what political party was lincoln?
Illinois Republican Party Republican Party National Union Party Whig Party
entailment
 Lincoln faced three major opponents . A split in the Democratic Party had led northerners to nominate Senator Douglas , while southerners chose Vice President John C. Breckenridge . The Constitutional Union Party selected former Tennessee senator John Bell . As Lincoln would not even be on the ballot in ten southern states , he needed to win almost every northern state to take the presidency . Douglas was said to be strong in Illinois and Indiana , and if he took those , the election might be thrown into the House of Representatives . Seward was urged to undertake a campaign tour of the Midwest in support of Lincoln and did so for five weeks in September and October , attracting huge crowds . He journeyed by rail and boat as far north as Saint Paul , Minnesota , into the border state of Missouri at St. Louis , and even to Kansas Territory , though it had no electoral votes to cast in the election . When the train passed through Springfield , Seward and Lincoln were introduced , with Lincoln appearing " embarrassed " and Seward " constrained " . In his oratory , Seward spoke of the U.S. as a " tower of freedom " , a Union that might even include Canada , Latin America , and Russian America . 

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 Most Republicans agreed with Lincoln that the North was the aggrieved party , as the Slave Power tightened its grasp on the national government with the Dred Scott decision and the presidency of James Buchanan . Throughout the 1850s , Lincoln doubted the prospects of civil war , and his supporters rejected claims that his election would incite secession . Meanwhile , Douglas was selected as the candidate of the Northern Democrats . Delegates from 11 slave states walked out of the Democratic convention , disagreeing with Douglas ' position on popular sovereignty , and ultimately selected John C. Breckinridge as their candidate . 

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 The College Republicans quickly pursued a strategy of sending college students to vote in their home districts and registering others to vote where they schooled to swing closely contested districts . This strategy was successfully implemented for the 1900 presidential election between William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan , helping win Bryan 's home state of Nebraska for McKinley . 

neutral
 Lincoln has often been portrayed by Hollywood , almost always in a flattering light . 

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 The Democrats held their convention the next month in New York City . The convention soon deadlocked , and after 103 ballots , the delegates finally agreed on a compromise candidate , John W. Davis , with Charles W. Bryan nominated for vice president . The Democrats ' hopes were buoyed when Robert M. La Follette Sr. , a Republican Senator from Wisconsin , split from the GOP to form a new Progressive Party . Many believed that the split in the Republican party , like the one in 1912 , would allow a Democrat to win the presidency . 
