Campaign Trail Results: Game #24296

This Game:

  • Year: 1896
  • Player Candidate: William McKinley
  • Running Mate: Lyman Gage
  • Difficulty Level: Normal
  • Winner Take All Mode?: Yes
  • Game Played:
Previous Game Next Game
View overall results, or a specific state:
CandidateElectoral VotesPopular VotesPop. Vote %
---- William McKinley2646,998,10150.59
---- William Jennings Bryan1836,688,38748.35
---- John Palmer0146,6631.06

Answers:

  • 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?
    I feel like discussing the incredible danger that Bryan represents to our Republic.
  • Which of the following will be your primary campaign message?
    My opponent's ideas are almost as dangerous to the survival of the United States as the Democratic traitors were in the 1860s.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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)?
    Fear of William Jennings Bryan should be more than enough to drive the Mugwumps back into our camp.
  • 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.
  • Word has it that at one of Bryan's nighttime revivals, the torches were arranged to cast a halo around his head. Do you think this kind of religious imagery is appropriate for a presidential candidate?
    If this story is true, I would consider it to be a blasphemous appropriation of religious symbolism.
  • 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 take the fight to Bryan. I want us to be campaigning the hardest in Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa. Our extra cash will ensure a landslide on election night.
  • 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?
    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.
  • The Dependent Pension Act of 1890 greatly expended the the pension system for Union Army veterans. What are your thoughts on this act?
    Off the record, this expansion is ridiculous, but I will hem and haw in public. My chances of being elected would evaporate if I spoke out against Union Army pensions.
  • 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.
  • The federal deficit has recently increased after two decades of steady decline. What are your thoughts on this?
    Once we reinstitute our tariffs, this deficit will disappear. Best of all, the lion's share of these taxes will be paid by foreign merchants.
  • 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.
  • Do you believe that immigrant labor is undermining the American worker? Should there be some restrictions put into place on immigration?
    We live in an open society, but that should never serve as an excuse for business to undermine the American worker by paying pauper wages to new arrivals.
  • Do you believe that America has a duty to civilize the lesser nations of the earth?
    Where possible, we should certainly allow other places in the world to benefit from a knowledge of our political and economic systems.
  • 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?
    I am firmly opposed to the goals of the Sherman Antitrust Act. I'm glad that the Supreme Court also sees through this attempt at government overreach.
  • Should corporations be permitted to hire private detectives for security, and to infiltrate into labor movements?
    The practice of hiring detectives from agencies like the Pinkertons is justified by the militancy and danger of the American labor movement.
  • Do you think that local jurisdictions should be allowed to use hanging or other forms of capital punishment for crimes?
    I have sought the guidance of our Savior on this issue, and I cannot support the execution of our lost souls in good conscience.