The year was 2008. Barack Obama had just been elected the first black president of the United States. Democrats were in total control in Washington, with majorities in the House and Senate. 

At the time, the Republican Party appeared to be irreparable. George W. Bush had a 25% approval rating on Election Day. Republican nominee John McCain won just 22 states and was trounced by Obama by more than seven points in the popular vote. With the backdrop of thousands of U.S. deaths in the Iraq War and an economy in the deepest recession seen since the Great Depression, nothing was going right for the Red Team.