Book Review; Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halprin

Game Change, Obama and Clinton, McCain and Palin and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin is FANTASTIC. It is like reading the National Enquirer without any of the guilt or secret pleasure. The authors are both seasoned reporters with a lot of inside information and access to people that those outside of the beltway can just dream about and they use their information and their contacts well.

I followed the 2008 Presidential Race very closely and I continue to pay attention to the politics in Washington with a focus on Sarah Palin and this book further opened my eyes. The authors take you back to the beginning. The time and place where all four candidates decided they would run for president: Obama, Clinton, McCain and Edwards. Along with way you catch small glimpses into Huckabee, and Romney along with Guilianni and Biden's run. But the focus of this book is really Obama, Clinton, McCain and at the end Palin which is fitting as she came in at the end and was a game changer. There is still much debate about how she changed the game.

The information about John and Elizabeth Edwards would be heartbreaking if not for their sense of entitlement and audacity coupled with arrogance and emotional instability. After reading this book I will never look at Elizabeth Edwards as a poor innocent victim in the scandal that rocked her husbands presidential bid.

The insights about Barack and Michele made me like them both very much but as we enter 2010 I must say that while great props must be given for the way the campaign was run I fear that Obama is treating the Presidency as a continuing campaign and the reality is that there is a very big difference between running a campaign and running a presidency. The goal of a campaign is to bring people together so that you can get broadband support and ride to victory. A president must lead especially in times of war and I do not believe that Obama and his campaign managers many who are now his advisor's have been able to make the mental switch.

According to Game Change McCain's campaign was a disaster from the start. The qualities that have allowed McCain to be a maverick in the Senate and stand for his beliefs hindered him on the campaign trail. Also as the book explains his aides tried to reel him in for the purposes of pandering to the extreme right, a group that has never liked McCain and who McCain does not truly support. The book provides insider information that McCain wanted Lieberman as his running mate but that he was voted down and at the last minute Palin was chosen.

The passages about Palin are some of the juiciest sections. I will admit right here I do not like or respect Palin. Never had never will and this book does nothing but fuel the speculation that she was in way over her head from the beginning. According to the authors there was no real vetting that took place before her nomination was public and once she was on the ticket the team felt stuck. The authors expose the truth of Sarah Palin that she knew absolutely nothing about forgien affairs and the stilted interviews with Katie Couric really were the real Palin. McCain's camp was panicked and did all they could to keep Sarah under control.

A large part of the book talks about Hillary's campaign and the challenges that she faced. Her campaign managers were fractioned from the start and everyone was afraid of the role that would be played by Bill Clinton. Finishing the book you will have a greater understanding of the relationship between Hillary and Bill. It truly appears to be one of complete dedication with Hillary understanding and excepting that Bill is fundamentally flawed but at the same time an extraordinary human being.

The final chapters do a nice job of sewing up the ending between Obama, Biden and Clinton and I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in politics or drama or soap operas. It really does have something for everyone.