Campaign Trail Results: Game #932534

This Game:

  • Year: 1896
  • Player Candidate: William Jennings Bryan
  • Running Mate: Arthur Sewall
  • Difficulty Level: Normal
  • Winner Take All Mode?: Yes
  • Game Played:
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View overall results, or a specific state:
CandidateElectoral VotesPopular VotesPop. Vote %
---- William Jennings Bryan2287,008,97050.57
---- William McKinley2196,715,45448.45
---- John Palmer0135,8790.98

Answers:

  • Which of the following most closely matches your overall campaign message?
    I am 100% committed to the coinage of silver. It's important however, that we strike a moderate tone on other issues to expand our appeal as widely as we can.
  • 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?

    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.
  • 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.
  • Horace Boies, the former Governor of Iowa, will be making a big speech tomorrow to capitalize on the crowds at the State Fair. Will you make the overnight trip to Iowa in time to deliver a concluding address to the farmers there?
    Absolutely. I would be honored to give this speech.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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?
    I can't stress this enough. The most important thing we can do right now is increase our tariffs to protect American business.
  • 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?
    Governor Altgeld was working to mediate the dispute between the Pullman Company and the strikers when Cleveland interfered. There should have absolutely been more time given for these sides to reach an accommodation.
  • 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 do you say to the notion that high tariffs hurt farmers?
    The answer here is obvious. High tariffs force farmers to purchase overpriced equipment and do nothing to increase crop prices.
  • Should there be greater regulation or even price controls on railroad shipping rates?
    Railroads gouge hardworking American farmers year after year, while giving preferred rates to large companies. I won't allow it.
  • Should Confederate veterans be included in the federal Civil War pension system?
    I will not support a program that delivers pension funds to the very men who rebelled against our Constitution. I hope this is the last time I ever have to answer this question.
  • 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?
  • Was it an appropriate intervention of the federal government to attach U.S. mail cars to Pullman trains during the strike in 1894? (Thereby making it a federal crime to interfere with the passage of these cars)
    We should have found other methods to end this strike besides legal chicanery.
  • Do you think that there should be federal oversight of the New York and Chicago trading markets?
    The poor man is called a socialist if he believes that the wealth of the rich should be divided among the poor, but the rich man is called a financier if he devises a plan by which the pittance of the poor can be converted to his use.
  • Do you think that the United States Navy is large enough to adequately defend American interests on a global level?
    The Navy is more than adequate to meet our current needs, and will remain so as long as imperialist Republicans avoid intervening in Cuba or Hawaii.
  • 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.
  • 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.