Game Change.

Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime.

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 in The New York Times

April 17th 2010. Simon Laub.

Perhaps there weren't that many secrets left? Amazon review: 3 stars out of 5.

''Game change'' claims to pull back the curtain on the Obama, Clinton, McCain and Palin 2008 campaigns,
and lay bare the secret history of the 2008 campaign.

Perhaps there weren't that many secrets left. Certainly, I dont think we get that many new revelations in the book!?
Still, we get to relive the wonderful 2008 election:

Obama rejected the notion that running for president was a task suited only to the borderline mentally ill. He planned to stay sort of normal.
Hillary on the contrary, was going to drive herself as hard as physically possible, because she has to be president, she wants to be, she needs to.

So, how could Obama possibly win?
Well, the other candidates were good at knocking each other out?!
Fellow democrat, Edwards thought Clinton (and her husband) represented the arrogance wrought by power. He believed she lacked the
common touch, had no feel for regular people, working people. So he would attack her.
And he, in turn, would be attacked by his own wife. Liz Edwards called her husband a "hick" in front of other people,
and derided his parents as rednecks.
One time when a friend asked if John had read a book in particular, Elizabeth burst out laughing: Oh, he doesnt read books.

Not enough for a Obama win?, then Clinton herself helps turn her own campaign into a mess.
No strategy, no nessage, no path to victory.

But obviously Obama also had to beat McCain. And McCain and Obama didnt like each other. Not even a little bit.
Luckily for Obama, McCain could also knock himself out.
When first pick for VP Joe Lieberman doesnt work out, he picks Sarah Palin.
And things start to go messy for McCain when Palins gets questions like "Do you reject evolution?".
Actually, her answer to that one was quite good: "No, my father is a science teacher, He showed me fossils. I know how things evolved.
I just dont think that evolution excludes a role for God."
But somehow the verdict is in. Not fit to be president.

Still she turns out to be: Charming, folksy, disciplined, flirty and mean.
And more than a match for Obamas VP pick Joe Biden:
Who has trouble with a lot of things.E.g.
Biden listen to a bunch of the Obamans talk him through the tickets position on taxes. "Thats our policy", he said incredulously.

All great stuff, I am not sure it is all that new though.

-Simon

Amazon: [1] Posterous: [2].


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