In theory, by electing a President the nation expresses
its will respecting public policy; but in practice the candidate
for President may be an exponent of one school of opinion and the
candidate for Vice-President may represent another view. It is
impossible for a voter to discriminate between the two; he cannot
vote for the candidate for President without voting for the
candidate for Vice-President, since he does not vote directly for
the candidates themselves but for the party electors who are
pledged to the entire party ticket. Party conventions take
advantage of this disability on the part of the voter to work an
electioneering device known as a "straddle," the aim of which is
to please opposite interests by giving each a place on the
ticket. After Garfield was nominated, the attempt was made to
placate the defeated faction by nominating one of its adherents
for Vice-President, and now that nominee unexpectedly became the
President of the United States, with power to reverse the policy
of his predecessor.
In one important matter there was, in fact, an abrupt reversal of
policy. The independent countries of North and South America had
been invited to participate in a general congress to be held in
Washington, November 24, 1881. James Gillespie Blaine, who was
then Secretary of State, had applied himself with earnestness and
vigor to this undertaking, which might have produced valuable
results.
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