Campaign Trail Results: Game #821862
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:
View overall results, or a specific state:
| Candidate | Electoral Votes | Popular Votes | Pop. Vote % |
|---|---|---|---|
| ---- William McKinley | 264 | 7,162,518 | 50.66 |
| ---- William Jennings Bryan | 183 | 6,748,991 | 47.73 |
| ---- John Palmer | 0 | 227,457 | 1.61 |
Answers:
- What is your opinion on measures that would aim to restrict the sale or production of alcohol?I am a proud "wet" in the alcohol debate. What a man drinks is no one's business but his own.
- 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.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?The big newspapers should remind the voters that I represent a return to prosperity after the Democratic disaster of the previous four years. They should be paying as little attention to Bryan as possible.
- Bryan's reputation amongst industrial workers is actually suspect (he is often perceived as being too pro-farmer and too evangelical). Do you have any plans to win this traditionally Democratic block of voters?Business owners should threaten the workers with further unemployment if Bryan wins.
- 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?Bryan is the type of do-gooder politician who would attempt to impose his own morality on this independent region.
- 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?I will remind them that we support Cuban independence.
- 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.
- Another day. Another speech from your front porch. What will it be today?Today we will cover the need for religious tolerance. The Republicans are a party for all Americans.
- What is your topic du jour?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 talk of Bryan and John Altgeld appearing together in Chicago today. Does this place Bryan on the political fringe?Altgeld is the same man who pardoned the Haymarket Square anarchists. I can't believe a presidential candidate would appear with that man.
- The railroads have agreed to transport any interested voters to Canton, Ohio to meet you at a cut-rate cost. Of course, they only ask that you maintain the traditional Republican policy of amity and good-will towards their business practices. Are you willing to make this commitment?Railroads exploit the hard-working farmers of this country. That's not a commitment I can make.
- 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 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?We need high tariffs on a variety of products and commodities to stimulate American manufacturing.
- 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 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.
- The Dependent Pension Act of 1890 greatly expended the the pension system for Union Army veterans. What are your thoughts on this act?Off the record, this expansion is ridiculous, but I will hem and haw in public. My chances of being elected would evaporate if I spoke out against Union Army pensions.
- It has been alleged that opportunistic young women have married Union Army veterans for the sole purpose of exploiting the pension system. Do you consider this to be a form of corruption? Would you implement some standards that widows must meet before they can inherit these pensions?One can never be sure when the inspiration of love will strike. Widows' pensions should be protected unconditionally.
- A few western states have allowed women the right to vote. Do you take the calls for a women's suffrage Amendment seriously?I think there are more important issues for us to be focusing our efforts on. Extending the suffrage to women carries with it a whole host of dangers.
- 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?If we could manage it, I would increase the number of justices on the Court so that we can dissipate the influence of the reactionaries presently in control there.
- 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 federal government has every right to issue interest bearing bonds. Of course, under a solvent Administration there would be no cause for doing so. This whole episode reflects more poorly on the performance of President Cleveland than it does on any great legal issue.
- 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.