The Turn of the Century and on timeline

[GPORTER]

Turn of the Century and on timeline

Good evening, and welcome to election night 1896 coverage. We are coming upon the turn of the century with this election. This night sees incumbent democratic President Grover Cleveland facing republican challenger William McKinley in a race for the presidency.

McKinley is a popular challenger and is favored going into tonight by four percentage points in the latest public opinion polls. McKinley leads Cleveland 45-41 in the polls tonight. Independent candidate James Weaver has 5 percent of the vote in that poll. This leaves almost ten percent undecided. What can we expect tonight?

I expect a wide victory for McKinley. He has been ahead for most of this campaign. Cleveland caught up to him at the end of the campaign, but he came up still behind in the polls.

Is there a chance for Cleveland tonight?

Yes, but it will be an upset if that happens.

How could Weaver affect the outcome of this election?

If he gets enough of the vote, it could hurt McKinley. But, Weaver has only a small percentage of the vote in the polls. It could swing a small state or two to Cleveland, but I wouldn't expect much.

The Weaver factor couldn't cost McKinley the election, could he?

As a republican, I don't like to think about that possibility. Let me speak with an independent voice, that could happen, but the polls don't indicate that going into tonight.

In this election, Grover Cleveland announced late in 1895 that he would run for reelection. The economy has gone into a depression under Cleveland over the last four years. That left Cleveland far behind McKinley. However, in the last days of this campaign with unemployment dropping slightly, Cleveland has tried to close the gap.

McKinley going into tonight feeling very confident. Will that be confirmed with the reutrns? We have election night coverage starting up next.

[GPORTER]

Surprise? Maybe: Cleveland Early Lead
Thats right, the headline. President Cleveland has an early lead in the race to 224 electoral votes and the presidency tonight as a few states close their polls. We have some projections and lets look them over:

Grover Cleveland Wins Florida

Grover Cleveland Wins Georgia

Grover Cleveland Wins South Carolina

William McKinley Wins Vermont

Grover Cleveland Wins Virgnia

McKinley: 4        Cleveland: 29        224  needed to win

Well a Cleveland lead early in the evening.

Probably doesn't mean a whole lot. The south has its polls close early. Cleveland is expected to be very strong in the south.

We can now project that Kentucky will also go to Cleveland tonight.

Grover Cleveland Wins Kentucky

McKinley: 4        Cleveland: 42        224 needed to win

Okay perhaps the Cleveland camp can breathe a little bit easier so far tonight. President Cleveland has a lead with a very small percent of the vote in so far.

There are still many states to come in. Indiana is too close to call, we expect McKinley to carry Indiana. He has already won Vermont, which is good news for him. Lets watch as the night continues. I bet that McKinley will have a strong night.

At the 7:30 hour, we can say that both Ohio and West Virgnia are undecided at this time. Ohio and West Virgnia too close to call as the polls close there.

McKinley: 4        Cleveland: 42        224 needed to win

An interesting point to bring up and good news for the McKinley camp, the states that are outstanding at this time have more electoral votes combined than the electoral votes in the President's column.

We are coming back. Stay with us.

McKinley: 4        Cleveland: 42        224 needed to win

Election Night 1896

[GPORTER]

Lets declare some more states at the 8 o'clock hour. Can the President maintain his early surprising lead?


Grover Cleveland Wins Alabama

William McKinley Wins Maine

Grover Cleveland Wins Mississippi

William McKinley Wins Pennsylvania

William McKinley Wins South Dakota

Grover Cleveland Wins Tennessee

Grover Cleveland Wins Texas

McKinley: 46        Cleveland: 89        224 needed to win

Theres not a whole lot to go on at this point. McKinley still widely favored. Many states still undecided. We have a few more projections:

Grover Cleveland Wins Maryland

Grover Cleveland Wins New Jersey

McKinley: 46        Cleveland: 107        224 needed to win

Wasn't expecting to say this, but its bad news for McKinley so far tonight. Cleveland not only doing well in the south, but making what seem to be good inroads in to the east coast, expected to be strong republican turf.

McKinley: 46        Cleveland: 107        224 needed to win

Election Night 1896

[GPORTER]

Cleveland Widens Lead: Carries South Carolina and Arkansas
Welcome back. At the 8:30 hour, we can declare two more states for the President at this time. He carries Arkansas as the polls close there. And a projection we failed to bring you earlier, South Carolina also goes to Cleveland.

Grover Cleveland Wins South Carolina

Grover Cleveland Wins Arkansas

McKinley: 46        Cleveland: 124        224 needed to win

This has been a quick election 1896 update. We will be back at the top of the hour as more states have their polls close.

McKinley: 46        Cleveland: 124        224 needed to win

Election Night 1896

[GPORTER]

McKinley Sees Electoral Vote Tally Grow: Cleveland Wins New York
As you can see we have some projections at the 9 o'clock hour. This includes a major upset projection as the President wins New York. This is a big swing state, where the McKinley people thought they would win, but its not to be. Cleveland wins New York.

Grover Cleveland Wins New York

McKinley: 46        Cleveland: 160        224 needed to win

There are obviously some other projections at this time.

William McKinley Wins Colorado

William McKinley Wins Kansas

Grover Cleveland Wins North Carolina

William McKinley Wins Massachussetts

William McKinley Wins New Hampshire

Grover Cleveland Wins Louisianan

William McKinley Wins Minnesota

William McKinley Wins Nebraska

William McKinley Wins Wyoming

McKinley: 99        Cleveland: 179        224 needed to win

We can also declare Michigan and Rhode Island for McKinley.

William McKinley Wins Rhode Island

William McKinley Wins Michigan

McKinley: 117        Cleveland: 179        224 needed to win

Certainly good news for the President.

Well New York is a big win, but its not over.

McKinley: 117        Cleveland: 179        224 needed to win

Election Night 1896

[CathKhan]

This is actually pretty interesting.

[pillage the village, trash the scene]

This is actually pretty interesting.

[Jerseyrules]

This is actually pretty interesting.

Go Cleveland!

[GPORTER]

McKinley Sees Small Gains;Major Industrial States Still Outstanding
Yes, lets look at a few projections we have at this time:

William McKinley Wins Idaho

William McKinley Wins North Dakota

William McKinley Wins Oregon

William McKinley Wins Utah

William McKinley Wins Nevada

McKinley: 133        Cleveland: 179        224 needed to win

Its getting a little closer. McKinley might be posing a comeback beginning in the west and all eyes will be on the outstanding industrial states. This race is lean Cleveland, but still perhaps not over. We are coming back, stay with us.

McKinley: 133        Cleveland: 179        224 needed to win

Election Night 1896

[GPORTER]

We can declare Iowa for McKinley.

William McKinley Wins Iowa

McKinley: 146        Cleveland: 179         224 needed to win

McKinley Sweeps Western States...The Presidency Comes Down to Industrial States Still Outstanding
More polls are closing in the west. William McKinley sees some major wins.

William McKinley Wins Montana

William McKinley Wins California

William McKinley Wins Washington

McKinley: 162        Cleveland: 179        224 neede to win

Well certainly a come back story for McKinley, thats the closest he has been to the Preisdent all night.

I'm not all thta surprised, he was four percentage points ahead in the polls going into tonight. Its been a roller coaster of a night, but I think McKinley can pull it out.

We can declare Ohio and West Virgnia for McKinley. But, Missouri goes to Cleveland.

William McKinley Wins Ohio

William McKinley Wins West Virgnia

Grover Cleveland Wins Missouri

McKinley: 191        Cleveland: 196        224 needed to win

This is getting to be a close race. With a decision that could come soon. Stay with us.

McKinley: 191        Cleveland: 196        224 neeed to win

Election Night 1896

[Jerseyrules]

This rules!  Cleveland 96!  Maybe after this you can do 1860 in modern time...just always wanted to see something like that .

[GPORTER]

Okay, welcome back to election night 1896. We can declare another state. At this late hour of the evening, William McKinley will carry the state of Indiana and its 15 electoral votes. Seems like a small prize but with such a close race, it could mean everything. Indiana goes to McKinley.

William McKinley Wins Indiana

McKinley: 206         Cleveland: 196        224 needed to win

But, oh no, bad news for republicans. Illinois goes to Cleveland. This is bad news for republicans, because now Cleveland is only four, yes four electoral votes away from winning the presidency again. Grover Cleveland wins Illinois. And they are doing back flips in the Cleveland camp, because this puts them within striking distance of a third term to the presidency.

First of all, I'd like to see President Cleveland do a back flip. But, otherwise, it now becomes difficult  for McKinley to still win.

Difficult but not impossible. He can afford to loose Delaware now, but he has to win every other state out there.

McKinley: 206        Cleveland: 220        224 needed to win

Well we don't know about Delaware at the moment, but McKinley does carry Wisconsin. This keeps his hopes alive, but it might be too little too late.

William McKinley Wins Wisconsin

McKinley: 218        Cleveland: 220        224 needed to win

We are coming back to what at least looks to be the climatic moment on this election night 1896. Stay with us.

McKinley: 218        Cleveland: 220        224 needed to win

Election Night 1896

[GPORTER]

Well there are no mid term elections until 1914. So what do you all want to see in the 1900 election?

[CathKhan]

I'd like to see how the Spanish-American War shapes up (if it does), how tariffs are handled, and all that. As well, what happens to Teddy Roosevelt with Republicans out of power?

[GPORTER]

Race Comes Down to Connecticut;Delaware Goes to McKinley
You heard it there. Delaware goes to McKinley.

William McKinley Wins Delaware

McKinley: 221        Cleveland: 220        224 needed to win

Well we came in to tonight, expecting a relatively close race but perhaps with a slight tilt to McKinley. Does that match at all what we have seen tonight so far?

Well, there could still be a slight tilt to McKinley if he carries Connecticut. Its not over.

Actually, it is. We are now ready to project a winner in Connecticut. Connecticut is Cleveland, the presidency is Cleveland. In a tit tight election this time around, Grover Cleveland has been reelected to the presidency. After turning back a very strong challenge from republican William McKinley.

Grover Cleveland Wins Connecticut

McKinley: 221        Cleveland: 226        224 needed to win

And thats a close result there in Connecticut. I wonder can we get the percentage up from the state of Connecticut? Lets see:

Connecticut president:

Grover Cleveland (D): 79, 927    48.56%
William McKinley (R):   79, 499    48.30%
99.9% of pricents reporting

My goodness, a close vote and we have projected President Cleveland to be the winner of Connecticut and that he will go on to serve a third term as President.

That third term is not consecutive though, we should point out. He first won the presdiency in 1884. He lost it narrowly in 1888 but came back and beat the same guy in 1892 and now he wins again tonight.

What does this victory mean for him?

Well we are still in somewhat of an economic mess. He will probably spend the next four years working to continue to clean that up.

Now constitutionally, he could run for a fourth term in 1900, any clues on if he will or not?

Honestly, I would doubt it. But, it could happen. If it did, these two could face eachother again.

If Cleveland doesn't run again in 1900, name one democrat that you think could be viable for the nomiantion.

William Jennings Bryan would make a strong candidate.

And McKinley on the republican side>?

Its possible, this is a close result. It will be interesting to see what happens.

This has been election night 1896.

Election Night 1896

[Is Totally Not Feeblepizza.]

Why is this rated so poorly?

[a Person]

Why is this rated so poorly?

Probably people with a reflexive hatred of GPORTER timelines.
This one is actually good for once, but I'm not going to vote until it progresses a little further.

[GPORTER]

Pre Election 1900 Summary

The reaction from the McKinley camp upon loosing the 1896 election was that McKinley had held a lead for most of the campaign, even being double digits at some times, but as the campaign drew to a close, Cleveland was able to catch up. Cleveland was still behind going into election day, but was seen to be gaining the entire time. The McKinley camp said the question was, would Cleveland be able to catch up through election day. The answer late on election night became yes and Cleveland was narrowly returned to the White House for a third term. The Cleveland camp saw it much the same way.

President Cleveland was not very successful over the next four years. The economy fell into a recession within the first year of the new term, and this recesion continued on over the next three years. The first two years of the new term were mostly focused on the economy. Cleveland saw his approval rating fall to 35% approve at the end of the year 1898. Cleveland announced in April of 1899 that he would not be a candidate for reelection in the year 1900. This was not taken as much of a surprise.

With Cleveland announcing that he would not seek reelection, the race for the democratic nomination for President came down to William Jennings Bryan and incumbent vice president Adlai Stevenson. At the democratic national convention, Stevenson narrowly won the nomination on the third ballot. Stevenson selected Benjamin Shively of Indana to be his running mate on the democratic ticket.

On the republican side, after much thought about the issue, William McKinley decided to seek  the presdiency again in the year 1900. He surprised himself by easily winning the nomination again. Republican leaders wanted for Theodore Roosevelt to be put on the ticket as the republican vice presidential ticket. Theodore Roosevelt was in turn selected by McKinley to be his running mate.

The polls throughout the campaign were very favorable for the McKinley/Roosevelt republican ticket throughout the campaign. McKinley led Stevenson by seventeen to twenty-one percentage points throughout most of the campaign. Stevenson did cut the margin to thirteen to sixteen percentage points at the close of the campaign. Some democratic officials still holding out hope compared it to four years ago. But, going into election night with a thirteen to sixteen percentage point lead, McKinley and all the republicans expected an easy victory.

Its expected to be an easy victory. Will those polls and predictions prove true, or are we in for another upset. Stevenson/Shively vs McKinley/Roosevelt election night 1900 begins next.

[GPORTER]

Stevenson Takes Early Lead: Another Upset in the Making?...a possibility
We do have some states to project. Lets see here, well first of all. Virgnia and Kentucky are both too close to call. Indiana is too early to call. Remember the distinction. Too close to call means that there are some votes in, but that the margin is just too close. Too early to call means that there are just not enough votes reporting to make a decision. We can declare that vice president Stevenson will win South Carolina and Georgia. William McKinley will carry the state of Vermont, like he did four years ago. But, Stevenson has an early lead. This should be a concern, at least so far tonight, for the McKinley camp.

Adlai Stevenson Wins South Carolina

Adlai Stevenson Wins Georgia

William McKinley Wins Vermont

McKinley: 4        Stevenson: 22        224 needed to win

A pretty big headline tonight. Stevenson has an early lead, it could very well be another democratic upset in the making. We are coming back. Its just getting started.

[GPORTER]

Sigh of Relief for Republicans: McKinley Takes Indiana
That is our projection at this time. Lets bring it up:

William McKinley Wins Indiana

McKinley: 19        Stevenson: 22        224 needed to win

Our panel is with us again tonight. Does this Indiana result mean anything?

Well, it does. McKinley carried it last time and lost nationally, but that year he carried it very narrowly. tonight it seems to be by a wide margin.

We said at the open that an upset was possible for Stevenson seeing his early lead. Any reason to believe that Stevenson could pull this race out?

I don't think so. It might not be a landslide, but I think that Stevenson is pretty much done.

The polls showed something of perhaps a landslide.

Well, Stevenson did narrowly close the gap there at the end. Certainly not as much as Cleveland did in 1896. But, it might mean something.

This is election night 1900 coverage. We are coming back with I believe two more states seeing their polls close. We might have another projection. Stay with us.

McKinley: 19        Stevenson: 22        224 needed to win

election night 1900

[CathKhan]

What's TR been doing? Did he serve in tge Spanish-American War & get elected Governor of NY in 1897 as in OTL?

[GPORTER]

What's TR been doing? Did he serve in tge Spanish-American War & get elected Governor of NY in 1897 as in OTL?

He was elected governor of new york in 1897 and republican leadership is trying to put him away by putting him on the republican ticket.

[CathKhan]

What's TR been doing? Did he serve in tge Spanish-American War & get elected Governor of NY in 1897 as in OTL?

He was elected governor of new york in 1897 and republican leadership is trying to put him away by putting him on the republican ticket.

Mis-typed. Meant 1898.

[GPORTER]

Big Wins for McKinley at the 7:30 time mark
Yes, that early hope for Stevenson might be over and done with. William McKinley will carry Ohio and West Virgnia as the polls close there tonight at 7:30 on the east coast. McKinley wins Ohio and West Virgnia.

William McKinley Wins Ohio

William McKinley Wins West Virgnia

McKinley: 48        Stevenson: 22        224 needed to win

We will have more analysis on those projections coming up. Stay with us. But, McKinley wins Ohio and West Virgnia as the polls close.

McKinley: 48        Stevenson: 22        224 needed to win

election night 1900

[GPORTER]

McKinley Takes A Big Lead; Its Not Over Yet for Stevenson
Welcome back to election night 1900 coverage. It is now 8 o'clock on the east coast and more polls have closed across the country. We have some projections for both candidates, lets look them over:

Adlai Stevenson Wins Alabama

William McKinley Wins Connecticut

William McKinley Wins Delaware

Adlai Stevenson Wins Florida

William McKinley Wins Illinois

William McKinley Wins Maine

William McKinley Wins Massachussetts

Adlai Stevenson Wins Mississippi

William McKinley Wins New Hampshire

William McKinley Wins New Jersey

William McKinley Wins Pennsylvania

William McKinley Wins South Dakota

Adlai Stevenson Wins Texas

Thats a long list of projections. Only Maryland and Missouri join the other two that were already outstanding. McKinley leads in Maryland, Missouri seems to be a dead heat. Both stataes voted for Cleveland last time. Lets pull up the electoral map:

McKinley: 152        Stevenson: 61        224 needed to win

Something I missed earlier, Tennessee is also outstanding at this time. Panel any thoughts?

Let me just say one thing. The McKinley camp is winning some important states as shown on the map. States to watch are basically all of the outstanding states as well as New York which closes its polls at 9 PM.

Theodore Roosevelt, the republican running mate, is the popular governor of New York.

Yes, but he is also opposed by much of the establishment in that state. There could be an upset.

Very quickly before we go to break...

Very quickly, if Stevenson wins New York, and does well in the west, as some polls indicate he might, this race is not over.

But New York is a must win for him.

For him to stay in the race, it is very important.

Back with more coming up.

McKinley: 152        Stevenson: 61        224 needed to win

election night 1900