to Iowa in time to deliver a concluding address to the farmers there?
    Absolutely. I would be honored to give this speech.
  • What do you think of leaving the Midwest for a week and making a circuit of the crucial upper South states? (i.e. Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky)
    We need to keep it simple. Our primary goal in this campaign is to win the critical states of Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana.
  • Even though Ohio is William McKinley's home state, it is also more competitive than any state further to the east. There is also a good mix of farmers and industrial workers. Will you go to Ohio on this campaign?
    Let's forget about winning McKinley's home state. We can't be everywhere at once.
  • The respectable city newspapers are unanimously pro-McKinley. As such, William Randolph Hearst senses that supporting you would be a terrific business opportunity.
    Can you reassure him that there are limits to your pacifist ideals, particularly in regards to Cuba?

    New York and California are important states, and of course I support the uplift of primitive peoples with American influence. What's not to like in this arrangement?
  • In an unusual move, the Populist Party has supported you for President while nominating their own running-mate. The man is Thomas Watson of Georgia -- a known radical. What do you have to say about this bizarre situation?
    If they can get a Bryan-Watson ticket on the ballot, good for them. We will sort this issue out after we win the election in November.
  • Can you state your definitive position on the American monetary system?
    I support the free, unlimited coinage of silver at the current market price of 30-to-1 against gold. This ratio should be frequently adjusted to match actual prices in order to avoid another run on the Treasury's gold supply.
  • 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?
    The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests upon them. We need to help our farmers and our workers by allowing the coinage of silver.
  • 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?
    Governor Altgeld was working to mediate the dispute between the Pullman Company and the strikers when Cleveland interfered. There should have absolutely been more time given for these sides to reach an accommodation.
  • 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.
  • 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 free coinage of silver will lead to increased business activity, which will increase wages and reduce idleness.
  • The Dependent Pension Act of 1890 greatly expended the the pension system for Union Army veterans. What are your thoughts on this act?
    These are men who served honorably in our nation's greatest time of need. I will never allow agitators to attack their honorably granted pensions.
  • 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 people have suggested implementing a minimum wage, under which people may not be employed. Do you think this would help increase wages or would it simply put more men out of work?
    This policy is economically unviable. It is also yet another "solution" to our problems which I deem to be unconstitutional.
  • What are your views on the Darwinian theory of Evolution?
    I'm not convinced of the veracity of this theory. It contravenes accepted Christian teaching in a large number of ways.
  • In Pollock v. Farmers' Loan and Trust Co. the Supreme Court ruled that a 2% income tax contained in the Wilson-Gorman Tariff was unconstitutional. Would you support a Constitutional Amendment allowing the federal government to collect an income tax?
    I would like to see an income tax, but since that idea has been ruled unconstitutional, we will have to explore other solutions (besides increased tariffs) for our revenue problem.
  • Do you support federal intervention in the southern sharecropping system to make it more equitable for the tenant farmer?
    The best federal intervention we can make is to allow the free coinage of silver at a 16-to-1 ratio versus gold. This will raise agricultural prices and lift the southern farmer out of penury.
  • Will you work towards international agreements to create a monetary system based on "bimetallism", i.e. a combination of gold and silver?
    This would be a worthwhile arrangement for the laboring classes across the civilized world. When I'm elected, however, we will allow the free coinage of silver regardless of what agreements are or aren't in place.
  • 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.
  • There is one week left until election day. Every state is important, but where will you give an extra push with your personal campaigning to swing the final results?
    Let's spend the entire week in Illinois. That is the largest state that we have a chance to win.