Campaign Trail Results: Game #767122
Play The Campaign Trail
This Game:
- Year: 1896
- Player Candidate: William Jennings Bryan
- Running Mate: Horace Boies
- Difficulty Level: Normal
- Winner Take All Mode?: Yes
- Game Played:
AlexKnapp
View overall results, or a specific state:
| Candidate | Electoral Votes | Popular Votes | Pop. Vote % |
|---|---|---|---|
| ---- William McKinley | 232 | 6,642,789 | 48.19 |
| ---- William Jennings Bryan | 215 | 7,010,347 | 50.86 |
| ---- John Palmer | 0 | 130,720 | 0.95 |
Answers:
- Which of the following most closely matches your overall campaign message?Silver coinage is just one part of my platform. Let's not forget the struggles of the urban worker in his efforts to unionize and obtain fair wages.
- What do you have to say about William McKinley's campaign, at a high level?McKinley is a fanatical defender of an obsolete monetary system. He is a front-man for big business and the New York financiers.
- Can you respond to rumors that you would seek to abolish the Supreme Court if elected, due to their recent decisions on the income tax and antitrust issues?8 years of a William Jennings Bryan presidency will leave the Court in much better shape to address our nation's problems.
- The novelty of a personal visit from the "Great Commoner" could probably swing the West Coast states in your direction. However, it will take two weeks to travel and return via train.
Will you divert your attention from the Midwest long enough to visit California, Oregon, and Washington?There is no time for that diversion. Heaven knows what rumors McKinley will spread while I am gone, and winning the Midwest should be our primary focus. - You have very little chance of winning New York this fall, and nearly all of that city's newspapers are anti-Bryan. That doesn't mean you couldn't draw a frenzied crowd in New York City.
Perhaps the media attention would be beneficial in building excitement for your campaign on a national scale?I will give one big speech in New York City to open my campaign. Even if winning that state is hopeless, we need the national press. - You have alluded to the need for less prejudice between the races. Senator "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman, of South Carolina, privately seeks your clarification.
Can you reassure him that the federal government will respect the rights of the states under your Administration?We will respect the rights of the states. I call for greater understanding, but certainly not for an overthrow of the natural order. - What do you think of leaving the Midwest for a week and making a circuit of the crucial upper South states? (i.e. Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky)We need to keep it simple. Our primary goal in this campaign is to win the critical states of Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana.
- 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?In limited areas where we have new industries forming, tariffs can be higher. They should be low 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?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?Governor Altgeld was working to mediate the dispute between the Pullman Company and the strikers when Cleveland interfered. There should have absolutely been more time given for these sides to reach an accommodation.
- 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.
- Do you think coinage of silver would have a positive effect on industrial workers? Or conversely, how would they benefit from the continuance of the gold standard?The free coinage of silver will lead to increased business activity, which will increase wages and reduce idleness.
- 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?This is yet another example of how corrupt special interests use a pliant Congress to further their own concerns. Tariffs should be low for all commodities and wares.
- What do you say to the notion that high tariffs hurt farmers?The answer here is obvious. High tariffs force farmers to purchase overpriced equipment and do nothing to increase crop prices.
- 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.
- The Dependent Pension Act of 1890 greatly expended the the pension system for Union Army veterans. What are your thoughts on this act?These are men who served honorably in our nation's greatest time of need. I will never allow agitators to attack their honorably granted pensions.
- 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.
- Was it an appropriate intervention of the federal government to attach U.S. mail cars to Pullman trains during the strike in 1894? (Thereby making it a federal crime to interfere with the passage of these cars)We should have found other methods to end this strike besides legal chicanery.
- 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.
- 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.
- Would you support federal "Blue Laws" to protect the sanctity of Sunday?This debate has no place in our system of federalism. The individual states have every right to decide how they wish to handle the issue of commerce and drinking on Sunday.
- Do you think that the United States Navy is large enough to adequately defend American interests on a global level?The Navy is more than adequate to meet our current needs, and will remain so as long as imperialist Republicans avoid intervening in Cuba or Hawaii.
- Should the federal government make an effort to build a canal through Nicaragua to more efficiently link trade in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans?This could be a fantastic method of creating work for our idle workers. What better way is there to implement a massive public works project?
- There is one week left until election day. Every state is important, but where will you give an extra push with your personal campaigning to swing the final results?Let's spend the entire week in Illinois. That is the largest state that we have a chance to win.