During the unusual sequence of events that led up to the 1912 presidential election the paper had opted not to endorse the "formal" Republican party nominee for that election cycle. This was shortly after Theodore Roosevelt had lost the Republican convention nomination to William Howard Taft in the controversial, and allegedly rigged, party convention of that year. After Roosevelt's convention loss, and also after the hasty formation of the "made to order" Bull Moose Party, the paper continued to endorse Theodore Roosevelt via the newly formed party. As a result of Roosevelt's insistence on an independent presidential bid that year, the Republican party of 1912 was in disarray, yielding that year's presidential election to the Democrats, with the GOP only able to carry a total of 8 electoral votes that year. Two of the main planks of Roosevelt's progressive Bull Moose platform had been campaign finance reform and improved governmental accountability.