Game Change review from KarenMarch 13, 2010 Karen Lieberman(Hollywood, FL) I had a lot of fun with this book. I knew about the politics of 2008 and before, and even worked for the Obama campaign in Florida. However, I did not know much of the inside personal "gossipy" stuff like what nasty people some of the most important candidates and/or their spouses were. To find out that Rielle Hunter was 8 months pregnant and Edwards was still hoping for something big really threw me.
If you want a good ride for few days I suggest this book. The truth is not necessarily all there; I'm not trusting of all the sources. But it's still fun.
Fine entertainment, but definitely not history in any way, shape or form.March 13, 2010 Jerry Saperstein(Evanston, IL USA) "Game Change" is wonderfully entertaining. It is entirely unsourced in the sense that few sources are identified. The authors claim to have conducted more than 300 interviews with more than 200 people, all of whom were allegedly players in the various campaigns. The interviews, the authors say, were conducted on a "deep background" basis, which means the authors agreed not to identify the subjects as sources in any way.
Now that is really a convenient peg to hang your hat on , isn't it?
You get to say whatever you want about people, always claiming that your comments are actually the opinions of another person - but you conveniently then claim journalistic immunity from identifying the alleged source.
When you combine this clever ruse with the backgrounds of the authors, one at the New Yorker, the other at Time, you've received fair warning: don't believe everything you read.
I didn't. But that didn't prevent me from enjoying this book as pure entertainment.
Obama is depicted largely in hagiographic terms. Halperin's colleague at Time Magazine recently referred to Obama as Nelson Mandela's successor on the world scene. Halperin and Heilemann seem no less affected.
Everyone else is mean, mean, mean. Not to mention incompetent, bumbling, confused, demanding, irrational, ignorant and otherwise largely devoid of admirable qualities.
John Edwards is - very belatedly - revealed as a liar of epic proportions. The media knew during the campaign of the Edwards alleged affair, but chose not to investigate it. The authors were among those who made that choice. Yet the mainstream media, the very same business that employs the authors, found time to accuse McCain of having an affair with a lobbyist. The false allegations were based on the assertions of anonymous sources - just like everything in this book.
Much of what the authors write, with the exception of their descriptions about Obama, ring true because we've already seen it in video or read it in print. We learn that Mitt Romney was indecisive, flip-flopped on his positions, had a "Mormon" problem and prevaricated.
In truth, if the authors did have all those interviews, a lot of the people they spoke with had axes to grind. For with the singular exception of Obama, everyone comes off looking bad.
Political junkies - and I am one of them - will love this book for its detail, real and imaginary.
The authors are skilled writers and you can see the outline of a screenplay on every page. This would be a great movie, patterned along the lines of "All The President's Men", with the authors as hero journalists who rooted out the "truth" of the campaign.
They have some great lines, like one purported comment about the Republicans and McCain where the speaker allegedly says "the Republicans nominate Bob Dole again". In fact, that was true. Whether someone said it to the authors or the authors invented the statement is unknown and immaterial. Point is that it is a funny line and widely recognized at the time by many.
The authors, as noted above, appear to have a bias in favor of Obama - and a real animus toward Sarah Palin.
But in the end, the biases of the authors don't matter. This isn't history: it is entertainment. And as such is well done and worth reading. Just don't believe everything you read here.
Jerry
Entertaining and InformativeMarch 13, 2010 Lewis Weisblum(New York, New York) As someone who turned 18 in July 2008, this was the first election I could take part in. Furthermore, trying to figure out who stood for what (and more importantly who everyone really was) was overwhelming and the media, confusing. Although this book is clearly biased in favor of Obama, it does acknowledge moments when he wasn't on his A game. I personally found this book interesting and a good overview of the election. While it may read more like a soap opera (think Palin surrounded by index cards screaming that no one likes her) I found it an easy and enjoyable read.
A great read if you are a political junkieMarch 12, 2010 M. D. Tudahl(Van Nuys, CA) With so much attention, how could it live up to the hype? Well it does, but only in parts. The first 2/3 of the book are all about the democrats. Hillary is exactly as reported at the time, John Edwards comes off as a complete self centered fool and Obama is portrayed as an arrogant man out of his league who is pushed up too quickly into the spotlight. In fact, if it wasn't for Hillary running, Obama probably wouldn't have had a chance because he is portrayed as the anti-Hillary in a party looking to put almost anyone up there to block another Clinton from becoming President. The republican part of the book is much less detailed and researched. McCain comes off as an old man disinterested in running and most of the focus is on his team and how they didn't know how to deal with Palin. If Obama wasn't prepared with 2 years of getting ready to run for President, Gov. Palin was even less aware with 2 days of prep and McCain's team doesn't look very good in the way they let her down and didn't guide her properly.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book but wish that as much focus and research was put on the republican race, but I guess that is because the real drama was between Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama. That part is riveting. The rest of the book is just ok and left me wanting more.
InsideMarch 12, 2010 Stephen T. Hopkins(Oak Park, Illinois) John Heilemann and Mark Halperin must have talked to everyone involved in the 2008 presidential race. The result is titled, Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime, an insider's view of the feats and foibles inside each major candidate's campaign. This is required reading for political junkies, for whom every step and misstep can be savored. For those interested in the dirt, within days of release, the most startling revelations were covered in the press. I was less interested in the gossip, and more intrigued by strategy and execution. With even the short distance from these events, it is easy to see the gaps in the Clinton and McCain strategies that led to their losses. At times the level of backbiting and infighting among staffers of the same candidate made me feel like I was reading about high school cliques. Any reader looking for a distraction from the current political mauling over healthcare will find a few hours of gossipy revelation and a bit of insight into strategy and execution on the pages of Game Change.
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