1906 Puns

Winning the presidency with one of the closest margins in American history, William Randolph Hearst entered office far short of a policy mandate, with his primary platform plank of the repeal of prohibition failing to make any significant congressional headway, while the economy has seen its first major downturn since the Bragg Presidency in what has been called the Panic of 1905, with Hearst insisting upon the passage of his legislative agenda, primarily prohibition but also the municipal ownership of public utilities, as a means of amelioration for the recession, while ending American sovereignty over Moroland while extending a de facto protectorate over the rest of the Philippines. Yet, the continuing battle over prohibition and the Panic of 1905 have, for many, taken the back seat to the growing crisis south of the border. With a peasants revolt breaking out against the Third Mexican Empire in the state of Morelos and spreading across Mexico, President Hearst ordered American Marines to capture the port of Veracruz on grounds of stabilization. In response, the Mexican Imperial government seized over a million acres of property personally owned by Hearst, leading the United States to bring former President Porfirio Diaz out of exile to lead a pro-American third force in Mexico. Yet, a leaked letter from Habsburg Emperor Franz-Ferdinand proposing aid from the British, French, and Hapsburgs to Emperor Agustin triggered President Hearst to cite the Adams Doctrine, with a full invasion of Mexico by an American force 50,000 strong to install Diaz as President commencing only four days prior to the midterm elections, with President Hearst famously declaring “I really don’t see what is to prevent us from owning all Mexico and running it to suit ourselves."

The Farmer-Labor Party as a whole remains supportive of President Hearst, with the President's newspapers playing a key role in the nationwide Farmer-Labor campaign. Farmer-Laborites blame the Panic upon years of Federal Republican management, noting that prior economic crashes occurred under Presidents Seward and Bragg while the economy began growing anew under the Trumbull Administration. Here, also, is where the continuing split over prohibition within Farmer-Labor is most evident. Wet Farmer-Laborites rally around President Hearst's call for the repeal of prohibition as the answer to the nation's economic woes, while dry Farmer-Laborites maintain the workers are held back by the influence of alcoho