Campaign Trail Results: Game #1500247
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This Game:
- Year: 1896
- Player Candidate: William McKinley
- Running Mate: Garret Hobart
- Difficulty Level: Normal
- Winner Take All Mode?: Yes
- Game Played:
View overall results, or a specific state:
| Candidate | Electoral Votes | Popular Votes | Pop. Vote % |
|---|---|---|---|
| ---- William McKinley | 280 | 7,350,210 | 52.65 |
| ---- William Jennings Bryan | 167 | 6,471,832 | 46.36 |
| ---- John Palmer | 0 | 139,155 | 1.00 |
Answers:
- 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.Democrats who believe in the gold standard are welcome in our party. We will increase tariffs, to be sure, but in a moderate way that addresses their concerns.
- 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.
- What arguments will your campaign make to counterbalance the appeal of Democrats in the Plains?Bryan is a radical demagogue who will drive the railroads into bankruptcy and ruin the agricultural economy of the Plains.
- 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?That's not a good idea. Let's be realistic and devote our efforts to the states that matter.
- 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?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?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.
- It has been alleged that opportunistic young women have married Union Army veterans for the sole purpose of exploiting the pension system. Do you consider this to be a form of corruption? Would you implement some standards that widows must meet before they can inherit these pensions?Have you seen some of these couples? I believe if a marriage was initiated after 1880, then the pension benefits should cease upon the death of the veteran.
- A few western states have allowed women the right to vote. Do you take the calls for a women's suffrage Amendment seriously?I think there are more important issues for us to be focusing our efforts on. Extending the suffrage to women carries with it a whole host of dangers.
- What are your views on the Darwinian theory of Evolution?I have no comment to make on Darwinism. This is completely irrelevant to my expected duties as President of the United States.
- Would you support the abolition of tribal governments in Oklahoma, as a precondition for that territory to obtain statehood?Oklahoma must be admitted as a single state. The Indian tribal systems and bureaus are an obstacle to this goal, and they must be disbanded.
- In United States v. E.C. Knight and Co. the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government cannot regulate manufacturing monopolies under the Commerce Clause. Would you support an Amendment to the Constitution to overturn this ruling?The Supreme Court has made their decision, and we must abide by it.
- Do you think that there should be federal oversight of the New York and Chicago trading markets?There has already been considerable reform of the stock markets since the dangerous days of the 1860s. There's no need to take this idea any further.
- Do you think that the United States Navy is large enough to adequately defend American interests on a global level?I am disappointed with the backward status of our Navy. We need a more vigorous fleet, and we need a canal in Nicaragua to more closely link our two coasts.
- Are you prepared to reaffirm our commitment to the Monroe Doctrine, should any new territories in Latin America gain independence from Spain?I support the Monroe Doctrine as established American policy.
- Do you believe that the federal government has any right to issue interest-bearing bonds, such as those sold to J.P. Morgan in 1895?Of course the government has a right to do this. Whether it is advisable or whether President Cleveland negotiated a good interest rate is another debate.
- 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.Without federal support including loans and land grants, there are certain railroads which would simply be too large to construct with private capital. I was disappointed by the defeat of this bill.