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Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime Paperback – October 26, 2010
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The gripping inside story of the 2008 presidential election, by two of the best political reporters in the country.
“It’s one of the best books on politics of any kind I’ve read. For entertainment value, I put it up there with Catch 22.” —The Financial Times
“It transports you to a parallel universe in which everything in the National Enquirer is true….More interesting is what we learn about the candidates themselves: their frailties, egos and almost super-human stamina.” —The Financial Times
“I can’t put down this book!” —Stephen Colbert
Game Change is the New York Times bestselling story of the 2008 presidential election, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, two of the best political reporters in the country. In the spirit of Richard Ben Cramer’s What It Takes and Theodore H. White’s The Making of the President 1960, this classic campaign trail book tells the defining story of a new era in American politics, going deeper behind the scenes of the Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin campaigns than any other account of the historic 2008 election.
- Print length456 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateOctober 26, 2010
- Dimensions1.16 x 8.3 x 11.28 inches
- ISBN-100061733644
- ISBN-13978-0061733642
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“A smoking new book. . . . The real revelation in Game Change: Campaigns turn our politicians into lunatics.” — Tina Brown, The Daily Beast
“Heilemann and Halperin have conducted hundreds of interviews to provide the inside story of the 2008 campaign. . . . It vividly shows how character flaws large and small caused Obama’s opponents to self-destruct.” — Jacob Heilbrunn, The New York Times Book Review
“A thoroughly researched, well-paced and occasionally very amusing read. . . . The result is something that conveys the feel, or perhaps more accurately the smell, of one of recent history’s most thrilling elections, and it does so better than any of the other books already on the market.” — The Economist
“I can’t put down this book!” — Stephen Colbert
“Compulsively readable. Once begun, you can’t put it down. . . . Deeply and knowledgeably reported and presented with all the cool sophistication one would expect from two accomplished political reporters.” — Tim Rutten, The Los Angeles Times
“Riveting, definitive. . . . A great campaign book. . . . Halperin and Heilemann got insiders to cough up astonishing artifacts, including emails and recordings. . . . Game Change is really interesting, and puts you deep in the middle of it.” — Kurt Andersen, Very Short List
“The hottest book in the country.” — The Associated Press
“Everybody talked. Anybody that tells you they didn’t is lying to you.” — A former top Clinton aide, to Politico’s Ben Smith
“The best presidential political book since What it Takes by Richard Ben Cramer and Teddy White’s books. These are the types of books that got me into politics.” — Joe Scarborough
“An explosive new book. . . . An absolute page turner.” — Soledad O’Brien on Larry King Live
“You’ve got to read Game Change. . . . I read each and every word. . . . Game Change is a great book.” — Don Imus
“A fascinating account. . . . Heilemann and Halperin serve up a spicy smorgasbord of observations, revelations, and allegations. . . . Game Change leaves the reader with a vivid, visceral sense of the campaign and a keen understanding of the paradoxes and contingencies of history.” — Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
“Riveting. . . . Its pages brim with scandalous tidbits. . . . This is a must-read for anyone interested in the cutthroat backroom hows and whys of a presidential campaign. . . . And it doesn’t hurt that Game Change reads more bodice-ripper than Beltway.” — Tina Jordan, Entertainment Weekly
“The authors of Game Change succeed in creating a plausible account of the emotional tumult of the 2008 campaign as it might have been―perhaps even was―experienced by the candidates, their spouses, and their staffs.” — Hendrik Hertzberg, The New Yorker
“An amazing piece of work. . . . One of the best books on politics of any kind I’ve read. For entertainment value, I put it up there with Catch 22. . . . An absolutely gripping read . . . they can write.” — Clive Crook, The Financial Times
From the Back Cover
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 had been told—until now.
In Game Change, John Heilemann and Mark Halperin pull back the curtain on the Obama, Clinton, McCain, and Palin campaigns. Based on hundreds of interviews with the people who lived the story, Game Change is a reportorial tour de force that reads like a fast-paced novel.
About the Author
John Heilemann, national political correspondent and columnist for New York, is an award-winning journalist and the author of Pride Before the Fall: The Trials of Bill Gates and the End of the Microsoft Era.
Mark Halperin is editor-at-large and senior political analyst for Time. He is also senior political analyst for MSNBC, the author of The Undecided Voter’s Guide to the Next President, and the co-author of The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008.
Product details
- Publisher : Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (October 26, 2010)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 456 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0061733644
- ISBN-13 : 978-0061733642
- Item Weight : 15.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 1.16 x 8.3 x 11.28 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #506,677 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #344 in General Elections & Political Process
- #493 in Elections
- #645 in United States Executive Government
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
John Heilemann is the national political correspondent and columnist for New York magazine. An award-winning journalist and the author of Pride Before the Fall: TheTrials of Bill Gates and the End of the Microsoft Era, he is a former staff writer for The New Yorker, Wired, and The Economist. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Mark Halperin is editor-at-large and senior political analyst for Time magazine. He is the author of The Undecided Voter's Guide to the Next President and the coauthor of The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008. He has covered six presidential elections, including during his decade as the political director for ABC News. He lives in Manhattan.
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The McCain and Palin sections are less reliable and show the effect of their sources, especially with the story of Sarah Palin. The role of Bill Clinton in his wife's campaign is well told. There is a good description of the controversy in South Carolina when Bill Clinton became incensed at the racial undercurrent that was growing. The chapter titled "Obama Agonistes" goes into the Reverend Wright story although it gives Obama a pass on his church attendance. The Bill Ayres story was given short shrift and it is page 241 before that is mentioned and then only in a very brief bit. The authors write only that "he was said to be friendly." No mention of Ayres role in Obama's early career in politics, such as the first meeting in the Ayres home that began Obama's career.
The section on McCain is titled "The Maverick and his meltdown" a clear indication of the authors' sympathies. On page 278 they misrepresent the concerns of McCain and his slow fund raising, not mentioning the immigration controversy until later in the book and then only as an aside. They make a big deal of McCain's supposed difficult relationship with his wife. They emphasize rumors of marital discord that turn out to be rumors only. The section on Giuliani is pretty good although Romney is presented only as a villain. They repeat the stories of McCain's disinterest in new technology although there was controversy about that. The story of McCain's disappointment in Obama and his offer of bipartisan cooperation on ethics reform, later withdrawn, is dishonest. Pages 324 to 329 are fundamentally dishonest and parrot Democrat talking points. The story of Obama's speech in Berlin does not mention his request to use the Brandenberg Gate as a background. This has resulted in some tension with German Chancellor Merkel and should not have been omitted.
The sections on Sarah Palin are clearly based on self seeking accounts by former McCain campaign aides and do not correspond to Sarah Pain's book or other versions that have come out since. It has been said that Bob Woodward's books are filled with praise for his sources and slam those who did not talk to him. This section has the same tone. I would not trust this version in any but minor parts.
All in all, the book is enjoyable with the reservations above. The authors are Obama supporters and it shows. Sarah Palin is trashed by losers who have axes to grind. Keeping that in mind, it is worth reading.
I liked the book because it wasn't as gossipy as I was lead to believe. What was really enjoyable was seeing how the campaigns are put together from behind the scenes, ESPECIALLY RIGHT NOW--DURING THIS NEW PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION YEAR. In an odd way the writer made several of the candidates look odd with the exception of our current first family.....The Obama's. The author included many passages implicating an adoring love between Barak and Michelle. Also his pride in his girls. The others never once looked as if they loved each other. And I for one wasn't totally blown away by what the authors call the disparity between Elizabeth Edward's public image and her every day behavior they felt they had to to ENDURE. Hence the sarcastic nickname of Saint Elizabeth. I had told my mother many times when I saw her on Oprah or things like that I just sensed a barely concealed RAGE seething underneath the plastic smile that didn't reach her eyes. Of course when it came out publicly that while she was battling breast cancer YET again....her no good husband was out cheating. But according to the book and long time staffers with them, she ALWAYS had that barely concealed rage. And actually loved to humiliate John in font of the staff years before her cancer. They said she said he absorbed as her trying to help him be a better person. When anyone else would have seen it as verbal and mental abuse. This is the tip of the iceberg on what you would lean about the people 'who would be king or queen' *wink* In this marvelous book but also an incredible glimpse into the procedures of how presidential campaigning works. They strategically picked states where they felt the need to win all or nothing and in the last election there were still limits donating to a so called "SUPER PAC". The Obama Campaign made history in MANY ways. The obvious factor was he was the first American President of mixed race to win the office and although his mother and Grandmother predominantly raised him--he would always identify himself more with his African American heritage. But other firsts was the usage of the Internet to get poor people who contribute even fifty bucks the chance to give one or two dollars. And they could do it again and again. His staff came up with the idea to see Obama hats T Shirts, copies of the book he wrote and things like that at ANY place he was making speak. These ideas helped pull in more and more money. Then there was the way people were drawn to him. I think you were three categories. You were one of those who just wanted to hear him speak, maybe glimpse him and maybe if you were blessed touch the hem of one his clothing items!!!! The other group was outraged at this other group of people because they DID use the word MESSIAH and OBAMA in the same sentence. I was apart of the third that was plain in shock that a certain section of America were indeed treating this man as the cure all pill to all th problems Bush 2 left us in full swing of and some that he'd created but were only starting to fully blossom. It was nice to read that the people behind the scenes in the Obama camp were as weirded out by it as I am. They were concerned actually for THIS election. Logically no one person in our system of government can make everything he promises happens and people have way of forgetting their REQUIRED high school government classes we all HAD to take to graduate from high school. Then if we went on to college we should have less of an excuse for how the system works FOR BETTER OR WORSE; WE SHOULD KNOW THE PRESIDENT CAN NOT BY HIMSELF MAKE LAWS UNLESS THEY HAVE TO DO WITH A MATTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY WHICH THE COMMITTEE IN CONGRESS THAT DEALS WITH THIS TOPIC MUST BE CLUED IN I BELIEVE (I'M A LITTLE RUSTY). So even this year as Mitt Romney makes promises and we will start sooner or later hear Obama with his own promises and rhetoric. Reading This book reminded me of how much it is a political oratory dance. It is more ritual and theater than factual promises. I was also reminded how many Americans have forgotten that the promises of this political theater are ritual more than an actual intention.
[...]
From the Declaration of Independence:
"...Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. ..."
Top reviews from other countries
It is like Young and the Restless but all true behind-the-scene personal actions, political politics and serendipity.
Incredibile la quantità e la profondità delle informazioni.
Per quanto possa giudicare da fuori, scritto in maniera molto "bipartisan", difficile giudicare se l'apparente simpatia per Obama non sia in realtà iun riflesso degli incredibili errori e difetti degli avversari.
J'ai eu beaucoup de plaisir à me replonger dans cette campagne qui a été passionnante.
Je ne trouve pas de point négatif à dire. Si le sujet vous intéresse, foncez. Si vous aimez la politique, ou si vous voulez mieux connaître les States, n'hésitez pas non plus.
Jean-Yves
Geschrieben von Journalisten, beruhend auf einer großen Zahl an Interviews und Insider-Wissen, ist es hervorragend. An mehr als einer Stelle findet man Begriffe, die der eine oder andere vielleicht nachschlagen muss. Es wird auf Presseberichte eingegangen, welche in Deutschland meiner Erinnerung nach nicht bzw. kaum Erwähnung fanden, was es an mancher Stelle etwas schwieriger macht, zu folgen. Ein paar Grundkenntnisse bezüglich des Ablaufs und des Zeitrahmens einer Präsidentschaftswahl sind von Vorteil, aber in Zeiten von Wikipedia nicht zwingend. Alles lässt sich schließlich nachschlagen.
Ich kann dieses Buch nur empfehlen!
Although Obama is the central character, the narrative revolves around other key players, principally Hillary Clinton, but also John Edwards, John McCain and Sarah Palin. It altered my opinion about Clinton - who comes across as thoroughly decent, diligent and admirable character - but reinforces what I knew about the others.
Those who saw and loved the last two brilliant series of the much-missed West Wing are in for a real treat. The powerful characters and breakneck narrative seem more in tune with a fictional creation than the staid world of politics.
Yet truth is stranger than fiction, and had that programme's creators devised characters such as Sarah Palin, they would have been accused of parody.
Palin - with the egomanic and sleazy John Edwards - comes off worst in this book, although it is her ignorance rather than cynicism or ego that is her worst sin. It remains a terrifying thought that she could have been a missed heartbeat away from being the most powerful person in the world.
One of the books' best episodes recounts her cramming sessions on forign affairs. During a lengthy primer on twentieth century history, of which she knew nothing, one ofe her aides suggests a break. "No, no, no, let's keep going," said Palin with the apparent wonderment of a child. "This is awesome."
The book should be read with a few reservations. It's certainly not (thankfully) political science, yet not even a work of journalism - which would be properly sourced - rather a piece narrative non-fiction. We have to trust the authors' integrity to faithfully and even handedly deal with their off the record sources, and for some readers that will invariably be a leap of faith too far.
Yet in my view, the book is richer and more candid for being off the record and gossipy. It's well-written, fascinating and a rare thing among books of its genre - a real page turner.