Big changes in political campaigns
With the political campaign season in full swing this year and the primaries coming up soon, it is a good time to think about how candidates campaigned over a century ago. Before the days of motorized vehicles, the internet, television, radio, and long- distance telephone service, men had to physically travel to visit voters. Certainly, campaign techniques and strategies have changed dramatically in the last 100+ years.
In the late 1800s and the early 1900s, the Democratic Primary reigned supreme in Arkansas— the winner almost always came out victorious in the general election. For Democrats, winning the primary was tantamount to election. For local offices, the candidate who most needed the job was the one often elected. If a person could state he was born in a log cabin and grew up in tough times, he also had an advantage. Plus, anyone who was a former Confederate soldier was very hard to beat.
Candidates watched travel expenses carefully as they went around the county asking for votes. Most owned a horse, and/ or a wagon, and got around that way, prior to the days of the automobile. Some also walked. Citizens were quite hospitable to all candidates during their travels. Office- seekers who traveled some distance spent the night with locals after speaking to crowds at community meetings.
Such meetings were usually quiet affairs, with candidates telling of their personal qualifications for the office. Sometimes candidates for the state legislature would describe issues and the bills they planned to introduce. These meetings generally included a lot of friendly banter, enlivened by good- natured jokes told about opponents. However, personal visits to individual voters were very important. In those one- on- one encounters, even poor public speakers could convince people about their viability for office.
Campaigns were different back then, and so were voting requirements. Generally speaking, today’s modern voter registration system dates back to the 1960s. However, prior to that time and in the state’s early days, payment of a poll tax was required of voters. As far back as the 1890s, an annual one dollar tax was collected from each adult male. Remember that at that time, women did not yet have the right to vote! At election time, before a voter could be given a ballot, he had to present an official receipt at his polling place as confirmation that he had paid his current annual poll tax.
On the day before the primary election, a big rally at the county courthouse usually brought the campaign season to a close. Every candidate could speak as long as they liked. Then, on the evening of the election, many candidates would gather at the courthouse along with friends to learn of the results. However, it took some time to assemble all the totals from outlying areas. Even in the early twentieth century, few long- distance telephone lines existed, so results might arrive at the courthouse carried by riders on swift horses. Even then, final numbers for local contests might not be tallied until the following day. On the day after the primary election, crowds gathered around town for discussions about the winners and losers, as plans were made for campaigning in the general election.