THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT “ELECTION DISAFFECTION:” IF YOU THINK TIMES ARE BAD NOW, CONSIDER 1856… AMERICA’S ANSWER WAS JAMES BUCHANAN, AIDED BY A SONG PENNED BY THE NATION’S TOP SONGWRITER, STEPHEN FOSTER . "THE MIGHTY MEZ" DELIVERS IT HERE.

26 years ago, before the election of George W. Bush in 2000, I wrote, produced and starred in a show about the history of the campaign song, called "Muckrakers," with the fabulous Linda Kerns.  Given that this bicentennial election season is heating up, I thought it’d be fun to revisit some songs from elections past…Let's look at one from 1856...Some background: in 1854 was “Bleeding Kansas” - a bitter dispute between pro and anti-slavery forces over that territory, which led to the break up of the two major parties and the formation of a new one — THE REPUBLICANS — who vowed to oppose any further extension of slavery. But, THE DEMOCRATIC WINNER OF THE 1856 ELECTION WAS….?Many people consider him the WORST president we’ve ever had (until now) - because he might have prevented the Civil War, and he blew it. I’ll give you a hint: he was a bachelor - girl he was engaged to as a youth committed suicide. One eye was nearsighted, the other far - so he held his head a a funny angle….Got it? He was the quote: “most available, and most unobjectionable JAMES BUCHANAN, former Secretary of State to Polk, who once called him “an able man,” but added that, “he sometimes acts like an old maid.”Nevertheless, Bucky won big! Carried every Southern state, except Maryland and six free states - proving that the majority still put the preservation of the Union above all else. And, that is exactly what Stephen Foster’s WHITE HOUSE CHAIR urged the voters to do.