The candidate for the Democrats was an election in itself. Three contenders showed promising outcomes for a Democratic victory. The first candidate was representative Oscar Underwood of Alabama, he secured the support of the South. The second candidate was Champ Clark, he had support from the rich party members including a newspaper publisher named William Randolph Hearst. The final candidate was Woodrow Wilson, who had just been elected to governer of New Jersey two years earlier. It took 46 ballots, but finally Woodrow"s idea for moral revival of the nation tipped the scale in his favor and won the spot for Democratic candidate. The Republican"s we split between two candidates, William H. Taft and Theodore Roosevelt. Taft controlled most of the convention in Chicago, but when it finally came down to it Taft was chosen. The newly gathered Progressive Party, who were basically Republican, stormed out of the convention and declared it a "fraud." With time running out, !.

             they gathered together and urged Roosevelt to lead a new party. Roosevelt did not think twice, he happily agreed and was nominated for candidate of the Progressive party. The fourth candidate in the election was the small Socialist party and their nomination of Eugene V. Debs.

             As for the issues, the Republicans were for conservation and banking, currency reform, mild revision of the tariff and for regulation of trusts. The Democrats also wanted conservation and banking and currency reform, but the similarities end there. They wanted much lower duties and to end all monopolies.

             The election was not a four-way battle, it was primarily between Roosevelt and Wilson. Taft had very little popular support and Debs was not favored by anyone. With the election down to two, the competition became tough. Both Roosevelt and Wilson supported a much stronger government role in economic affairs, but once again the similarities ended there.