In 1903, Senator Gorman was the presidential candidate of choice among conservative Democrats. They found his pro-business and anti-imperialist views attractive, even though his trade-protectionist record was at odds with the majority of the party. White southerners appreciatively remembered his opposition to the Federal Elections Bill (“Force Bill”) of 1890. Democratic financiers George Gould and Thomas Fortune Ryan promised to contribute generously to his campaign. However, his candidacy was killed by his vocal condemnation of President Roosevelt’s Panama policy. The Maryland senator miscalculated his ability to influence his party on the issue and the intensity of support for a Panamanian Canal in the American South (as represented here by the donkey). On February 23, 1904, the Senate ratified the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, which granted the United States sovereignty over land where the Panama Canal would be built. Sixteen Democrats joined the entire Republican majority to vote in favor. Gorman ended his presidential bid shortly afterward.