Campaign Trail Results: Game #768154
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 Jennings Bryan | 228 | 6,993,117 | 50.65 |
| ---- William McKinley | 219 | 6,679,008 | 48.38 |
| ---- John Palmer | 0 | 133,739 | 0.97 |
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.
- 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. - Critics have said that you wrap yourself in religious imagery too much for a presidential candidate. What is your response? The word of the Lord demands that we give our attention to the poor, the sick, and the feeble. This campaign is not about me -- I am a mere servant of Christ.
- 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.
- You are making a big speech in Chicago today. What points will you touch on?I will speak to the general issues of the future -- free silver, higher wages, worker's rights, an end to child labor, and women's suffrage.
- Without compromising on the silver issue, what can you say about McKinley to Bourbon Democrats to try and bring them back into the fold?McKinley will run a radical pro-monopolist Administration that should frighten any ordinary American.
- 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?This was the act of a tyrant. Pullman was engaged in abominable business practices, and in the darkest hour Cleveland cast his lot with the company over the working man.
- What is your opinion on measures that would aim to restrict the sale or production of alcohol?These measures are a step in the right direction. Nothing destroys so many lives in this country as does the pernicious habit of drinking alcohol.
- What are your thoughts on the Cleveland Administration in general?Everyone agrees that Grover Cleveland is an honorable man. Our issue is with the results of his policies. Cleveland is deeply unpopular right now for a reason, and that is because his Administration caused a panic.
- 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?I am disappointed with the half measures taken in this act. If Senators were directly elected by the people, they would be less beholden to the types of financial interests who wrote their own tariffs into this law.
- What is your interpretation of the antitrust statutes? Do large American business profit from monopolistic practices?When I am President, you will finally have someone who takes our antitrust legislation seriously. I will break up monopolistic banks and railroads in places where they stifle competition.
- What is your position on Rural Free Delivery of the mail, signed into law earlier this year by Grover Cleveland? Is this an acceptable strain to place on the finances of the Post Office?It's a shame that this policy wasn't implemented decades ago. For too long, rural Americans have been forced to travel up to thirty miles to retrieve the mail they are entitled to.
- What is your position on the struggle for independence in Cuba?We extend our sympathies to the people of Cuba in their struggle for independence from Spain.
- 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? I would like to see an income tax, but since that idea has been ruled unconstitutional, we will have to explore other solutions (besides increased tariffs) for our revenue problem.
- In general, is the Supreme Court too obstructionist in their rulings on economic issues? Would you appoint judges who would bring a new perspective to these issues?Absolutely. I will appoint sensible, assertive judges as President. The purpose of the Court is not to simply overturn half of the laws passed by Congress, on picayune Constitutional objections.
- 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.
- Do you believe that the federal government has any right to issue interest-bearing bonds, such as those sold to J.P. Morgan in 1895?The moneychangers of the temple duped (or bribed) Grover Cleveland into issuing gold bonds. While the rest of the country suffered in indignation, bankers like J.P. Morgan and the Rothschilds made off with millions.
- Will you press for your party to include a condemnation of lynching in the party platform?This isn't an issue worth addressing. It will please no one and offend everyone, at least within our party's rank-and-file.
- 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 make one last general tour of the Midwest. Starting in Ohio, we will travel west and end in North Dakota, before moving down to Nebraska on Election Day.