Blaine hoped that he would have more support from Irish Americans than Republicans typically did; while the Irish were mainly a Democratic constituency in the 19th century, Blaine's mother was Irish Catholic, and he had been supportive of the Irish National Land League while he was Secretary of State.
Blaine håbede på, at han ville få en større støtte fra irsk-amerikanerne, end Republikanere normalt fik; irerne stemte hovedsageligt demokratisk i det 19. århundrede, men Blaines mor var irsk katolik. og han havde været tilhænger af Irish National Land League i sin tid som udenrigsminister.