GAME CHANGE

Heilemann, J & Mark Halperin (2010) Game change, New York: Harper Collins 448 pages

Introduction:

As  this is being written, Game Change is the #1 best seller of the week. Sales have been so good this reviewer had to wait for a second printing.

Lead up:

This allegedly is the inside story of the election  of 2008. What makes it historic is that a bi-racial Black men is elected to head the United States of America. He will inherit the worst recession since the 30's, two wars, and a pandemic. The stock market is falling and so is the morale of the country. The president is very unpopular and thought to be a little slow. The vice president is considered a very dark Darth Vader. There is much secrecy to the administration and   the  country is ready for change.

The cast:

Sarah Palin. Governor Palin of Alaska is given a very short vetting and the lowest hanging fruit of political malpractice indicates that she is okay. She arrives and is hailed as the new, new conservative. She is a tremendous stump speaker, but has trouble with fundamental questions about American politics. She soon struggles through the contest and is guided by 3 by 5 cards and handlers. She is sent to small media markets. To prepare for the debate, she is overwhelmed with information not obtained from college or her work as a newscaster on

Alaska television. She  finally prepares with rote memory cards in which she excels. She may struggle with mid east policy but a short obtuse answer followed with segues to more comfortable subjects do her well.

She will be the possible vice president of the  United States. She is the "two Sarahs." In public she is bubbly and engaging. Back at the hotel room, she is totally flummoxed and almost catatonic with eyes staring straight to the floor. Handlers start asking psychiatrists to look at her from a distance to see if there is real pathology. In the end, the McCain ticket is probably helped by her because she draws the crowds.

John McCain. He is the soldier's soldier. He was held in captivity for a great deal of time in Vietnam. He came out alive and ready for action. The tenacity to survive in those pre-modern conditions do not serve him well in a modern campaign. He screams and shouts and terrorizes his campaign staff to the point that there is not much that they can do right. When the crash market really hits, he forces President Bush to hold a conference at the White House. He is on the phone, next minute he is pacing the floor , and later cringing as a love interest that goes back to 1999 pops up. She is a lovely young intern.

The stock market crash summit is held at the White House. McCain said very little and Obama shines. Bush is surprised by the disorganization of McCain. He quickly ends the summit and emphasizes the need to get the group to energize the Republican congress to support a bank bail out to calm the fears of investors here and around the world. This is a high point for Bush.

In the debates, McCain clobbers Obama in front of evangelicals, butloses the 3 debates in front of the world. He is smart, but does not prepare for the debates.

Joe Biden. Biden ran for president in the late 80's but was forced to drop out when he plagiarized a speech from a prominent politico in the United Kingdom. He improved his brand by doing his work for the  next two decades. He commutes to the capitol from a tram from Delaware. He really knows how to put his foot in his mouth. There are too many examples to cite. At any rate, he let some of the press know that he thought that Obama would not be as good of president as he could be. Obama hears it. He freezes out Biden through most of campaign and puts him in small markets. Biden knows that he blew it, but cannot go to the phone and apologize.

As he prepares for the vice president's debate his job is not to be smarmy and elitist. He is not to look at Governor Palin. He prepares to show the electorate that he really knows both national and international policy but not to show it.  Governor Palin's job is to appear that she knows more than she does, but is not able to reveal all of it in the debate due to time restraints. She does not lose overwhelmingly and Joe has learned to keep his mouth monitored. The overnight insta-polls give it to Biden. He also finally makes the call and tells Obama that he is sorry.

Hillary Clinton. She is prepared to win in Iowa which takes on incredible importance for all the candidates. She plans to kill off most of the competitors in Iowa and put them in their graves in New Hampshire. She is talking with consultants about the inauguration and has plans for the what the White House will look like. On the campaign trail, she begins to get second thoughts when all these college students and regulars are everywhere.  (In my caucus, there were more Obama supporters, then all the other candidates combined.) Hillary gets 3rd place.

Then comes the long tedious slog to the nomination and Clinton grits her teeth and keeps fighting until she has lost. She repairs to Chappaqua and relents then accepts Obama's offer as Secretary of State.

John Edwards. When he first got to the senate, he was down to earth. Then success spoiled him. He was the vice presidential candidate in 2004. According to the authors, his wife continually belittled him especially in front of others. In other words, she was a piece of work of which her cancer mellowed her for awhile. She would be the first to let you know that he didn't read a book. At any rate, as this is a being written, his career in politics appears to be over and he is getting a divorce. His colleagues came to think of him as a suit that was less than authentic. Within a month of the primaries, he was out but got 2nd in Iowa.

And now we have the president of the United States, Barack Obama.

Many of his sins were discussed in 2 bestselling books so he was monitored the least. His wife really wanted him to stay in the senate, he went on to be president. He comes off as cool and even tempered, but it appears sometimes to be cold. Again at this time, his presidency may be at the bottom as a whole year has been spent on a health care plan without much success and a lot of horse trading. He created a utopian vision, but one cannot have Camelot again. To see Oprah Winfrey and Jessie Jackson crying in the rain as he spoke at the end of the election still means that there has to be a morning after. And so it goes.

Obama slogged into the winners circle and has fought ever since on huge projects demanded by the times. However, folks want jobs. Obama was trying to get votes on a health care plan. History is yet to be written.

Heilemann and Halperin have written a book without sources. Hundreds talked with them on the basis on anonymity. For this reviewer, there was too much trash. I know that elites still get out of bed one foot at a time. That some of their work is less than saintly. It is just that I cannot see that the public will want all of this in the future. Or will they? The authors come with credentials and from upscale publishers, but given my age, I long for a Teddy White book on the MAKING OF THE PRESIDENT. He told us enough about private lives of the political establishment, but not enough to sully the democratic process. This is a good book that is well written. I don't know how much is valid or truthful, but I came away with the incredible feeling that to go into politics is a hard time on a long and winding road called life.