An Examination of the La Crosse Press and the Republican Party in the Wisconsin Election of 1904

[摘要] The year 1904 produced a political battle in the WisconsinRepublican party that would affect the state;;s futurefor nearly a decade thereafter. The Republican party inWisconsin was split into two factions in the late 1890;;s.Former Congressman Robert M. LaFollette;;s faction, the;;insurgents;; or ;;half-breeds;; was opposed by the dominantRepublican faction known as the ;;stalwarts.;; The 1904gubernatorial campaign in the state of Wisconsin producedemotional factionalism in the state Republican party whichspread into every community.The purpose of this study is to examine the editorialopinion expressed in three La Crosse, Wisconsin newspapersduring the gubernatorial campaign of 1904 and, in so doing,to determine the position taken by each paper concerning thestate Republican party strife and the key issues of the campaign.The three newspapers are the La Crosse Chronicle,the La Crosse Leader-Press and the La Crosse Tribune.A short overview of the 1904 campaign and election isfollowed by an examination of the editorial content of the three newspapers during the period from January 14, 1904 toNovember 9, 1904. The examination revealed several tendencies.First, the Leader-Press maintained a neutral stand onthe gubernatorial campaign, but endorsed the primary electionlaw referendum. Second, the Chronicle supported the stalwartcandidates and denounced the primary election law referendum.Third, the Tribune initially maintained an independent politicalopinion but eventually abandoned that position andsupported the Democratic Party and it;;s candidates. TheTribune argued that the primary election law referendum wasnot a political issue in the campaign.

[发布机构] University of Wisconsin

[效力级别] Republican Party (Wis.) -- History

[关键词] Press and politics -- Wisconsin -- La Crosse;Republican Party (Wis.) -- History;Elections -- Wisconsin;Wisconsin -- Politics and government -- 1848-1950;La Follette;Robert M. -- 1855-1925