[175] The clear Republican favorite was Jefferson.[176] Adams was the Federalist frontrunner.[174] The Republicans held a congressional nominating caucus and named Jefferson and Aaron Burr as their presidential choices.[177] Jefferson at first declined the nomination, but he agreed to run a few weeks later. Federalist members of Congress held an informal nominating caucus and named Adams and Thomas Pinckney as their candidates.[176][178] The campaign was mostly confined to newspaper attacks, pamphlets, and political rallies;[174] of the four contenders, only Burr actively campaigned. The practice of not campaigning for office would remain for many decades.[175] Adams stated that he wanted to stay out of what he called the "silly and wicked game" of electioneering.[179]
As the campaign progressed, fears grew among Hamilton and his supporters that Adams was too vain, opinionated, unpredictable and stubborn to follow their directions.[180] Indeed, Adams did not consider himself a strong member of the Federalist Party. He had remarked that Hamilton's economic program, centered around banks, would "swindle" the poor and unleash the "gangrene of avarice."[181] Desiring "a more pliant president than Adams," Hamilton maneuvered to tip the election to Pinckney. 