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The rise and fall of the agricultural left in America is a good parallel for this. For 40 years from Bryan's first run to FDR's 2nd term, most American farm families were raging left-populists. Then they essentially won all of the battles, from permanent farm subsidies and quotas to prevent overproduction driving down prices to effective slaughterhouse regulations to the demise of Southern sharecropping. Then Ike came along and accepted the new order of things, and agricultural interests have been a bastion of the establishment right ever since.
Interesting. Though I'm sure the Democrats couldn't be out of power for too long, especially with a conservative GOP. There would have to be an Eisenhower type figure who's main message wouldn't be to repeal every progressive bill that was passed.
