1892 Election (The Hearse at Monticello)

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

With the Populist victory in the 1890 Congressional elections, the last two years of Elizabeth Cady Stanton's administration witnessed the passage of several important pieces of legislation, including the Woman's Rights Act and the Subtreasury Act. The national economy remains sluggish, however, and it is on these lines that the campaign between the two main candidates is playing out. President Stanton having declined a third term, the People's Convention nominated Vice President James H. Kyle for the top office in keeping with the tradition of nominating the incumbent vice president that began in the days of the Civil War. With much of the Populist platform having been accomplished under Weaver and Stanton, Kyle is campaigning mainly on maintaining the progress of the last twelve years, though he has proposed expanding measures to alleviate the troubles of the nation's farmers. Cleveland, meanwhile, has attacked the Populist financial plan as the reason for the continued economic hardship and is calling for a return to hard money. Despite Cleveland's aggressive rhetoric, the leaders of the Democratic Party recognize the need to adopt some Populist policies in order to win the election. The Convention therefore passed over Cleveland's preferred vice presidential candidate, Congressman John G. Carlisle, and instead nominated Congressman Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois. Their hope is that Stevenson's sympathy for certain Populist aims, among them the coinage of silver currency, will draw votes from Kyle in the Midwest, allowing the Democrats to retake the White House for the first time since Salmon P. Chase's administration.

Though the party itself is struggling to survive in the midst of massive defections to the two major parties, the Republican faithful nevertheless maintain that theirs is the true party of the people. Once again, the G.O.P. has nominated Robert Todd Lincoln on a pro-business platform, with reform idol John Sherman as their vice presidential candidate. The Prohibitionists have likewise nominated their party's chairman, Gideon T. Stewart, who unsurprisingly supports prohibition.

Can the one party state be defeated at last? The choice is yours.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Kyle!

[Türkisblau]

Prohibit all the things!

[Mr. Smith]

Stevenson failed top spot, so back to the Populists for me

Kyle

[Antonio the Sixth]

Oh come on guys. I'm a Populist fan as well, but this will be boring if they win every election (and then the Progressives, and then the Socialists, and then the Democrats).

[Sumner 1868]

Kyle!

[ElectionsGuy]

Cleveland/Stevenson

[Zioneer]

Heck with it, I'm bored with the Populists, going for Cleveland.

[Illuminati Blood Drinker]

Unlike some people, I don't ballot for corporate toadies because like, the other guys are sooo boring, omigod.

[Zioneer]

Unlike some people, I don't ballot for corporate toadies because like, the other guys are sooo boring, omigod.

Hey, I'm going to go right back to the Populists next election, I just think that there should at least be an interruption in the dominance of the Populists. Plus, it's a fictional election game.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Unlike some people, I don't ballot for corporate toadies because like, the other guys are sooo boring, omigod.

Hey, I'm going to go right back to the Populists next election, I just think that there should at least be an interruption in the dominance of the Populists. Plus, it's a fictional election game.

Exactly. If this were real life, I would be proudly casting my vote for the Populists in every election, as I expect most forum liberals would. The thing is, though, that if we do that here we're going to run out of progressive causes by 1950 and every post-WWII election will essentially be Bland Progressive A vs. Bland Progressive B. Like Zioneer said, it's not like electing Cleveland in an internet game is actually going to hurt anyone.

[Mr. Smith]

Unlike some people, I don't ballot for corporate toadies because like, the other guys are sooo boring, omigod.

Hey, I'm going to go right back to the Populists next election, I just think that there should at least be an interruption in the dominance of the Populists. Plus, it's a fictional election game.

Exactly. If this were real life, I would be proudly casting my vote for the Populists in every election, as I expect most forum liberals would. The thing is, though, that if we do that here we're going to run out of progressive causes by 1950 and every post-WWII election will essentially be Bland Progressive A vs. Bland Progressive B. Like Zioneer said, it's not like electing Cleveland in an internet game is actually going to hurt anyone.

yes, but it's also a matter of "One party rule" vs "perennial loser" vs "regional party"...any realism here is gone anyway. A Stevenson nomination would've been a good turner,...but heck if that was gonna happen.

So yeah, no point in voting any other way than genuine  when faced with something like this.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Unlike some people, I don't ballot for corporate toadies because like, the other guys are sooo boring, omigod.

Hey, I'm going to go right back to the Populists next election, I just think that there should at least be an interruption in the dominance of the Populists. Plus, it's a fictional election game.

Exactly. If this were real life, I would be proudly casting my vote for the Populists in every election, as I expect most forum liberals would. The thing is, though, that if we do that here we're going to run out of progressive causes by 1950 and every post-WWII election will essentially be Bland Progressive A vs. Bland Progressive B. Like Zioneer said, it's not like electing Cleveland in an internet game is actually going to hurt anyone.

yes, but it's also a matter of "One party rule" vs "perennial loser" vs "regional party"...any realism here is gone anyway. A Stevenson nomination would've been a good turner,...but heck if that was gonna happen.

So yeah, no point in voting any other way than genuine  when faced with something like this.

Fair enough. I wasn't trying to pressure anyone into voting a certain way, just explaining the rationale for a progressive voting for Cleveland.

[SWE]

Unlike some people, I don't ballot for corporate toadies because like, the other guys are sooo boring, omigod.

[Oak Hills]

What the heck, I'll vote Prohibition just for fun.

[VPH]

Voted Prohibition for the first time. Doesn't seem like anything will change with the populists.

[Antonio the Sixth]

If these results hold, the map is gonna be fun.

[Zioneer]

Dang, should've gone for Prohibition. At least that would've been unique, we haven't had a Prohibition candidate elected president in any election game I know of.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

1892 Presidential Election

Fmr. Governor Grover Cleveland (Democratic-New York)/ Congressman Adlai E. Stevenson (Democratic-Illinois: 240 Electoral Votes; 42.1% popular votes
Vice President James H. Kyle (People's-Ohio)/ Senator James G. Field (People's-Virginia): 172 Electoral Votes; 26.3% popular votes
Mr. Robert T. Lincoln (Republican-New York)/ Senator John Sherman (Republican-Ohio): 23 Electoral Votes; 15.8% popular votes
Chairman Gideon T. Stewart (Prohibition-Ohio)/ Mr. James Cranfill (Prohibition-Texas): 9 Electoral Votes; 15.8% popular votes

All in all, the presidential election of 1892 resembled more a collection of several regional races than a truly national campaign between the two front runners, Populist James H. Kyle and Democrat Grover Cleveland. In New England, where the Populists were weakest, the battle was between Cleveland and Robert Todd Lincoln, who had been stubbornly nominated by the dying Republicans, and the resultant bloodbath ended in a draw. In the South, the selection of Virginian James Field for vice president and the defection of black voters to the Populist fold handed the region to Kyle, who likewise swept the Plains States. Cleveland, meanwhile, would perform best in the Mid Atlantic states, though he also made headway in parts of the South and in California. Though the messages of the candidates varied from region to region, the general theme was the state of the national economy, which remained sluggish in spite of the actions of the Stanton Administration.

The real battle, however, was in the Mid West, and it was there that the election would be won or lost. As the candidate of what was essentially a party of farmers, the advantage lay with Vice President Kyle, but the failures of the Stanton Administration and the persistent depression dragged the region into play. In terms of raw vote totals, Kyle narrowly bested Cleveland, while Prohibitionist Gideon Stewart ran a strong third and actually carried Minnesota; but the fact that he had had to fight at all; the fact that Cleveland was able to win states against a Populist candidate in a region of farmers, spelled the Ohioan's doom. When all was said and done, Cleveland had a slim majority in the electoral college and a decisive plurality in the popular vote, returning his party to the White House for the first time in twenty years.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Looks like a fusion of the Republicans and Prohibitionists would yield a 3-way competitive party system.