Game Change Obama and the Clintons McCain and Palin and the Race of a Lifetime
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Game Change Obama and the Clintons McCain and Palin and the Race of a Lifetime Editorial Reviews
Source: Product Description
In 2008 , the presidential election became blockbuster entertainment. Everyone was watching as the race for the White House unfolded like something from the realm of fiction. The meteoric rise and historic triumph of Barack Obama. The shocking fall of the House of Clinton—and the improbable resurrection of Hillary as Obama’s partner and America’s face to the world. The mercurial performance of John McCain and the mesmerizing emergence of Sarah Palin. But despite the wall-to-wall media coverage of this spellbinding drama, remarkably little of the real story behind the headlines had been told—until now.
In Game Change, John Heilemann and Mark Halperin pull back the curtains on the Obama, Clinton , McCain, and Palin campaigns. Based on hundreds of interviews with the people who lived thestory, Game Change is a reportorial tour de force that reads like a fast-paced novel.
Game Change Obama and the Clintons McCain and Palin and the Race of a Lifetime Customer Reviews:
Average Rating: 3.0 (661 reviews)
Rating: 5 (A raunchy romp into the dirty laundry of the high and mighty) Was helpful to 265 from 326 votes
We always wonder what's going on behind the scenes of an election and in the lives of the Washington elite. Most of us know, or eventually learn, that politicians are typically loathsome characters of few morals and mammoth egos who think nothing of lying, cheating and, in general, being insufferable human beings. And, we get a chance to see it all, up close, in this new book by political reporters Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. We get the opportunity to look behind the scenes and see these people as they really are. It's both fun and frightening. It's quite revealing. To wit . . .
Bill Clinton wanted Ted Kennedy to endorse Hillary. But instead, he angered Kennedy so badly that Kennedy went all out for Obama. Here's how it happened according to the book . . .
"As Hillary bungled Caroline, Bill's handling of Ted was even worse. The day after Iowa, he phoned Kennedy and pressed for an endorsement, making the case for his wife. But Bill then went on, belittling Obama in a manner that deeply offended Kennedy. Recounting the conversation later to a friend, Teddy fumed that Clinton had said,' A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee.' "
Of course, we have to wonder if Kennedy was telling the truth or perhaps colorizing it to fit his own agenda since Kennedy was not a moral or virtuous man or one known for telling the truth. So, in reality, this story is secondhand. It could be false or it could be taken out of context. Or, it could be true.
On another matter the Clintons wanted to go after Obama's drug use. Can you imagine alleged coke sniffer Bill going after alleged dope smoker Obama? Well, that was going to be the way it went down if the Clintons had their way.
And . . .
Before BHO decided to run for president, the Obamas flew to Nashville, TN to get Al Gore's assurance that he would not run.
Among the things we learn . . .
When Obama asked Hillary Clinton to be secretary of state, she initially turned him down. Why? Bill's penchant for controversy. She felt it would interfere with her efforts in the job.
When President-elect Obama called her again to convince her to be his secretary of state, Clinton told him there was a problem. That great big mouthy problem was her husband. "You've seen what this is like; it will be a circus if I take this job," she said to Obama.
Clinton almost never admits this to anyone. And, Obama who seldom shows his vulnerable side, admits to Hillary that he needs her. He seems overwhelmed with the economy and all that's going on, all that faces him.
The McCain-Palin camp was afraid that Sarah Palin would screw things up because of the tremendous amount of information she needed to debate Biden. "The debate was going to be a debacle of historic and epic proportions...she was not focused...not engaged." She was not really participating in the prep, the authors add.
Sidebar:
In a recent news article Palin's spokeswoman, Meghan Stapleton, said in a statement: "The Governor's descriptions of these events are found in her book, 'Going Rogue.' Her descriptions are accurate. She was there. These reporters were not." Stapleton was talking about what was said about Palin in this book by the authors.
and then . . .
McCain aides confront Cindy McCain over reports that she had an extramarital affair.
The authors tell us that Hillary Clinton was so confident she would get the Democratic nomination that she had two top advisers planning her transition for after she won the general election.
They also point out that up until only days before the Republican Convention, Sen. John McCain was still thinking Sen. Joe Lieberman would be his running mate, until the "blowback" was so strong, they feared Lieberman would be rejected by the party, forcing the last-minute choice of Palin for the role.
Steve Schmidt, John McCain's former chief campaign strategist believes the Obama-Biden victory would have been even more lopsided without Palin on the Republican ticket, according to the book.
On John Edwards . . .
John Edwards went from being typically conceited to having megalomania. Women were always after him. He loved it and it fed his enormous ego. But it was also a problem for the campaign.
Edwards thought the contest would be between him and Hillary. The Clinton camp thought the same thing.
Edwards was normally warm to his staff. But he turned disdainful. He ignored and dismissed them. He even mistreated both staff and supporters. "You can't talk to people that way, "an aid told him after one of his displays. "People didn't like the new John Edwards."
Surprisingly, Elizabeth Edwards was fast to show John that she was his intellectual superior. She called him a "hick" in front of people and derided him for having "redneck parents." She called some staffers idiots. Her illness mellowed her in the early months of 2005 - but not for long.
While John's wife may have made him feel small, his new gal pal made him feel like a king. She told him that he had "the power to change the world," that "the people will follow you." She told him that he could be as great a leader as Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. She told him, "You're so real. You just need to get your staff out of your way." She reinforced everything he already believed about himself. She told him exactly what he wanted and needed to hear.
No one gets off free in the book. The authors tell us that Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had referred privately to Barack Obama early in his campaign as a "light-skinned" African American "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."
Ladies and gentlemen . . . meet America's elite.
This book makes Lady Chatterley's Lover as sexy as a high school algebra text book. It makes Madame Bovary look positively saintly. If even half of what this book reports is true, I've got higher forms of life on the bottom of my shoe than we've got running our country.
What a read. Gustave Flaubert couldn't have written it any better.
- Susanna K. Hutcheson
Rating: 5 (Changing your opinions of politicians and a great gossipy read!) Was helpful to 700 from 790 votes
"Game Change" was not even on sale and it was already roiling the political waters with its shocking revelations. There is a rich tradition of books about presidential campaigns that break news not revealed during the campaign and "Game Change" has PLENTY of revelations. The one getting a great deal of play was Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's inappropriate racially tinged comments about candidate Obama, which managed to be kept under wraps, while then-Senator Biden's made their way out. 2008 was the year of "Candidates Gone Wild," saying ridiculous and inappropriate things like Obama's comment on people clinging to their guns, religion, and bitterness. But there's so much here that never got out. Like Elizabeth Edwards, who has carefully cultured a public persona as the victimized suffering wife, belittling her husband John as a "hick" and in private launching into obscenity laced tirades at him and about him. Heilemann and Halperin examine both sides of the race and there are plenty of great gossipy stories on both sides, as well as other shocking revelations, such as how rushed the selection of Governor Sarah Palin as Vice-President was. We already knew that virtually no one in the Republican leadership was consulted over the choice and only know do we learn how rushed the decision was and how little thought or consideration was truly given to the choice. Moreover, the choice was primarily tactical in nature, designed to knock the Obama campaign off balance and off guard. Only after Palin was selected did the McCain campaign realize that they had made a huge tactical error they could not undo. The ensuing problems within the McCain-Palin campaign are chronicled here, but considering how much press there was at the time there's little here that breaks new ground. It is however a very great, gripping recounting of the chain of events.
Obama comes off every bit as stage-crafted and stage-managed as Ronald Reagan ever was. Heilemann and Halperin aptly capture the duality of his persona; on the stump Obama is well spoken, on message, cool, calm, and collected. Off the stump he is profane, prone to quick flashes of anger, and at times tentative and uncertain. Hillary Clinton comes off pretty much as was covered in the press at the time, but what IS news is her unsurprisingly blunt comment to Obama that she "cannot control her husband". Bill Clinton gets almost as much print here for his wildly inappropriate comments on the stump and in private about Candidate Obama and it's clear to see that what undid Hillary wasn't her efforts, but those of her husband. We get the clearest glimpse into Obama's hard sell when he talks Hillary Clinton into ending her campaign and into becoming Secretary of State as well.
"Game Change" answers many of the questions you had about the campaign, but which were never answered, like Rudy Giuliani's foolish all-or-nothing gamble on the Florida Primary and why he truly got out of the race, the Democratic conclave that prodded then-Senator Obama into the race in the first place, and so much more. Reading "Game Change" is like reliving the campaign all over again, but THIS time with the insider knowledge of details that were omitted by the campaigns and the press. If anything this will not only enlighten you but enrage you, as the media and the press clearly are NOT doing their jobs at all. All of this SHOULD have made it's way into the news during the campaign and yet it didn't. Truth is stranger than fiction, and with truth written this well, who needs fiction?
Rating: 1 (Doesn't exist for Kindle users) Was helpful to 50 from 355 votes
If I can't get it on the Kindle, then it doesn't exist. So although I've heard that this book seems to have been published according to this show you call "60 Minutes" and the website you call "Politico", this book won't be real to me until I can download it into my eagerly waiting Kindle.
And as the authors/publisher/Amazon have decided that won't be until the end of February, well then I will see if I care enough about this so-called "book" to read it at that point in the far-distant future.
Rating: 1 (Hard to review a book that isn't available to Kindle users) Was helpful to 48 from 333 votes
I went right to a Google "Game Change" search to immediately purchase this book for my Kindle. Was I ever disappointed! I also find it unusual because it seems that a Kindle version at $9.99, as is common for the new best sellers, would multiply the sales for Amazon, the publisher, and the authors quite a bit. That is because a physical book can/will be passed around to multiple readers. Kindle purchases are usually just "one for one" purchases and since you don't normally pass your Kindle around for others to read your books on it, it would result in more purchases.
I expect this book will be a five star and I will be pleased to change my rating after I am able to read it on my Kindle. And I look forward to reading it especially after reading the sample review available.
My appologies to those of you who think that this review comment is misplaced, but the authors and publisher should know that they are losing out on many sales by virtue of the fact they have apparently elected not to make it available right away to Kindle owners.
Rating: 4 (Inside Story) Was helpful to 124 from 160 votes
A little more than 24 hours later, after the highlights of Reid's unfortunate remarks were reported, and he apologized, the book was released. Michael Steele, RNC, asked for Reid's resignation, after Steele's own remarks of 'Honest Injun' the week before. Pot/kettle? The book is full of the sort of information you might know if you were an insider in Washington, DC. But much of it occurs outside of Washington and out of harms way. Few are mentioned that know these facts first hand, so we must take it on faith, that these are true. Essentially, this book is an intimate portrait of the lives of those who ran for the Presidency in 2008 and some of the people surrounding them. Gossip, true, but much of it sounds true to life. Revelations abound and some of them are shockers.
The Edwards- John and Elizabeth. Elizabeth is the woman with cancer who has an unfaithful, jackass of a husband. She garnered all our sympathy and now we find out she was abusive to her husband all along. What an unhappy and miserable existence that family must follow.
The Clintons- Bill and Hilary- she, who decided she did not want the Secretary of State position after it was offered because of Bill. He was too much of a problem, and then Obama told her how much he needed her. She has turned out to be the most valuable of his cabinet. And, Bill's remark about Obama who would have served coffee in another time instead of becoming the candidate.
The McCains- John and Cindy- the kind of marriage that we didn't know about but had been whispered about- she cold and calculating, with a lover on the side. John may have followed the same path. It seems he spit out so many F Bombs, it filled a chapter.
Sarah Palin- as bad as we thought and worse, some staff members assigned to Sarah Palin by the McCain campaign discussed the "threatening possibility: that Palin was mentally unstable" and, yet without her, McCain would have lost by more.
VP Biden- how many goofs and mistakes would he make, yet to be decided.
Mark McGuire- he was not in this book, but he is the only one the media is decrying as a liar.
Lots of inside info that I will leave for you to read. Much of this is hearsay- that bothers me a bit, but yet, publishing lawyers must have fact checked what they could. Nothing here about policy, the personal lives and decisions of those that are discussed are on display. Somehow, this all feels real, like an inside look into the lives- the true personalities. Read at your own discretion, and believe what you will.
Recommended. prisrob 01-11-10
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