Campaign Trail Results: Game #1240161

This Game:

  • Year: 1896
  • Player Candidate: William Jennings Bryan
  • Running Mate: Horace Boies
  • Difficulty Level: Normal
  • Winner Take All Mode?: Yes
  • Game Played:
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View overall results, or a specific state:
CandidateElectoral VotesPopular VotesPop. Vote %
---- William McKinley2266,714,18647.96
---- William Jennings Bryan2217,154,28951.10
---- John Palmer0132,2200.94

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 is a fanatical defender of an obsolete monetary system. He is a front-man for big business and the New York financiers.
  • 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?

    Let us bring our message to the citizens of the Pacific Coast. Winning these three states could swing the entire election.
  • 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)
    It's a shame that we need to even campaign in these beacons of the South. But if we have to, let us do it with effluence.
  • Without compromising on the silver issue, what can you say about McKinley to Bourbon Democrats to try and bring them back into the fold?
    McKinley will run a radical pro-monopolist Administration that should frighten any ordinary American.
  • Do you have any comments to make about the candidacy of John Palmer, a Gold Democrat and splinter candidate who is currently campaigning?
    I don't know how this man could live with four years of William McKinley just to save the face of his friend Grover Cleveland. No true Democrat would vote for him.
  • 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.
  • What are your thoughts on the Cleveland Administration in general?
    It's disappointing that any man with the word Democrat by his name could govern in the way that Cleveland did. He might as well have been a Republican.
  • What is your position on Rural Free Delivery of the mail, signed into law earlier this year by Grover Cleveland? Is this an acceptable strain to place on the finances of the Post Office?
    It's a shame that this policy wasn't implemented decades ago. For too long, rural Americans have been forced to travel up to thirty miles to retrieve the mail they are entitled to.
  • Was it an appropriate intervention of the federal government to attach U.S. mail cars to Pullman trains during the strike in 1894? (Thereby making it a federal crime to interfere with the passage of these cars)
    The Democrats have always been the party of states' rights. I was a little surprised to see Cleveland intervene in this case.
  • Do you believe that immigrant labor is undermining the American worker? Should there be some restrictions put into place on immigration?
    We accept any European who is able to read and write. America will always serve as a place where the oppressed masses can find a new hope.
  • In general, is the Supreme Court too obstructionist in their rulings on economic issues? Would you appoint judges who would bring a new perspective to these issues?
    It is not my place as a politician, running for a position in the Executive Branch, to comment on the performance of the Court.
  • 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.
  • Do you approve of Grover Cleveland's handing of the federal budget over the previous four years?
    Is there anyone left in the United States who approves of Grover Cleveland? We need to move on from his failed Administration.
  • 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.
  • Is it generally appropriate for federal courts to issue injunctions against striking unions?
    Maybe in limited cases, where unions are a threat to public safety or where they undermine an essential industry. The courts are notoriously conservative, however, and definitely take this practice too far.
  • 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 make one last general tour of the Midwest. Starting in Ohio, we will travel west and end in North Dakota, before moving down to Nebraska on Election Day.