Campaign Trail Results: Game #888243
Play The Campaign Trail
This Game:
- Year: 1896
- Player Candidate: William Jennings Bryan
- Running Mate: Claude Matthews
- Difficulty Level: Normal
- Winner Take All Mode?: Yes
- Game Played:
View overall results, or a specific state:
| Candidate | Electoral Votes | Popular Votes | Pop. Vote % |
|---|---|---|---|
| ---- William Jennings Bryan | 251 | 7,031,849 | 50.34 |
| ---- William McKinley | 196 | 6,801,089 | 48.69 |
| ---- John Palmer | 0 | 135,136 | 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.
- 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?This is an unfounded rumor that the McKinley campaign has disseminated to discredit my candidacy.
- 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 us bring our message to the citizens of the Pacific Coast. Winning these three states could swing the entire election. - 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. - New York politics are dominated by a highly corrupt, patronage-based outfit known as Tammany Hall. Their boss, Richard Croker, has so far been indifferent to your campaign. Are you willing to make concessions to arouse his enthusiasm?Perhaps there is a misunderstanding. I will defend labor unions, fight against the temperance movements, and ensure adequate patronage jobs for New York Democrats. All I ask in return is that they deliver New York to the ticket.
- 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.
- Do you have any comments to make about the candidacy of John Palmer, a Gold Democrat and splinter candidate who is currently campaigning?I don't know how this man could live with four years of William McKinley just to save the face of his friend Grover Cleveland. No true Democrat would vote for him.
- In an unusual move, the Populist Party has supported you for President while nominating their own running-mate. The man is Thomas Watson of Georgia -- a known radical. What do you have to say about this bizarre situation? If they can get a Bryan-Watson ticket on the ballot, good for them. We will sort this issue out after we win the election in November.
- 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?It's time we think about implementing a series of public works projects to occupy our excess labor force. This will improve business by placing more money in the hands of consumers.
- 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.
- Do you think that the calls for "free silver" represent a boondoggle for western mining interests? If such a program is put into place, regardless of your overall views on the silver question, should there be measures to make sure mining companies don't benefit disproportionately?I'm not going to answer this question. It's a shame that mining interests would put their own bank account above the good of America.
- 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 position on the struggle for independence in Cuba?We extend our sympathies to the people of Cuba in their struggle for independence from Spain.
- The federal deficit has recently increased after two decades of steady decline. What are your thoughts on this?There would be no increase in the deficit if the Supreme Court hadn't overturned the income tax.
- Should there be some regulation of working hours for children, particularly those under the age of 12 or 13?It agonizes me that we do not have this protection in place. Have we not seen children who are seven years old losing their hands in the cotton looms?
- 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.
- 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.
- Should corporations be permitted to hire private detectives for security, and to infiltrate into labor movements?This is another sad attempt to crush the spirit of the working man. It's difficult to distinguish between Pinkertons and vigilantes during some of these repression actions.
- Do you approve of Grover Cleveland's handing of the federal budget over the previous four years?Grover Cleveland has vetoed more pieces of legislation than any President in our history, increased our deficit, and still found a way to provide J.P. Morgan with a financial windfall from the public purse.
- 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?Indiana has always been the critical swing state. Let's spend most of our time there while also crossing over into Illinois and Kentucky.