Bell was basically a spoiler - idea was to draw enough electoral votes to deny majority candidates (Lincoln, Breckenridge, Douglas)
Election devolved into 2 contests Lincoln-Douglas in North, Bell-Breckenridge in south
Lincoln and Douglas were anathema in south , Repubicans did nt even campaign as would have been lynched
Bell vs Breckenridge in south - Bell to draw votes was forced to declare support for slave code in territories
which made him poison in north
Won in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, came close in Maryland
Objective was draw away enough electoral votes to throw election to House
Everett, the VP candidate was Senator from Mass, hoped to be elected by the Senate and run country while others duked it out in House
Oddly enough, the Breckenridge-Lane ticket was on the ballot in even more northern states. Their best showing outside the slave states was 37.5% in Pennsylvania.
A lot of Northerners did not want to go to war over slavery; neither did a lot of southerners. Both sides were plagued with recruiting problems throughout the war due to these feelings. The cost of the war in treasure alone was more than ten or twelve times the value of the slaves at the market peak.