Campaign Trail Results: Game #999709
Play The Campaign Trail
This Game:
- Year: 1896
- Player Candidate: William McKinley
- Running Mate: Lyman Gage
- Difficulty Level: Normal
- Winner Take All Mode?: Yes
- Game Played:
erikb1861
View overall results, or a specific state:
| Candidate | Electoral Votes | Popular Votes | Pop. Vote % |
|---|---|---|---|
| ---- William McKinley | 308 | 7,194,948 | 51.43 |
| ---- William Jennings Bryan | 139 | 6,646,897 | 47.51 |
| ---- John Palmer | 0 | 148,386 | 1.06 |
Answers:
- Do you have any comments to make about the candidacy of John Palmer, a Gold Democrat and splinter candidate who is currently campaigning?I'm very concerned about John Palmer. If he is gaining support maybe it means there is a valid criticism we must face up to.
- Which of the following will be your primary campaign message?I am the candidate who brings the reasonable, tested ideas of sound money, protection, and prosperity. Bryan on the other hand will usher in radicalism and instability.
- 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?Bryan's naked ambition knows no bounds. It is unbecoming of a candidate to make campaign appearances on his own behalf.
- What do you have to say about William Jennings Bryan's campaign, at a high level?Bryan combines vague, non-sensical appeals to emotion with a near-blasphemous use of religious symbolism. I'm confident that the voters will reject this demagogue.
- 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.
- The "lily-white" faction of the Republican Party claims that they can make your ticket competitive in some Southern states. Are you willing to make a statement of support?We're certainly not winning any states down there with the strategy we have now. It's time for us to accept reality and become a whites-only party in the South.
- 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?Much of California's livelihood comes from gold mining. I reject any call to undermine gold through the free coinage of silver.
- 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?There is a certain element of conservatism in the southern states. I don't think that their temperament aligns with that of Bryan. I will simply repeat the message that he is a radical.
- 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.
- Today it looks like it's the Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce who have made the trip to your house. Do you have something inspiring to tell them in your speech?Let's talk about the importance of reviving American business. Our tariff act will give them the protections they need to succeed.
- There is talk of Bryan and John Altgeld appearing together in Chicago today. Does this place Bryan on the political fringe?Bryan was already at the fringe, so this appearance makes perfect sense. Let's hope that Altgeld also loses in November.
- 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?The Republican Party has always been the party of the railroads. We will defend them from any misguided regulation that may arise.
- 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 continue to focus on the Midwest. Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, etc.
- Can you state your definitive position on the American monetary system?I support a strict adherence to the gold standard, which is fundamental to American prosperity.
- 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?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?Bargaining for wages is the business of a man and his employer. Collective bargaining has no place in American society, and I commend Grover Cleveland for having the courage to act decisively.
- 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.
- 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?My first action as President will be to reinstate higher tariffs. This is an American policy that supports American factories and American workers.
- Would you ever consider government ownership of the railroads?Absolutely not. It frightens me for the future of our country that radical Populist policies like this one can even be a subject for debate.
- 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.
- 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 think that the United States Navy is large enough to adequately defend American interests on a global level?I am disappointed with the backward status of our Navy. We need a more vigorous fleet, and we need a canal in Nicaragua to more closely link our two coasts.
- Do you believe that the federal government should monitor and improve important waterways in the interests of commerce, such as the Mississippi River?Internal areas of the country have the same rights to use our waterways as the coastal regions. Making the Mississippi more navigable and more flood-resistant could prove to be an economic windfall.