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Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime | 
 enlarge | Authors: John Heilemann, Mark Halperin
Publisher: Harper
Category: Book
List Price: $27.99
Buy New: $13.90
You Save: $14.09 (50%)
New (71) Used (30) Collectible (3) from $13.90
Rating:  537 reviews
Sales Rank: 33
Media: Hardcover
Edition: X
Pages: 464
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.7
ISBN: 0061733636
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.932
EAN: 9780061733635
ASIN: 0061733636
Publication Date: January 1, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | ISBN13: 9780061733635 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
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| Also Available In:
| • | Kindle Edition - Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime | | • | Paperback - Game Change LP: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime | | • | Paperback - Heilemann's, Halperin's Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime | | • | Unknown Binding - Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime (Hardcover) | | • | Unknown Binding - Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime (LARGE PRINT) [LP] (PAPERBACK) | | • | Audio Download - Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime (Unabridged) |
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Product Description
"This shit would be really interesting if we weren't in the middle of it."
Barack Obama, September 2008
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 537
 Crack for political junkies March 13, 2010
dnk (Boston, MA United States)
Let's get this out of the way: this is a book about politicians and politics. Don't pat yourself on the back that you're reading anything remotely edifying. There is no policy or discussion of ideas. This is gossip, however well-substantiated it might be. That some of it affected who became the President of the United States is both hilarious and frightening.
The star may be Obama, but Hillary Clinton's is the story's surprising heroine. She was, in many ways, at the wrong place at the wrong time. The media loved Obama and could not stop themselves from jumping all over any potential gaffe she might have made. She said a couple of stupid things- the Bobby Kennedy reference seemed to come from out of nowhere- but to accuse her of race-baiting was ridiculous. Obama and his team understood the media landscape better than anyone else, and played it best. The fact that later debates involved most of the other candidates pig-piling on Clinton is just one more illustration here of how ugly politics can be.
But those weren't the best parts. The Edwards debacle is a train wreck you can't stop looking at- hubris has never been so entertaining. Of course, the fact that he was theoretically so close to the nomination while all of that was playing out made me shake my head. Whatever sympathy both Edwards may have cultivated because of Elizabeth's cancer is permanently gone.
McCain's campaign redefines disaster. McCain, the former media darling, can't seem to decide between sticking to his guns and catering to the polls and pols. By picking Sarah Palin as his running mate before his team had properly vetted her, he clearly chose the latter. Having read the account of her erratic behavior and her almost pathological lack of desire to educate herself about the issues, I am not worried one bit about the possibility of a Palin anything in the future.
Although there's criticism due to everyone featured in the book, the worst offenders may be the reporters and bloggers in the new and old media. Did Obama deserve the love-in he generated when he couldn't articulate what his health care plan was? Did he deserve to be thought of as possessing unimpeachable ethics when he and his team perfected the art of playing dirty while looking clean? Why was the National Enquirer the only publication that remotely cared about the Edwards' story? And should the McCain campaign, for better or worse, have been so vulnerable to media coverage? And why did we, the electorate, move so forcefully on the basis of what was published? But these questions are only implied- they certainly aren't answered here.
If you're a politics junkie, this is for you. If you're a policy wonk, stay far away.
Game Change review from Karen March 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 Informative March 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 junkie March 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.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 537
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