Alternate election series: 1896

[Wikipedia delenda est]

All was not well in 1896. The nation was reeling from the panic of 1893, largely blamed on the administration of President Cleveland, and Americans were ready for a change. But whether that change would come from the Republicans or from Cleveland's own party was unclear. Within the party there was strong opposition to the unpopular President, and that would become readily apparent at the National Convention that year.

When the delegates met in Chicago to choose a candidate for the presidency, the Bourbon Democrats found themselves far outnumbered by Western and Southern delegates. Those delegates would find a voice in Benjamin Tillman, who opened the convention with an electrifying speech. Screaming and cursing at Cleveland and the gold standard, Tillman's fiery address swept the convention into a frenzy. Soon, Pitchfork Ben was being carried on the shoulders of delegates, and after a few rounds of balloting he found himself the Democratic nominee for President. Not all were pleased by this turn of events, however. Populist Democrats, worried that Cleveland supporters might bolt the party due to the inflammatory rhetoric of Tillman, decided to renominate Adlai Stevenson for the Vice Presidency. As a supporter of the silver standard on the one hand and Cleveland's second-in-command on the other, populist delegates hoped his selection could conciliate both factions of the party.

But it was not to be. President Cleveland was outraged by Tillman's nomination, and he began to privately search for a third-party candidate. Eventually, he convinced Abram Hewitt, the former Mayor of New York City, to run on the ticket of a newly formed political party, the National Democrats. Composed entirely of loyal Clevelandites, the National (or "Gold") Democrats duly selected Abram Hewitt and Senator John M. Palmer as their Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees, respectively. Coincidentally, the 74-year-old Hewitt's father-in-law, Peter Cooper, had also sought the Presidency on a third-party ticket 20 years earlier.

Meanwhile, the Republicans were facing disunity problems of their own. William McKinley came into the Convention as the favorite, and easily captured the nomination. But he faced strong opposition from the Western delegates, led by Senator Henry M. Teller. In a contentious fight over the party platform, Teller and his supporters were outvoted on many issues, including the gold standard. Outraged, Teller and most other Silverites stormed out of the convention hall in protest and relocated at a site of their own. There, they announced the formation of a new political party, the Silver Republicans, and chose Teller and Senator Fred Dubois to run on their ticket.

Back at the mainline Republican convention, the desertion of the Silver delegates solidified the goldbugs' control of the party. With no one to stop them, the Republicans nominated conservative Senator Henry Cabot Lodge for the Vice Presidency. Lodge had gained notoriety some years earlier by virtue of his proposed bill - aptly referred to as the Lodge Bill - that would have empowered the federal government to enforce the 15th Amendment in the South. The Lodge Bill had been an issue in the 1892 elections, and Lodge's selection ensured that it was to be again in 1896. Of the many issues, however, it was the currency debate that would overshadow all else, a debate that would forever be synonymous with 1896.

(Poll is open for 2 days. Next post will be descriptions of the party platforms. Depending on how this goes, I might make a map of the election results and/or continue this series.)

[Wikipedia delenda est]

Democratic Party platform:

• Demand for the free and unlimited coinage of both gold and silver at a 16-to-1 ratio
• Denunciation of the Gold Standard and its "backers among the Northern monied interests"
• Statement that tariffs "must be used solely for the purpose of collecting revenue"
• Demand for stricter immigration laws to prevent "inferior" races from entering American borders
• Demand for an isolationist foreign policy to prevent the incorporation of "mongrel" peoples into American society
• Denunciation of the Lodge Bill as an "abominable law affirming the equality of the negro race"

Republican Party platform:

• Denunciation of the proposed free coinage of silver
• Affirmation of support for the Gold Standard and commitment to the principles of "sound money"
• Support for high tariffs and statement that "protection is the key to prosperity"
• Demand for restrictive new immigration quotas as necessary for the "preservation of the American spirit"
• Statement that America must take a leading role on the international stage in order to "lead by example and show other nations the way of democracy"
• Support for reintroduction of the Lodge Bill into the United States Congress, as well as condemnation of the "barbaric practice called lynching"

National Democratic Party platform:

• Denunciation of bimetallism as "chaotic and inflationary"
• Affirmation of support for the Gold Standard as it currently exists
• Support for "an immediate reduction of tariffs in pursuit of the policy of free trade"
• Support for loosening current immigration laws
• Denunciation of "imperialist Republican policies"
• Condemnation of the Lodge Bill as "a federal overreach of questionable constitutionality"

Silver Republican Party platform:

• Demand that the Sherman Silver Purchase Act be immediately reinstated
• Statement that the Gold Standard has led to "financial ruin for America's farmers and laborers"
• Support for the use of tariffs for purposes of both revenue and protection
• Support for enforcing current immigration laws "as they now stand"
• Demand that "relations with the Indian tribes be the primary concern of American foreign policy"
• Statement that the Lodge Bill is "totally disconnected from the economic hardship facing most Americans, and thus not of great importance"

[S019]

McKinley, Tillman was a bad Southerner, who supported the segregationist policies that begun to take hold in the South, and I'm not wasting my vote on the Gold Democrat third party, though I would vote for them, if they had a chance

[Wikipedia delenda est]

A note on the People's Party: At the Populist national convention, delegates were unable to agree on which of the two bimetallist candidates to support. As a result, the party has endured a major split, with most members joining either the Silver Republicans or the Democrats. James B. Weaver, the 1892 nominee, has endorsed Teller and spoken across the western states in his support. Conversely, Thomas E. Watson, a Populist leader and former Georgia Congressman, has endorsed Tillman and campaigned extensively for him throughout the South.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

This is a pretty little dystopia you've written, Henry. Teller, I guess.

[Mr. Smith]

A bit torn between Silver GOP and Democrats. I had considered stirring the pot, but since McKinley is leading, I guess I'll go with Teller.

[Senator Spiral]

Going with Teller as well. Please do continue this; it's quality content!

[Elcaspar]

Going with Teller as well. Please do continue this; it's quality content!

[Orser67]

McKinley. I might vote for him just on the merits, but he's also the safest choice in defeating Tillman, who's absolutely awful by almost any modern standard.

[Wazza [INACTIVE]]

Republican > Silver Republican >>>>>> National Democratic >>>>> Democratic.

[Wikipedia delenda est]

With one day left to go, we have a very close race between McKinley and Teller.

[Abner Beech]

The Democracy

[America Needs R'hllor]

McKinley, on the virtue of his Lodge bill position.

[Lumine]

McKinley/Lodge. Expansionist empire-building and vigorous action against Jim Crow sounds rather appealing.

[Wikipedia delenda est]

It looks like McKinley has won a plurality. I don't think this series will continue though, as I don't how to make an electoral map from just popular vote results, especially results as unrealistic as these.

[darklordoftech]

[Wikipedia delenda est]

That seems like a plausible map, but I wouldn't be able to tell how realistic it is based on the popular vote margins. Besides, I don't really have any ideas for what will come next in the series, so I don't think I'll continue it.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

It looks like McKinley has won a plurality. I don't think this series will continue though, as I don't how to make an electoral map from just popular vote results, especially results as unrealistic as these.

Just rebalance the results to make them more plausible.

[Wikipedia delenda est]

It looks like McKinley has won a plurality. I don't think this series will continue though, as I don't how to make an electoral map from just popular vote results, especially results as unrealistic as these.

Just rebalance the results to make them more plausible.

I'm still not sure how I would do so. I'm not good enough with numbers to know how to make the results correlate with the map.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

It looks like McKinley has won a plurality. I don't think this series will continue though, as I don't how to make an electoral map from just popular vote results, especially results as unrealistic as these.

Just rebalance the results to make them more plausible.

I'm still not sure how I would do so. I'm not good enough with numbers to know how to make the results correlate with the map.

Just wing it and take darklordoftech's map and then say that the two D candidates got around 40% combined, and the two R candidates got around 60% combined.