Near the end of Barack Obama’s second term - the president had easily defeated Newt Gingrich in 2011 - a civil war breaks out in the democratic party.
Sixty-eight-year-old Hillary Clinton had served the administration brilliantly and was now preparing to win the 2016 democratic nomination in a walk.
But instead of a coronation, Hillary is confronted with an epic challenge.
Along with trampling Gingrich in 2012, voters had tossed out Massachusetts republican Sen. Scott Brown, elevating Elizabeth Warren to national prominence.
In her three years as senator, Warren - America’s most forceful, articulate and effective critic of financial elites - showed extraordinary political talent and tenacity; and was a key backer of Obama’s moderately progressive second-term agenda.
Now in 2015, the two superstars face off:
The seasoned and pragmatic Hillary and the charismatic Elizabeth, two years younger than her opponent and the leader of the populist wing of the democratic party.
Establishment democrats warn their friends on the left that choosing Warren would expose the party to charges that it had been taken over by extremists.
Clinton, of course, positions herself as the mainstream candidate, urging primary voters to avoid the mistake republicans had made four years earlier in choosing the erratic, ideologically-rigid - and destined-to-lose - Newt Gingrich.