Even though Republicans and Democrats had similar organization and purposes, there were many issues separating the two. Some of those differences were in the ways the parties described themselves in their platforms and any other campaign appeals. By "waving the bloody shirt", Republicans asserted a virtual monopoly on patriotism. But that wasn't the extent to which the Republicans exploited the Civil War legacy. They voted to provide federal pensions to Union army veterans, widows, and orphans. Republicans cultivated the Grand Army of the Republic and urging them to "vote as you shot." Another theme for the Republican campaign was prosperity. They pointed to the economic growth of the postwar era claiming that their wise policies were responsible for it. Republicans never actually committed themselves in favor of prohibition but announced that they were in favor of "all wise and well-directed efforts for the promotion of temperance and morality." So while describing all Republicans as upright and virtuous citizens, the portrayed Democrats as "the old slave-owner and slave-driver, the saloon-keeper, the ballot-box-stuffer, the Kuklux [Klan], the criminal class of the great cities, the men who cannot read or write," and also adding in Boss Tweed.
             While Republicans focused on describing what their party did and who they were, Democrats focused on explaining what they opposed. They stood firm against governmental interference in the economy. They said the public domain should provide farms for citizens, not subsidies for corporations. All in all, Democrats' position was much closer to laissez faire than that of the Republicans. In addition to that, they also opposed government interference in social relations and behavior. They condemned prohibition in the North, especially in Irish and German communities, calling it a violation of personal liberty. They defended Catholics from political ...