Okay, first off I'd like to mention that this is my first ever timeline and probably won't be the greatest thing of all time and will lack some details. Criticism is welcome and highly valued by me but some leeway might be needed. I'd also appreciate any ideas you guys want to throw out there for this TL. For those of you who follow my election game, don't worry it's still going despite this TL. Anyway, here goes my totally original 1912 TL
The Taft Administration
(1909-1913)

Gearing up to the 1912 election things in the political world were already heated. After being elected in 1908, President Taft had immediately broken from his predecessor's political views in an attempt to forge his own identity in the history books. Where Roosevelt had been an undeniable champion of progressivism during his time in the white house, Taft increasingly relied on conservative backing for his policies. As part of his distancing of himself from Roosevelt he had swung to the right, greatly angering the former president and about half of the party.
However, despite all this Taft claimed that he was merely trying to work with the conservatives and there is some evidence to support this. Taft was against the typically conservative policy of high tariffs, and was an accomplished trust buster during his administration. However, when an anti-trust suit was filed by the administration that personally named ex-president Roosevelt, the last straw had snapped. Taft and Roosevelt, formerly good friends immediately grew hostile towards each other. The progressive wing of the party (which was largely lead by Roosevelt) was in open revolt against the president's policies. With the Democrats and the Progressive Republicans against him, Taft's power utterly collapsed. The remainder of his term would be mired by an obstructionist congress and Taft's ever decreasing influence within his own party. Through his disregard for politics, Taft had managed to alienate almost everyone but the most loyal conservative Republicans.
The Nominating Conventions, 1912

Fmr. President Roosevelt had announced he would challenge Taft for the Republican Nomination in 1912. Taft while unpopular, insisted on running for another term. He fought tooth and nail to secure as many delegates as he could at the Republican Convention, growing increasingly worried that his old friend might actually be able to steal the nomination out from under him. He became less worried when Senator Albert Beveridge (a lesser leader of the Progressive wing) announced he was also going to compete for the nomination. With the progressive wing divided, Taft had a much clearer path to victory. Beveridge was deeply concerned with maintaining the Washington precedent and hoped that he could block Roosevelt, as if Roosevelt won the election in November he would become the first president to serve a third term. The convention was quite heated, with a surprisingly large amount of delegates bitterly loyal to Roosevelt. However, they were not in the majority and the president was narrowly renominated. He chose sitting VP James S. Sherman as his running mate, facing mild opposition from Senators La Follette and Beveridge.
Taft thought that he could now rest easy for a few months, at the very least his party was united behind him. He was technically correct, though it is more accurate to say that the remainder of his party was united behind him. Even after his loss in the convention, Roosevelt was not ready to give up. He and many other members of the progressive wing (notably Hiram Johnson) soon announced their departure from the Republican party and the formation of the Progressive Party, which would put forward their own presidential ticket and a small slate of congressional nominees in November. They quickly held a nominating convention, nominating Roosevelt with minimal opposition. Roosevelt chose California governor Hiram Johnson as his running mate and he was nominated unanimously by voice vote.
Meanwhile, the Democrats had been feuding between their northern and southern factions like usual. On the Northern side of things, New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson lead the pack while southern liberal Rep. Oscar Underwood lead the southern delegates. Smack right in the middle geographically was Speaker of the House Champ Clark. Clark was an odd politician, not easily identifiable as progressive or conservative. He commanded a large amount of respect in the house and has been a sitting representative on and off since 1893. After many ballots it seemed like the convention was tied. Clark was in the lead, though only by a small margin against Woodrow Wilson. The convention shifted back and forth between the three candidates but no one could seem to reach a two-thirds majority. Finally, after a bit of negotiation with the Underwood campaign, Clark secured his endorsement and sailed past the majority line. The convention had gone over 60 ballots before finally picking the nominee. When it came time to vote on the Vice Presidential nominee it became quickly clear what exactly the agreement Clark and Underwood came to was, Underwood was Clark's choice for VP. After a surprising amount of griping from the delegates, Underwood was nominated for VP on the second ballot and the Clark/Underwood ticket prepared to campaign.
On a less important note, the Socialist Party had nominated Eugene Debs for the 4th time in a row. This time they nominated Socialist Mayor Emil Seidel for Vice President.
The Candidates
