Janet M. Box-Steffensmeier is Vernal Riffe Professor of Political Science and Distinguished Scholar at Ohio State University, where she also serves as a professor of sociology (courtesy) and the director of the program in statistics and methodology. She has twice received the Gosnell Award for the best work in political methodology and the Emerging Scholar Award of the Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior section of the American Political Science Association. She was an inaugural fellow of the Society for Political Methodology.

Steven E. Schier is Dorothy H. and Edward C. Congdon Professor of Political Science at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. He is the author or editor of 14 books, most recently Transforming America: Barack Obama in the White House (2011) and numerous scholarly articles. His analysis has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, Atlantic Magazine, and other publications.

1. Obama's Coalition: How the president customized his campaign and cobbled together his majority; John F. Harris and James Hohmann. 2. The Campaign and the Media; Diana Owen. 3. Fighting Off Challengers: The 2012 Nomination of Mitt Romney; Barbara Norrander. 4. The General Election Campaign; Steven E. Schier and Janet Box-Steffensmeier. 5. Congressional Elections 2012; Roger H. Davidson. 6. The Effect of the 2012 Elections on Party Polarization; Sean M. Theriault and Megan M. Moeller. 7. Campaign Finance in the 2012 Election; Robert G. Boatright. 8. Public Opinion and the Presidential Election; Christopher Wlezien. 9. Religion in the 2012 Election; James L. Guth and Leigh A. Bradberry. 10. The Reaffirmation of the Post-Cold War Electoral Order; Nicol C. Rae.

The 2012 American elections were highly competitive, with the unusually close partisan balance making the elections an opportunity for each of the two major parties. This book assembles leading political scientists and political journalists to explain the 2012 election results and their implications for America's future.
In addition to assessing election results, the book examines the consequences of the large ambitions of the Obama presidency and the political and policy risks entailed in the pursuit of those ambitions. It also explores Congressional elections and policymaking since 2008, and how they affected election results in 2012. The book promises a more coherent focus than that evident in similar edited works, achieved through a limited number of chapters and clear definition of chapter content.