Horatio Seymourâ s became the democratic candidate instead , and lost to Ulysses S. Grant by a lot of Electoral College votes , although the popular vote was much closer . In 1872 the Democrats supported liberal Republican Horace Greeley 's disastrous presidential campaign . Horatio Seymourâ s electoral defeat in that year paled in comparison to liberal Republican Horace Greeley 's disastrous 1872 presidential campaign .