The Cold Shoulder for Bryan in the Palouse
A local editor dismisses the national hype surrounding William Jennings Bryan's campaign visit to Colfax.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Fusion papers in out-of-the-way places which Bryan did not visit are making all possible capital by shouting about the 'tremendous crowds and enthusiastic receptions' accorded the gentleman. They may be able to fool those through whose localities Mr. Bryan did not pass; but in the Palouse country his crowds were neither 'tremendous' nor 'enthusiastic.' They were not even half so great as even his opponents expected, and their coldness was astonishing. Any snide circus can draw twice the crowd at Colfax that Colonel Bryan did.
“Any snide circus can draw twice the crowd at Colfax that Colonel Bryan did.”
This reflects the long-standing tradition of local media acting as a skeptical filter against national political narratives, a dynamic that remains central to regional political discourse in Washington's rural districts.
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