Campaign Trail Results: Game #23898

This Game:

  • Year: 1896
  • Player Candidate: William McKinley
  • Running Mate: Garret Hobart
  • Difficulty Level: Easy
  • Winner Take All Mode?: Yes
  • Game Played:
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View overall results, or a specific state:
CandidateElectoral VotesPopular VotesPop. Vote %
---- William McKinley2246,626,78947.35
---- William Jennings Bryan2237,083,11550.61
---- John Palmer0284,2902.03

Answers:

  • Which of the following will be your primary campaign message?
    My administration will bring back the era of the budget surplus, and will work towards the professionalization of the federal government. We will continue to phase out the 'spoils system' in accordance with the Pendleton Act.
  • 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?
    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 can't attack Bryan like the papers can without losing some of my luster. Let them publish the defamatory cartoons and opinion pieces.
  • Bryan's reputation amongst industrial workers is actually suspect (he is often perceived as being too pro-farmer and too evangelical). Do you have any plans to win this traditionally Democratic block of voters?
    Let's remind the immigrant populations that Bryan is a religious fanatic who opposes the sale of alcohol.
  • The "lily-white" faction of the Republican Party claims that they can make your ticket competitive in some Southern states. Are you willing to make a statement of support?
    I will not do business with the lilly-whites. They are antithetical to what I fought for in the Civil War.
  • 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.
  • An industry in tin has flourished in Ohio since your Tariff Act took hold in 1890. Some have suggested playing on this success in your campaign. What do you say?
    I like the idea of plastering the entire Midwest with tin signs that say McKinley on them. The message will be unmistakable.
  • 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 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 the free, unlimited coinage of silver at a fixed price ratio of 16-to-1 against gold.
  • What is your definitive position on the tariff issue?
    Tariffs should be limited to the minimum amount necessary to raise sufficient revenue for the federal government.
  • 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?
    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.
  • What is your interpretation of the antitrust statutes? Do large American business profit from monopolistic practices?
    I favor a hands-off approach to the economy. The federal government has no business stepping in and breaking a company into pieces.
  • A few western states have allowed women the right to vote. Do you take the calls for a women's suffrage Amendment seriously?
    We welcome the support of women and men. Where women are granted the vote, we are confident that they will support our ticket.
  • Would you support a program to compensate workers who are injured on the job? Is this a proper responsibility of the federal government?
    We absolutely need a federal program for this purpose. The Bible says that we must love all people -- even those who have been cast aside by our Darwinian industrial machinery.
  • Some labor leaders have called for regulation standardizing a ten or even an eight hour workday. Do you support these calls?
    Not only would this greatly improve working conditions for Americans, it would increase employment by spreading our working hours amongst more people.
  • 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?
    There are individuals in this country working for less than a dollar a day. Only through desperation would a man ever consent to such an arrangement.
  • What is your opinion on the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy by the Dole group? Do you support the annexation of Hawaii into the United States?
    These men are Americans and they are attempting to bring badly-needed order to the islands of Hawaii. If managed properly, an annexation will allow us to enjoy the benefits of Hawaii's innumerable sugar plantations. These islands are also a perfect location for a naval base.
  • 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 support a graduated income tax. If it takes a Constitutional Amendment or a change to the structure of the Supreme Court, then so be it.
  • 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.