Campaign Trail Results: Game #24108

This Game:

  • Year: 1896
  • Player Candidate: William McKinley
  • Running Mate: Lyman Gage
  • 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 McKinley2847,165,52551.72
---- William Jennings Bryan1636,544,23847.24
---- John Palmer0144,3881.04

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 do you have to say about your own Christian faith? And how does it inform your political views?
    My faith calls for the true equality of man. Our Constitution enshrines the ideals that each man has God-given rights which cannot be ignored by any earthly power.
  • As a Congressman, you voted for the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1890. Can you reassure your supporters that you are now 100% in favor of the gold standard.
    I am all in favor of the gold standard. If it would help defuse the currency issue a little, then I might be in favor of a limited silver purchase program.
  • 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?
    One of my highest priorities in office will be a canal through Nicaragua, which will greatly enhance our national trade. Democrats lack the ambition for such far-reaching projects.
  • 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?
    That's not a good idea. Let's be realistic and devote our efforts to the states that matter.
  • Another day. Another speech from your front porch. What will it be today?
    I feel like discussing the incredible danger that Bryan represents to our Republic.
  • Today it looks like it's the Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce who have made the trip to your house. Do you have something inspiring to tell them in your speech?
    Let's talk about the importance of reviving American business. Our tariff act will give them the protections they need to succeed.
  • 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?
    Limited silver coinage is a good compromise. I support a program like that of Bland-Allison where the government purchases around $2 million of silver each month.
  • What is your definitive position on the tariff issue?
    Where we have mature, stable industries, tariffs can be lower. They should be high 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?
    We need to reaffirm our commitment to non-intervention in business affairs. Companies need stability before they will have the confidence to expand.
  • 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.
  • Would you ever consider government ownership of the railroads?
    I'm no fan of the railroads, but we should avoid radical solutions where other options exist. I would start by increasing the regulation of freight charges to benefit the working classes of our country.
  • 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?
    One can never be sure when the inspiration of love will strike. Widows' pensions should be protected unconditionally.
  • Do you agree with the Supreme Court's ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson that separate accommodations for the races can be legally required by certain states?
    This decision will provide the legal cover needed to plunge the South into a new generation of moral darkness.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Do you support greater regulation on the sale and labeling of opium, cocaine, and morphine when used in patent medicines?
    Many patent medicine purveyors operate in a single locale, and do not cross state lines. Where appropriate, I would support regulation, but only where the Constitution allows it.