Whether or not you supported Obama in 2008 election, the election was fascinating. If you are a political junkie like I am, then this a must read! In Game Change, you get a view through the mass media lens. It is a fascinating loook through the eyes of the people that are on the bus, in the meetings, and rubbing shoulders with the candidates.
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 has yet been told. In Game Change, John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, two political reporters, use their unrivaled access to pull back the curtain on the Obama, Clinton, McCain, and Palin campaigns. How did Obama convince himself that, despite the thinness of his résumé, he could somehow beat the odds to become the nation's first African-American president? How did the tumultuous relationship between the Clintons shape - and warp - Hillary's supposedly unstoppable bid? What was behind her husband's furious outbursts and devastating political miscalculations? Why did McCain make the novice governor of Alaska his running mate? And was Palin merely painfully out of her depth - or troubled in more serious ways? Is John Edwards the scum bag he is perceived to be?
The book will give a look behind the scenes of the relationship between John and Elizabeth Edwards. Behind the scenes, the Edwards fought viciously and she erupted in irrational outbursts. "There was no one on the national stage for whom the disparity between public image and private reality was vaster or more disturbing," the book says.
It's all makes for a great story. I was struck by how Bill Clinton was frustrated beyond belief that "nothing stuck" to Obama. Reagan was considered to be made of teflon, but he had nothing on Obama.
If you enjoy politics, Game Change is a must read.
