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Read the following passages and select correct options to answer the questions that follow.

Abraham Lincoln

Though Abe had a national reputation, the Republican nomination for president in the Election of 1860 seemed elusive. Powerful Republicans William Seward from New York, Salmon P. Chase from Ohio and Edward Bates from Missouri seemed to be the front-runners. On February 27, 1860, however, Abe was invited to speak before a crowd of powerful republicans at Cooper Union (a university) in New York City. Abe's anti-slavery speech, in which he claimed the Founding Fathers and authors of the Declaration of independence would have prohibited the extension of slavery into new territories, left a lasting impression on the members of the audience and propelled him to legitimacy among the Republican candidates running for presidency. The powerful publisher Horace Greeley called it "one of the happiest and most convincing political arguments ever made in this City... No man ever made such an impression on his first appeal to a New-York audience.?? After the speech, Abe decided that he would at least make an attempt for the Republican nomination to the presidency. He assembled a team of devoted campaigners who called Lincoln "The Rail Candidate". On May 9-10, Abe and his team travelled to the Republican National Convention in Decatur, Illinois, where his savvy team of supporters worked the convention for endorsements. Seward and Chase, though powerful and well-known politicians, had created enough enemies over the years to prove vulnerable and had alienated parts of the Republican Party. Though Abe believed slavery was evil, his moderate (rather than radical) stance appealed to many, as did his support for the nation's internal improvements and protective tariff. Furthermore, Abe was extremely popular in the western states, and because the convention was in his home state, thousands of his supporters descended upon Decatur. While Seward led on the first and second ballots (though he didn't get enough votes to win), Lincoln won the nomination on the third ballot when the chairman of the Ohio Republican Delegation was convinced to shift his votes to Lincoln. Seward, who thought his nomination assured, was crushed and Chase couldn't even manage to draw full support from his home state of Ohio. Now that Abe had secured the Republican nomination for President, he had a chance to win the Presidential election. Abe is elected the 16th President.

How could Lincoln win the Third ballot?

A)  Because of his luck.  

B)  Because of no competition.

C)  Because of his popularity through the speech.

D)  Because the chairman of Ohio Republican Delegation shifted his votes to Lincoln.