Campaign Trail Results: Game #745678
Play The Campaign Trail
This Game:
- Year: 1896
- Player Candidate: William McKinley
- Running Mate: Lyman Gage
- 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 | 277 | 7,226,293 | 51.82 |
| ---- William Jennings Bryan | 170 | 6,577,461 | 47.16 |
| ---- John Palmer | 0 | 142,187 | 1.02 |
Answers:
- Which of the following will be your primary campaign message?I am the candidate who brings the reasonable, tested ideas of sound money, protection, and prosperity. Bryan on the other hand will usher in radicalism and instability.
- 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?I can't attack Bryan like the papers can without losing some of my luster. Let them publish the defamatory cartoons and opinion pieces.
- Your surrogates have taken to reminding some workers that factories and railroads will certainly be forced to close if a radical like Bryan takes office. Do you encourage such tactics?Well... all I can say is that they're correct. Bryan's policies would continue the disaster we have suffered under Grover Cleveland.
- 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.
- John Rockefeller is concerned about the possible effects of the Sherman Antitrust Act, passed in 1890. It seems that certain rabble-rousers believe this law should be used to break up Standard Oil. Can you reassure him that you will take a narrow interpretation of this law in your Administration?John D. Rockefeller has nothing to fear from a McKinley Administration. I reject the calls of certain mountebanks for the break-up or socialization of Standard Oil.
- 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?We are running a 45-state strategy. I want our victory and repudiation of the silver Democrats to be as large as possible.
- You will be making another speech today from the front porch of your home in Canton, Ohio. What will you discuss?Let's discuss world affairs. I support the annexation of Hawaii and I support the independence of Cuba. I support a stronger Navy.
- 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?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.
- The Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act of 1894 lowered the rates on many goods, while still falling well short of Cleveland's ideal levels. What do you think about this act as a whole?My first action as President will be to reinstate higher tariffs. This is an American policy that supports American factories and American workers.
- What do you say to the notion that high tariffs hurt farmers?High tariffs protect American industry and increase the purchasing power of the consumer. Free silver would throw this system into chaos and even hurt the farmer in the long-term.
- What is your interpretation of the antitrust statutes? Do large American business profit from monopolistic practices?I take a very narrow view of the term "monopoly". There is a need for these statutes but they open up a lot of danger for political witch hunts.
- 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 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? Good for the Supreme Court for taking a firm, principled stand on this issue. Increased tariffs will be more than sufficient to cover the funding needs of our federal government.
- 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?I will repeat my firmly held conviction that we should not politicize the decisions of the Supreme Court.
- Will you work towards international agreements to create a monetary system based on "bimetallism", i.e. a combination of gold and silver?The international system we have in place is the gold standard. Not only is this highly advisable from a business standpoint, but it is driven by the power of Great Britain. We are better off working within this system.
- 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.
- Will you press for your party to include a condemnation of lynching in the party platform?I abhor any instance where extra-judicial punishment is meted out by the passions of an inflamed mob. My party will speak out against this practice in our platform.