However, Bryan is still popular in parts of the South. Most of the Southern political establishment is behind Dewey, that's for sure. But there are still plenty of Southerners who felt that the convention betrayed Bryan. I think the 1912 election would have gone differently if the delegates snubbed the sitting President Roosevelt for someone who wasn't even President. You are right that La Follette has a similar appeal as Bryan. he'd easily win the West in a Dewey v. La Follette match, it will be trickier with Bryan thrown in. This isn't to say that Bryan is going to win (You'll probably have to wait till next week for that), but I think you've underestimated how much fight he still has left.
As far as the House and Senate, both are narrowly controlled by Republicans. However, Democrats control a majority of state delegations to the House of Representatives. Here is a map:
However, Bryan is still popular in parts of the South. Most of the Southern political establishment is behind Dewey, that's for sure. But there are still plenty of Southerners who felt that the convention betrayed Bryan. I think the 1912 election would have gone differently if the delegates snubbed the sitting President Roosevelt for someone who wasn't even President. You are right that La Follette has a similar appeal as Bryan. he'd easily win the West in a Dewey v. La Follette match, it will be trickier with Bryan thrown in. This isn't to say that Bryan is going to win (You'll probably have to wait till next week for that), but I think you've underestimated how much fight he still has left.
Problem for Bryan in the South is that the Populists which form his core base of support were cut off at every turn by the Democratic Monopolies that existed there, and what success they did have came about because of their cooperation with the local Republican Parties, who will have no interest at this juncture in beginning anew such efforts. That means that while he may have the support in the South, Bryan is really going to struggle getting those people ballots, and that extends to a large portion of the country where the People's Party will presently really have no established presence, nor sufficient funds to quickly build one up (which the Progressives of 1912 did); if it weren't for those two things I'd actually wager that he could potentially surpass Dewey in much the same way Roosevelt did Taft given time, but those handicaps are really significant for the time.
So in short, I'm not saying that Bryan is a weak candidate, but that unfortunate circumstances as they are are liable to make his performance underwhelming, least as I see it.
As far as the House and Senate, both are narrowly controlled by Republicans. However, Democrats control a majority of state delegations to the House of Representatives.
He'll need to do that for sure. However, many of his supporters were simply voting for him out of party loyalty, those people are going to vote for Dewey.
Problem for Bryan in the South is that the Populists which form his core base of support were cut off at every turn by the Democratic Monopolies that existed there, and what success they did have came about because of their cooperation with the local Republican Parties, who will have no interest at this juncture in beginning anew such efforts. That means that while he may have the support in the South, Bryan is really going to struggle getting those people ballots, and that extends to a large portion of the country where the People's Party will presently really have no established presence, nor sufficient funds to quickly build one up (which the Progressives of 1912 did); if it weren't for those two things I'd actually wager that he could potentially surpass Dewey in much the same way Roosevelt did Taft given time, but those handicaps are really significant for the time.
So in short, I'm not saying that Bryan is a weak candidate, but that unfortunate circumstances as they are are liable to make his performance underwhelming, least as I see it.
You are forgetting (or maybe I haven't explained well enough yet) that much has changed between 1896 and 1904. Many state Democratic Parties are now firmly under the control of Bryan supporters, mostly in the West but some in the South as well. It's a bit easier for a poor white man to have his voice heard in the deep South TTL than OTL.
Yes, but I suspect loyalties are going to be a bit fluid here if/when the election is thrown into the House.
Definitely, Some Eastern Republicans might be open to Dewey (a non-partisan figure in the mold of Eisenhower) while some Western Democrats are former Republicans who would be open to voting for La Follette.
Many state Democratic Parties are now firmly under the control of Bryan supporters, mostly in the West but some in the South as well. It's a bit easier for a poor white man to have his voice heard in the deep South TTL than OTL.
Again, being a supporter of Jennings Bryan does not necessarily mean they are willing to buck the Democratic Party to do so. Hate to constantly hark back to them, but many Republican State Parties were controlled by Theodore Roosevelt's allies in 1912 and carried that support to the convention where he lost; however, when it came down to following him out those doors only two, those of California and South Dakota, actually did so. Now in this case I can certainly concede the Prairie West where the Populists were allowed a lot of influence, but the South historically held them down or kept them out of serious positions of power, bar those who were willing to compromise on certain issues such as Thomas Watson; the Dewey campaign in 1900 wouldn't have banked on the South rejecting Jennings Bryan historically if this wasn't the case (which they did, but it wasn't enough to save Dewey's flagging campaign), though I'm not sure what the feeling was in 1908.
Still, I already know you've got your map and percentages for the election all worked out; I suppose I should wait on that before commenting so much.
So, basically, I have most of the next update typed out, however, I messed up the math (I'm not good at math) for a lot of the states. In my word document, I apparently reversed Dewey's results in New England, his votes in Connecticut were counted as votes in Vermont, and a bunch of other things as well.
The news that William Jennings Bryan was still a candidate for President was not received well by the other main candidates. Dewey, who before was all but guaranteed victory due to a split Republican ticket, now realized that the election was far from over. The Lodge campaign was perhaps hit the worst. His strategy was to aim for third place in the Electoral College by capturing Massachusetts. But with Bryan in the race he might come in fourth place, which would shut him out of the House vote entirely. The La Follette campaign saw both setbacks and new opportunities coming from the Populist candidacy. On one hand, Bryan neutralized much of the Republican Party’s strategy to bring the West back into the fold. On the other hand, it split the Democratic vote. The states of the Upper South were now possible Republican wins.
Robert La Follette decided to imitate Bryan’s successful strategy and actively campaign. He made stops in both the large cities and the smaller towns in the Midwest. He also campaigned in Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, and Arkansas. La Follette had no delusions about winning a majority of the vote in these states; he simply hoped to get more votes than Dewey or Bryan. However, many of the people who would support La Follette, particularly African-Americans, were disenfranchised. In addition, some Southern Republicans supported the Independent Republican ticket, meaning that La Follette couldn’t even be sure of receiving as many votes as McKinley had during his campaigns. Meanwhile his running mate Morgan Bulkeley was sent to secure the Northeast against the Lodge insurgency.
-Excerpt from Fighting Bob, Sumner Sewall, Howard Publishing Co., 1951.
George Dewey made some campaign stops of his own. He generally focused on the big cities. He spoke in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, among many others. However, he also visited his sparsely populated home state of Vermont and its neighbor New Hampshire. Dewey enjoyed many advantages; he had the most financial and media support and he appealed to wide segments of the population. Northeastern Democrats who opposed Bryan’s populism could once again proudly proclaim that they were Democrats. He also appealed to many Republicans as he was a war hero and a New England man. He avoided divisive issues like tariffs and the Gold versus Silver debate. But this also revealed a weakness; he never took strong positions on most of the issues.
-Excerpt from America's Admiral, Arnold Warner, Howard Publishing Co., 1945.
William Jennings Bryan was about to embark on another one of his whistle-stop tours. Only this time, the route he took was quite different. He started in the South in July and made his way into the Midwest in October. The South, especially the Deep South, had the best opportunity for capturing electoral votes. He was highly popular in the region and a vote for Bryan in South Carolina wasn’t going to change the fact that Yankee Republicans weren’t going to win that state. His reception in the South was even greater than he anticipated. People came out in droves to listen to the President speak. Bryan was also conscious about the popular vote, seeing as he had lost the popular vote in 1896. He believed that if he received more votes than any other candidate, he would have a mandate and the House of Representatives would vote for him for President. Thus, he recruited every notable supporter of his in the Northeast in a get-out-the-vote effort that would try to find everyone who liked him in the region and get them to the polls. Among these Northeastern supporters of his were oil baron Thomas Hisgen from Massachusetts, the late Vice President Arthur Sewall’s business associates in Maine, various wealthy Northeasterners who owned stocks in Silver mining companies, and of course, William Randolph Hearst.
-Excerpt from The Guide to the Executive Mansion, an in Depth Look at America's Presidents by Benjamin Buckley, Harvard Press, 1999.
Henry Cabot Lodge determined that he had no choice but to actively campaign as well. He campaigned on being the only candidate that could restore the Gold Standard. He painted La Follette as a clone of Bryan, a Democrat in sheep’s clothing. He argued for American Imperialism. He traveled across New England and then to New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. He needed to either win those largely-populated states, or hope that Bryan could completely eclipse Dewey in the South if he hoped to come in third place in the Electoral College. He had a respectable media and financial machine behind him, along with the support of many local Republicans. However, he was increasingly obvious that he was a regional candidate. He was the only one of the four major candidates to not have ballot access in all 45 states. And in many of the states where he had ballot access he simply took away votes from La Follette.
Also in the running was Socialist activist Eugene Debs. His running mate was Bill Haywood of Utah. Socialists saw the election of 1904 as their golden opportunity. They saw the forces of capitalism divided between four candidates. So Debs and Haywood campaigned across the country. In some states the Debs/Haywood ticket would even come in third place. The Socialist Labor Party would win some seats in state legislatures that year. The famous Adolphe Cartier[1] distributed campaign literature for the Socialists, even though he could not vote as he wasn’t a US citizen. His experiences in the United States had an effect on him. This election in particular greatly lowered his opinion of the American political system. In 1906 he went on to write Démocratie Américaine, or American Democracy, which catapulted him to fame and an eventual political career in France.
(Bill Haywood was very much the equal of Eugene Debs)
-Excerpt from Eugene Debs and Big Bill, a new look into America's Early Socialist Movement, Anne Benton, Justice Press, 2004.
Dewey had a plausible path to the 238 Electoral votes required to win the election outright. It was a longshot, but if he held the entire South and most of the Northeast he could do it. For this reason he was the favorite to win. La Follette was also able to gain the necessary votes, but everything would have to go just right. Bryan had no realistic shot at an electoral majority. Thus Dewey was considered most likely to win, with La Follette a close second, and Bryan a distant third. The Dewey camp viewed Bryan as a nuisance, forcing them to tie down resources in Texas when they were needed in New York against the Republicans. While the Midwest decided 1896 and 1900, most believed that the Northeast would decide 1904. Dewey was in the best position to win that region. La Follette had to contend with the Independent Republican ticket, which had most of its support in that region. He hoped to contain Lodge to Massachusetts. While Bulkeley was campaigning for the Republican ticket in Montpelier, he stated that “I am as much in favor of the Gold Standard as Lodge.” This was almost immediately misrepresented by “yellow journalists” as being La Follette’s position. La Follette tried to distance himself from Bulkeley and emphasized his positions that appealed to Western and Midwestern voters. As a result, many voters in both the East and West were alienated.
Just as La Follette’s campaign was losing ground to a resurgent Lodge campaign in the Northeast, it had to contend with a new threat. Bryan had finished his tour of the South and was entering the Midwest. To counter Bryan’s appeal to voters in that region, La Follette doubled down further on his Midwestern populist positions. A La Follette Speech in the middle of October of 1904 would sound similar to a Bryan speech given at the same time. Meanwhile, Dewey was delighted that Bryan was finished causing trouble in the South. He had long ago determined that the Midwest would not be a major part of his strategy. He was confident that the Northeast and South would carry him on to victory. Dewey did not engage in much criticism of Bryan or his policies, especially after Spain announced a withdrawal from the Philippines in the middle of the election. Instead, he emphasized that Washington had set a precedent, and that Bryan, despite his merits and accomplishments, was in no position to do what Washington would not. This was the position of most Americans.
In the end, Bryan miscalculated. It was several days until most of the state results were made known. It was clear that he had gotten third place in the Electoral College. George Dewey had the most electoral votes while La Follette was not too far behind. La Follette received the greatest number of popular votes, followed by Bryan. Dewey came in third place with slightly under a quarter of the vote. Lodge came in fourth place in both the electoral and popular vote count; he could only hope to be in the running for the House vote if there were enough faithless electors to turn the tide. When the Electoral College convened, there indeed were many faithless electors (though not enough to put Lodge in third place), mostly at the expense of La Follette and Dewey. Three Ohio electors, possibly influenced by William McKinley, went against their state’s wishes and chose Lodge. They were joined by an Illinois and a Kentucky elector. Meanwhile, one elector each from Tennessee and North Carolina abandoned La Follette for Bryan. Bryan also received electoral votes from the Dewey States of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. And finally, an elector pledged to Bryan in Wyoming voted for the Debs/Haywood ticket.
George Dewey (D-VT)/John W. Smith (D-MD): 3,640,002 votes (24.55%), 176 Electoral Votes Robert La Follette (R-WI)/Morgan Bulkeley (R-CT): 4,525,170 votes (30.13%), 160 Electoral Votes William Jennings Bryan (D-NE)/Thomas Watson (P-GA): 4,194,827 votes (28.29%), 104 Electoral Votes Henry Cabot Lodge (IR-MA)/Joseph B. Foraker (IR-OH): 1,997,201 votes (13.47%), 35 Electoral Votes Eugene V. Debs (S-IN)/Bill Haywood (S-UT): 310,753 votes (2.10%), 1 Electoral Vote Others [2]: 157,954 votes (1.07%), 0 Electoral Votes
The long and bitter election of 1904 was not over yet. The election went to Congress where each state delegation to the House of Representatives could choose Dewey, La Follette, or Bryan. 23 state delegations were needed for a majority. The Senate was given a choice between John Smith and Morgan Bulkeley for Vice President. Since Republicans had a majority in the Senate and Bulkeley was acceptable to Lodge supporters, he was quickly elected Vice President. In the House, it was a different story. At first, Dewey had the most state delegations at 16. La Follette and Bryan each had 11 state delegations behind them. There were 7 state delegations that were either deadlocked or undecided. Most of these states had two representatives who couldn’t come to an agreement. La Follette was a representative and thus was able to make a case for why the others should vote for him. The other representatives didn’t care much for his campaigning though.
(After 14 million Americans couldn't elect a president, 386 of them would)
The Bryan supporters soon realized that they would not be able to get enough state delegations to win. Thus, the majority of them began to debate the merits of Dewey v. La Follette. Even the Nebraska delegation abandoned hope of electing Bryan. At the same time, some of the pro-Lodge Republicans began to switch their support to Dewey. In the end, Dewey won 23 state delegations while La Follette won 18. The single representatives from Nevada and Idaho stuck with Bryan. The delegations in Kansas and South Dakota were deadlocked. Dewey, the inoffensive war hero would be the 26th President of the United States. William Jennings Bryan was disappointed in the results, but came to terms with the fact that it was not God’s will for him to win. He told his supporters to unite behind the new president. For Lodge, the election signaled the end of his presidential ambitions. For La Follette, the whole ordeal left a bitter taste in his mouth. He would go on to advocate for the abolition of the Electoral College. For most of the country, people were simply happy for it to be over.
-Excerpt from America's Silver Age, Edward S. Scott, Patriot Publishers, 2017.
1: This is the first major character that doesn't exist OTL that I put in this story (though many of the authors are not real people). Lets say his birth certificate was lost.
2: Mostly the Prohibition Party
I doubt someone as ambitious as Bryan will retire completely from politics. The question is, though, which route will Bryan go? A career in public service? Traveling the nation as an orator, speaking out for the causes he believes in? He could also hide away for some time until he senses an opportunity, but I doubt that will happen.
1897-1901: William Jennings Bryan/Arthur Sewell (Democratic) 1896: William McKinley/Garret Hobart (Republican) 1900: William McKinley/Robert Todd Lincoln (Republican) 1901-1905: William Jennings Bryan/Vacant (Democratic) 1905-Present: George Dewey/Morgan Bulkeley (Democratic/Republican) 1904: George Dewey/John W. Smith (Democratic), Robert M. La Follette/Morgan Bulkeley (Republican), William Jennings Bryan/Thomas E. Watson (Populist), Henry Cabot Lodge/Joseph B. Foraker (Independent Republican)
I doubt someone as ambitious as Bryan will retire completely from politics. The question is, though, which route will Bryan go? A career in public service? Traveling the nation as an orator, speaking out for the causes he believes in? He could also hide away for some time until he senses an opportunity, but I doubt that will happen.
The story of William Jennings Bryan certainly doesn't end here. He is the most important character in this story. When Bryan dies there will be several chapters explaining his influence on politics, foreign affairs, and even sports.
However, this TL can be divided into four unofficial parts. 1896 to 1904 can be thought of as part one. The second will begin in 1905 and will be ended by something I won't give away, but it is a great tragedy.
The next two chapters will deal with foreign affairs, one will deal with the Spain (which will feature prominently in this TL) and the other will deal with China. After that we'll come back to America and look at how Dewey is running the country as well as what Bryan is up to.
I personally see him pulling a Teddy Roosevelt and running in 1908, on among other things the abolishment of the Electoral College, like La Follette. I mean, he run unsuccesfully for presidency 3 times in OTL, so it is definetely within reason, not to mention that he is still young, charismatic, has won second place in the popular vote and is already the symbol of American progressivism. Also, personally, I would love to see a Bryan vs Roosevelt. I don't also exclude a withdrawal from politics and a return with the aforementioned platform in 1912 or even in 1916, most probably against a Republican administration. I would love the most at this TL if it would feature a Bryan-led America during WWI.
I personally see him pulling a Teddy Roosevelt and running in 1908, on among other things the abolishment of the Electoral College, like La Follette. I mean, he run unsuccesfully for presidency 3 times in OTL, so it is definetely within reason, not to mention that he is still young, charismatic, has won second place in the popular vote and is already the symbol of American progressivism. Also, personally, I would love to see a Bryan vs Roosevelt. I don't also exclude a withdrawal from politics and a return with the aforementioned platform in 1912 or even in 1916, most probably against a Republican administration. I would love the most at this TL if it would feature a Bryan-led America during WWI.
I can't even remotely endorse that electoral result and hold to my previous observations, even when accounting for the events of the campaign proper as you wrote them. That said its your story, just a black mark as far as it goes for me.
The election in the House however more or less went as I thought it might, outside of additional defections from Dewey to Bryan initially.
I doubt someone as ambitious as Bryan will retire completely from politics. The question is, though, which route will Bryan go? A career in public service? Traveling the nation as an orator, speaking out for the causes he believes in? He could also hide away for some time until he senses an opportunity, but I doubt that will happen.
I can't even remotely endorse that electoral result and hold to my previous observations, even when accounting for the events of the campaign proper as you wrote them. That said its your story, just a black mark as far as it goes for me.
The election in the House however more or less went as I thought it might, outside of additional defections from Dewey to Bryan initially.
Well, at least you believe agree that Dewey winning is realistic and thus having Dewey be the president is plausible. I was actually surprised that you thought he had the best chance.
I went through several scenarios for this election. 1908 is definitely going to be Republican v. Democrat with minor third party. While I was calculating the state-by-state results I kept asking myself "why didn't I just make Bryan bow out of the race?" For 1896 I just figured out how many votes were necessary to flip the required states to Bryan, added a few tens of thousands of votes, and then left it at that. In 1900 I kind of just estimated what the popular vote totals would look like.
Well, at least you believe agree that Dewey winning is realistic and thus having Dewey be the president is plausible. I was actually surprised that you thought he had the best chance.
The way I saw it Dewey would have held the South with little trouble, Bryan possibly performing well in a few States but Dewey largely being secure there. That and the Lodge people breaking significantly his way would have given him a good chance at a plurality as well as carrying the key states needed to win. La Follette never really had the same chance given he was largely competing with Bryan's constituency and was bound to face defections to Dewey to some degree, but he had an outside chance if George Dewey made a real slip. Bryan, well, Bryan shouldn't have come close, but I've said that piece before.
I went through several scenarios for this election. 1908 is definitely going to be Republican v. Democrat with minor third party. While I was calculating the state-by-state results I kept asking myself "why didn't I just make Bryan bow out of the race?" For 1896 I just figured out how many votes were necessary to flip the required states to Bryan, added a few tens of thousands of votes, and then left it at that. In 1900 I kind of just estimated what the popular vote totals would look like.
Well you wanted to make the 1904 race interesting, and honestly I find no fault in that, would've done the same myself. No issues with the previous elections either, they're well done, its just the performance of Bryan and Lodge in the latest one. As a side-note though, while I understand why you had Bryan win in 1900, part of me is curious if you had planned on a hypothetical of McKinley winning in 1900, with Bryan later pulling a Cleveland in 1904......
-George Dewey received the highest percentage of the vote in the state of Mississippi (60%). His worst state was Nevada, where he received 3% if the vote.
-Robert La Follette's best state was Wisconsin (55%). His worst state was South Carolina, where he received 7% of the vote.
-William Jennings Bryan's best state was Nevada (71%). His worst state was Rhode Island where he received 10% of the vote.
-Henry Cabot Lodge's best state was Massachusetts (53%). His worst state was South Carolina, where he received 1% of the vote. He was not on the ballot in every state.
-Eugene Debs' best state was Nevada (7%). He received less than 1% of the vote in multiple states. He was not on the ballot in every state.
Regional Results:
Northeast:
George Dewey was very popular in the Northeast, unusually so for a Democrat. This was also where more than half of Lodge's supporters lived. Robert La Follette came close in many of these states, especially Bulkeley's home state of Connecticut. Bryan also made a surprisingly respectable showing in these states, winning 20% in Maine. Lodge came in first place in New England while Dewey won the Mid-Atlantic states of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
George Dewey won 1,112,997 votes (27.68%).
Henry Cabot Lodge won 1,077,743 votes (27.00%).
Robert La Follette won 969,870 votes (24.12%).
William Jennings Bryan won 751,126 votes (18.68%).
Eugene Debs won 86,359 votes (2.15%).
Other candidates won 40,377 votes (1.00%).
New England:
Henry Cabot Lodge won 370,014 votes (40.3%).
George Dewey won 210,013 votes (22.87%).
Robert La Follette won 196,909 votes (21.44%).
William Jennings Bryan won 140,057 votes (15.25%).
Other candidates won 9354 votes (1.02%).
Eugene Debs won 9347 votes (1.02%).
Mid-Atlantic:
George Dewey won 902,984 votes (29.10%).
Robert La Follette won 772,961 votes (24.91%).
Henry Cabot Lodge won 707,729 votes (22.81%).
William Jennings Bryan won 611,069 votes (19.69%).
Eugene Debs won 77,012 votes (2.48%).
Other candidates won 31,023 (1.00%).
Midwest:
Robert La Follette dominated this region, winning every single state. However, Bryan had many supporters in the region and nearly won Iowa. Dewey's performance was underwhelming as he wrote off most of this region. Most of Lodge's support in this region came from Ohio and Illinois. Debs received 5% of the vote in his home state of Indiana.
Robert La Follette won 1,841,847 votes (38.87%).
William Jennings Bryan won 1,256,370 votes (26.52%).
George Dewey won 989,534 votes (20.88%).
Henry Cabot Lodge won 477,407 votes (10.08%).
Eugene Debs won 124,416 votes (2.63%).
Other candidates won 46,607 votes (0.98%).
South:
George Dewey was the strongest candidate in this region, though Bryan and La Follette made impressive showings here. La Follette actually won the highest number of votes in the Upper South as many of those states were three-way competitions. In the Deep South it was a competition between Dewey and Bryan. Alabama was strongly pro-Bryan while Georgia and Florida were likely swayed by his visits to those states. Lodge was largely irrelevant outside of certain parts of the Upper South. This region, with the exception of West Virginia, was not very receptive to Eugene Debs' message.
George Dewey won 1,326,615 votes (31.59%).
William Jennings Bryan won 1,301,167 votes (30.99%).
Robert La Follette won 1,126,026 votes (26.82%).
Henry Cabot Lodge won 333,724 votes (7.95%).
Other candidates won 42,363 votes (1.01%).
Eugene Debs won 39,469 votes (0.94%).
Upper South:
Robert La Follette won 868,449 votes (30.39%).
George Dewey won 825,397 votes (28.89%).
William Jennings Bryan won 802,444 votes (28.08%).
Henry Cabot Lodge won 300,794 votes (10.52%).
Eugene Debs won 33,405 votes (1.17%).
Other candidates won 29,205 votes (1.02%).
Deep South:
George Dewey won 531,619 votes 39.65%
William Jennings Bryan won 498,723 votes (37.20%).
Robert La Follette won 257,527 votes (19.21%).
Henry Cabot Lodge won 32,930 votes (2.46%).
Other candidates won 13,158 votes (0.98%).
Eugene Debs won 6,064 votes (0.45%).
West:
The West was Bryan country, especially the mountain states. Robert La Follette had considerable appeal in this region, but was ultimately unable to win more than two states (California and Oregon). Dewey was a non-factor outside of the West coast. This was Debs' best region and he out-performed Lodge in many of these states.
William Jennings Bryan won 886,164 votes (47.42%).
Robert La Follette won 587,427 votes (31.43%).
George Dewey won 210,856 votes (11.28%).
Henry Cabot Lodge won 108,327 votes (5.80%).
Eugene Debs won 60,509 votes (3.25%).
Other candidates won 27,495 votes (1.52%).
Great Plains:
William Jennings Bryan won 385,948 votes (49.14%).
Robert La Follette won 263,553 votes (33.56%).
George Dewey won 69,203 votes (8.81%).
Henry Cabot Lodge won 33,352 votes (4.25%).
Eugene Debs won 23,245 votes (2.96%).
Other candidates won 12,149 votes (1.55%).
Mountain West:
William Jennings Bryan won 315,370 votes (59.79%).
Robert La Follette won 132,618 votes (25.14%).
George Dewey won 28,500 votes (5.40%).
Eugene Debs won 26,047 votes (4.94%).
Henry Cabot Lodge won 16,185 votes (3.07%).
Other candidates won 9,592 votes (1.82%).
West Coast:
Robert La Follette won 191,256 votes (34.40%).
William Jennings Bryan won 184,846 votes (33.24%).
George Dewey won 113,153 votes (20.35%).
Henry Cabot Lodge won 58,790 votes (10.57%).
Eugene Debs won 11,217 votes (2.02%).
Other candidates won 5,754 votes (1.03%).
The way I saw it Dewey would have held the South with little trouble, Bryan possibly performing well in a few States but Dewey largely being secure there. That and the Lodge people breaking significantly his way would have given him a good chance at a plurality as well as carrying the key states needed to win. La Follette never really had the same chance given he was largely competing with Bryan's constituency and was bound to face defections to Dewey to some degree, but he had an outside chance if George Dewey made a real slip. Bryan, well, Bryan shouldn't have come close, but I've said that piece before.
Well you wanted to make the 1904 race interesting, and honestly I find no fault in that, would've done the same myself. No issues with the previous elections either, they're well done, its just the performance of Bryan and Lodge in the latest one. As a side-note though, while I understand why you had Bryan win in 1900, part of me is curious if you had planned on a hypothetical of McKinley winning in 1900, with Bryan later pulling a Cleveland in 1904......
I briefly considered it as I was coming up with ideas for this TL. I also considered having Bryan face off against Mark Hanna.
I did consider having Bryan win in 1904 and then eventually get voted out in 1912, but I abandoned that one a while back. In my original Bryan TL he won 5 consecutive terms.
I feel bad that Bryan abandoned the Philippines to suffer more years of Spanish tyranny. They could've taken it away from Spain, make it a protectorate, get a naval base and an access to the Chinese market, which the American businesses wanted for a long time.
And I don't think Spain can hold onto Manila much longer. They can't fully suppress the rebellion at this point, and sending more troops will just create a Vietnam situation. They might as well sell it to another colonial power.
But then again, this is an American timeline, so I won't press further.
