Campaign Trail Results: Game #749855
Play The Campaign Trail
This Game:
- Year: 1896
- Player Candidate: William McKinley
- Running Mate: Garret Hobart
- Difficulty Level: Easy
- Winner Take All Mode?: Yes
- Game Played:
johnschirmer982
View overall results, or a specific state:
| Candidate | Electoral Votes | Popular Votes | Pop. Vote % |
|---|---|---|---|
| ---- William McKinley | 302 | 7,386,779 | 53.20 |
| ---- William Jennings Bryan | 145 | 6,353,612 | 45.76 |
| ---- John Palmer | 0 | 143,768 | 1.04 |
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?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 received checks for $250,000 from J.P. Morgan and from Standard Oil, not to mention innumerable contributions from other concerned businessmen. How will you exploit this immense advantage in funding that you have?I will return these checks. It is not appropriate for politics to be infused with this kind of money.
- 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'm not comfortable coordinating my message with the press. I trust that they will find the right way to present a contrast between me and my opponent.
- 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?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 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?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?It's not the job of government to regulate labor disputes, but the fact of the matter is that these strikers were allowing no rail traffic to pass through Chicago whatsoever. Something needed to be done.
- 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 have to say about the efforts of the "Sugar Trust" to shield itself from the effects of the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act?In certain areas we should be open to higher than average tariffs. The sugar industry is a valued part of our American system.
- 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?I would support such an Amendment if it gained traction within our system. I'm just sorry to see that the chances seem unlikely.
- Would you support the abolition of tribal governments in Oklahoma, as a precondition for that territory to obtain statehood?I support the alternative solution to this issue. There should be two states in the Indian Territory -- one for the whites (Oklahoma) and one for the Indians (Sequoyah), whereby the latter one preserves Indian sovereignty.
- 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 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.
- Do you believe that the federal government should monitor and improve important waterways in the interests of commerce, such as the Mississippi River?This is not regulation of commerce under the Commerce Clause. This is direct action by the federal government to build and operate a public works project. I'm not sure that this is Constitutional.
- 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.
- 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.