How did the Democrats, who seemed unstoppable in 2009, lose their momentum so quickly, and what does it mean for the future of our two‐​party system? Sean Trende’s new book explores the underlying weaknesses of the Democratic promise of recent years, and shows how unlikely a new era of big government always was. Trende persuasively argues that both Republicans and Democrats are failing to connect with the real values of the American people, and that long‐​held theories of cyclical political “realignments” are baseless.