The Bull Moose

August 5^th, 1912

I’m currently at the Progressive Party Convention in Chicago. It looks like Roosevelt has formed a new party, nearly guaranteeing a victory for Wilson and his Ilk. Over 2,000 delegates are here, quite a few of which are women, came together to nominate Roosevelt. Jane Addams gave the seconding speech for Roosevelt’s nomination, probably a ploy to make him seem like a suitable candidate.

The Progressives see the Constitution as a “living thing, growing with the people’s growth, strengthening with the people’s strength, aiding the people in their struggle for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, permitting the people to meet their needs as conditions change.” This is a slippery slope, and goes to prove just how much of a socialist Roosevelt is.

Their platform also has some socialist tendencies. They want to provide a National Health Service, social insurance, farm relief, workers compensation, and a limit on injunctions in strikes.

Early guesses are that the party will be called the Bull Moose Party, a reference to something Roosevelt said after he was shot at a while back.

Some are left questioning whether this is a move to keep Taft from being president or if he wants to build a truly progressive party. The coming years will tell. On another note, the coming posts will compare the views of the candidates on certain issues.

Silly Socialists

July 5^th, 1912

Despite receiving three percent of the popular vote in 1908, I somehow forgot to mention the nomination of Eugene Debs by the Socialist Party. From May 12^th to the 18^th, the Socialists discussed ways in which to better publicize their ideals.

A number of anti-Debs candidates have been talked about, but the only credible ones are foreign born. Anyone who takes Debs and his running-mate, Emil Seidel, seriously has been swindled. Especially after the bombing of the LA times back in 1910, probably was due to those pesky socialists.

Word From the Democratic Convention

July 3^rd, 1912

I just returned from Baltimore for the Democratic Convention. President Taft will be running against Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey, more on him below. This was quite the battle between Wilson, Champ Clark and Oscar Underwood.

To win the Democratic nomination a candidate needs two-thirds of the delegates, something Clark was not able to do as the early leader. It took 46 ballots to determine who their nominee was going to be. It probably would have taken longer if Underwood had not released his delegates for Wilson. Shortly after Thomas R. Marshall was named his vice presidential nominee.

Woodrow Wilson is the former president of Princeton University and the current governor on New Jersey. If he is nominated, many will suffer. This is obvious because of his contempt for the tariff that has brought our country so much prosperity. Despite taking so long to nominate a candidate, the Democrats looked more organized this year and pose a risk to the reelection of President Taft.

Good and Bad News

June 25^th, 1912

Last week the Republican National Convention commenced at the Chicago Coliseum in Chicago, IL. The good news is that William Howard Raft and James S. Sherman were nominated for president and vice president respectively. The bad news is that a progressive bolt from the party is imminent.

While Roosevelt had won nine of the primaries, he could not hold back the potential of Taft. Taft’s final tally was 561, well over the 50% needed. Roosevelt finished second with an unimpressive 107 votes, La Follette was third with 36. 322 Roosevelt delegates abstained, signaling that a new party may form.

Being the wimp that he is, Roosevelt spent most of the convention crying about some votes that may have been stolen from him. Many critics think that it would have behooved Roosevelt to prove Taft in-electable (this is certainly not the case) instead of trying to win the nomination through protocol.

The coming weeks will be important for us Republicans. If Roosevelt knew what was good for the 1912 election he would stay in the party and support President Taft.

Today the Democratic National Convention Commences, look for a follow up post sometime next week.

Upcoming Republican Convention

June 11^th, 1912

The Republican Convention is next week in Chicago. Beginning on the 18^th the Republicans will be determining their platform and candidates for president and vice president.This blog fully supports President William Howard Taft because of the prosperity that he has brought this great country. There is no need for change, especially in comparison to Taft’s main rivals for the nomination

On February 21^st Theodore Roosevelt announced that he would be running for the Republican nomination. No surprise after the disagreements that he has had with his successor, President Taft. Most believe that Roosevelt is angry over Taft releasing Gifford Pinchot, Roosevelt’s choice for the Chief of the United States Forest Service. Some worry that Roosevelt waited too long to announce his candidacy, we’ll have to see what this convention holds in store.

Roosevelt believes that the Republicans should stand for social justice through federal action.President Taft has aptly proclaimed that Roosevelt “is in favor of innovations and changes that would make the Constitution worth little more than the paper it is written on.” This blog tends to agree.

Robert “Battle Bob” La Follette has also announced his candidacy for the nomination. As a progressive he may have a problem competing with Roosevelt. Some are worried about his radical nature for attacking railroads, criticizing colleagues, and his disdain for eastern business methods; still others are concerned about his devotion to campaigning given the amount of time he has been spending working on his biography.

Keep up with this blog throughout the election cycle to find out more of the details. The next post will come after the convention, hopefully Taft will be re-nominated.