2012 Primaries (The Hearse at Monticello)

"The generous historian will make heavy use of the word 'average' in recounting the accomplishments of the Feingold Administration," New York Times columnist Barack Obama wrote in the spring of 2012. "More critical observers might well prefer 'mediocre,' 'passable,' or at best 'harmless' to describe what has been, by all counts, an utterly uneventful four years."

In terms of policy achievements, the second half of Russ Feingold's presidency was indisputably a failure. Having alienated Western and Southern Populists during his reelection campaign in 2008, Feingold reentered the White House under a cloud, with too few votes in Congress to have any hope of passing his agenda. Any hopes of Feingold's allies taking control of the House of Representatives in the 2010 midterms were dashed when the stock market collapsed a few months before the election, allowing the right to win control of both houses of Congress for the first time since the Rodham Administration. This victory, and the continued hard feelings between the pro-Feingold "New Populists" and the anti-Feingold "Old Guard," would lead to the collapse of the 5th Party System shortly after the election and the inauguration of one of the most dramatic partisan realignments in history.

As the 2012 primary season begins, Americans are faced with an entirely new array of party choices, the result of Congressional rivalries and sectional differences that had been festering since the election of Pat Buchanan in 1992. The Populist Party has split into two factions: supporters of President Feingold (mainly urban liberals from New England and the Pacific Coast) have formed the Reform Party, a socially and fiscally liberal faction that supports the legalization of gay marriage, campaign finance reform, and new environmental regulations; Feingold's Populist opponents, meanwhile, have formed the Farmer-Labor Party, which appeals mainly to labor unions and rural voters and is based in the South and West.

On the right flank, the old American Party has collapsed, fatally weakened by Alan Keyes' poor performance in 2008 and the defection of most of its center-right members shortly thereafter. This shift provided a golden opportunity for center-right politicians sidelined by the rise of Pat Buchanan, who united to win control of Congress in 2010 under the National Party banner. Led by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who used much of his personal fortune to finance the party's 2010 Congressional campaign, the party has branded itself as the "compassionate conservative" option, supporting standard right-wing economic policies but taking a softer line on social issues than Buchanan's American Party. Several minor parties - most notably the Libertarians and the Christian Republicans - have emerged as well, though neither has a sizable base of support.The partisan realignment has led to a record number of presidential candidate heading into the 2012 primary season, and the probability of a crowded general election ballot has led many to predict the election will ultimately be decided by the House of Representatives.

Once more into the breach!

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