Cleveland, a man celebrated for his honesty, easily shoved Field aside, but an election MacVeagh believed would be based on character soon became comic. Cleveland had, or accepted that he very likely might have, fathered a son out of wedlock. He initially supported the child and the mother, but then arranged to have the boy adopted. This led to the Republican campaign chant: “Ma, Ma, where’s my Pa?” The Democrats resurrected Blaine’s corrupt dealing with the railroads. Joseph Pulitzer used his cartoonists to caricature Blaine week after week on the New York World’s front page.
