Campaign Trail Results: Game #780759
Play The Campaign Trail
This Game:
- Year: 1896
- Player Candidate: William Jennings Bryan
- Running Mate: Adlai Stevenson
- Difficulty Level: Normal
- Winner Take All Mode?: Yes
- Game Played:
- ryandebon
View overall results, or a specific state:
| Candidate | Electoral Votes | Popular Votes | Pop. Vote % |
|---|---|---|---|
| ---- William Jennings Bryan | 231 | 7,059,438 | 50.82 |
| ---- William McKinley | 216 | 6,698,010 | 48.22 |
| ---- John Palmer | 0 | 133,255 | 0.96 |
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?Let's keep the tour as short as possible. I will take a train to San Francisco and deliver a few speeches in that city, but will not tour the entire coast. - 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)It's a shame that we need to even campaign in these beacons of the South. But if we have to, let us do it with effluence.
- 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.
- John Palmer, a Gold Democrat, is also running against Bryan. He has offered to remove his name from the ballot on the East and West Coast if you will do the same in the South. He argues that this will consolidate the anti-Bryan vote. What do you think?I hope Palmer will see fit to remove himself unilaterally from the most hotly contested border states. His is purely a protest candidacy however, and I cannot remove myself from a ballot on his behalf without looking like a buffoon.
- Can you state your definitive position on the American monetary system?I support the free, unlimited coinage of silver at the current market price of 30-to-1 against gold. This ratio should be frequently adjusted to match actual prices in order to avoid another run on the Treasury's gold supply.
- 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?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.
- What are your thoughts on the Cleveland Administration in general?It's disappointing that any man with the word Democrat by his name could govern in the way that Cleveland did. He might as well have been a Republican.
- 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.
- What are your views on the Darwinian theory of Evolution?I have no comment to make on Darwinism. This is completely irrelevant to my expected duties as President of the United States.
- What is your opinion on the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy by the Dole group? Do you support the annexation of Hawaii into the United States?This cabal may be hoping for recognition from the United States, but for now they are simply a group of Pacific island adventurers. I have no wishes for either their success or their failure.
- 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.
- Do you support federal intervention in the southern sharecropping system to make it more equitable for the tenant farmer?The best federal intervention we can make is to allow the free coinage of silver at a 16-to-1 ratio versus gold. This will raise agricultural prices and lift the southern farmer out of penury.
- Would you support federal "Blue Laws" to protect the sanctity of Sunday?At the very least, a federal law prohibiting the sale of alcohol of Sunday seems appropriate.
- Will you work towards international agreements to create a monetary system based on "bimetallism", i.e. a combination of gold and silver?This would be a worthwhile arrangement for the laboring classes across the civilized world. When I'm elected, however, we will allow the free coinage of silver regardless of what agreements are or aren't in place.
- Do you support greater regulation on the sale and labeling of opium, cocaine, and morphine when used in patent medicines?I'm scared to take my own medicine sometimes for fear of what might be in there. Medicines should be clearly labeled with their ingredients, so that those who wish to avoid intoxicating substances can do so.
- Is it generally appropriate for federal courts to issue injunctions against striking unions?The use of injunctions is a favored court tactic for union busting and it must stop. I support the right of striking workers to picket their workplace while on strike.
- 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.