Campaign Trail Results: Game #903498
Play The Campaign Trail
This Game:
- Year: 1896
- Player Candidate: William Jennings Bryan
- Running Mate: Arthur Sewall
- 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 | 250 | 6,903,581 | 49.71 |
| ---- William Jennings Bryan | 197 | 6,844,077 | 49.28 |
| ---- John Palmer | 0 | 139,890 | 1.01 |
Answers:
- Which of the following most closely matches your overall campaign message?We support the free coinage of silver priced at a 16-to-1 ratio against gold. The results will aid farmers and workers of all classes and contribute to an American renewal.
- 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 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. - 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.
- The respectable city newspapers are unanimously pro-McKinley. As such, William Randolph Hearst senses that supporting you would be a terrific business opportunity.
Can you reassure him that there are limits to your pacifist ideals, particularly in regards to Cuba?New York and California are important states, and of course I support the uplift of primitive peoples with American influence. What's not to like in this arrangement? - Do you have any comments to make about the candidacy of John Palmer, a Gold Democrat and splinter candidate who is currently campaigning?Good riddance. On the issue of silver coinage, you are either with us or you're with the industrialists. Palmer has shown his cards.
- 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 a fixed price ratio of 16-to-1 against gold.
- What is your definitive position on the tariff issue?Tariffs should be limited to the minimum amount necessary to raise sufficient revenue for the federal government.
- 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 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.
- 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?This is just another sad chapter in the fiscal mismanagement of the veterans' pensions. The best we can do now is to remain vigilant for the day when these pensions are universally offered to all aged veterans.
- 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?Overall the deficit is still low. Furthermore, if we allow the free coinage of silver the amount of our deficit will decrease commensurably as our currency inflates.
- Would you support an Amendment to the Constitution allowing the people to vote for their Senators directly?The current system for selecting Senators is unimaginably corrupt. State legislatures have every incentive to select the most corrupt, retrograde candidate for the job.
- Do you believe that immigrant labor is undermining the American worker? Should there be some restrictions put into place on immigration?It's time that we had severe restrictions on who we let into this country. A walk down the streets of New York is hardly distinguishable from the Tower of Babel, and these new arrivals crush the bargaining power of the American worker.
- Do you believe that America has a duty to civilize the lesser nations of the earth?This isn't something that we should be making an active effort to do. There are enough problems within our own country for us to worry about the state of civilization in some far-off, primitive land.
- Are you prepared to reaffirm our commitment to the Monroe Doctrine, should any new territories in Latin America gain independence from Spain?I support the Monroe Doctrine as established American policy.
- Do you think that local jurisdictions should be allowed to use hanging or other forms of capital punishment for crimes?This is perfectly within the realm of acceptable punishment.
- 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?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.