Dez Reviews Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin

After hunting high and low, I was finally able to get my hands on a copy of this wonderfully salacious recounting of the 2008 presidential election. First of all, it confirmed most of my suspicions: Barack Obama is savvy, ambitious, aloof and would rather deal with big visions than the nitty gritty details of policy. It is funny how he becomes frustrated being a Senator within about three months because there is too much policy and not enough publicity. He has little patience for the details. Much like, ironically enough, George W. Bush. Hillary Clinton was probably the most qualified candidate on either side of the aisle and loved to get into the details but had a problem with the "vision thing." She was plagued by overconfidence, a sense of Clinton entitlement, an inept campaign team, gripping paranoia and was utterly unprepared when her forgone coronation was wrecked by Hurricane Obama. Her most fatal flaw was named Bill. None of the Republicans, including John McCain, really wanted to run. Except Mitt Romney. (There is a great high school-like scene where McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee are all lined up along the urinals in the bathroom before their debate laughing and making fun of Romney, and the room goes quickly silent as Romney walks in to take his own wizz before the debate). Sarah Palin is as stupid and dangerous as you think she is. And John Edwards is the sleaziest man alive.

I knew most of these things. But Hielemann and Halperin unravel this gripping tale like a thriller, getting into the plots and planning, the revelations and the underhanded deals with a gusto that draws you completely in. I found myself alternately laughing, shaking my head in amazement and being quite disturbed by what I read.

Let's focus on John Edwards for a moment. I have always hated (yes, hated) Edwards. He is a scheming, soulless, hypocritical a-hole. Or, your typical plaintiff's attorney. (No surprise he got his millions suing doctors on bogus medical malpractice cases). The authors eviscerate Edwards in the book, much to my delight. His judgment, from the people he hired to his ridiculous affair and resulting love child, was consistently appalling. He was willing to put his own ambition above the fortunes of the Democratic Party in shocking ways. He was well aware that his private life could destroy the Party during an election year, but he stayed in the race anyway. Much to the dismay of his closest advisors, who one by one, abandoned him. It was interesting how Edwards knew he was out of the race pretty early, but remained in as long as possible to secure a prestigious government position for himself. A funny series of phone calls between the Edwards and Obama camps show an increasingly desperate Edwards haggling for a spot on the Obama train. First he offers to drop out if Obama picks him for VP. Obama refuses. Then he offers to drop out if he can have the Attorney General spot. Obama still refuses. Finally one of Obama's allies counsels Edwards to give it up, "This is ridiculous. It's going to be ambassador to Zimbabwe next." But it is Edwards' own bizarre affair with an insane documentary filmmaker that proves his undoing, and the authors detail this sordid story in all of its fascinating detail.


ABOVE: John Edwards is even more of a sleazy bastard than you thought he was

Hillary Clinton is the real tragic figure here. She and her team are so convinced that she is destined for greatness and the White House that they are thoroughly unprepared for Obama. Unsuprisingly, some of the funniest moments involve Bill Clinton working as a rogue agent against the wishes of Hillary's campaign team. When they ask her to control her husband, she incredibly tells them that she is unable to, and delegates the job of corralling Bill to people in her campaign. It turns out, though, that Bubba's instincts were correct. Hillary's team had no clue how to handle Obama, and had they listened to Bill, we might have had a different result. Some of the best moments are when Bill Clinton becomes apoplectic with rage when his former black constituency (remember Clinton being the "first black president") turns against him. He can barely comprehend what is happening as he bumbles through South Carolina and lashes wildly out at Obama.

As most intelligent people know, Sarah Palin was completely out of her depth. As the book recounts the sometimes hilarious debate prep for Palin, the reader is shocked that this woman might have been a (very old) heartbeat away from the presidency. Her behavior is truly bizarre. The McCain team hardly vetted her at all, so desperate were they for a game-changer in the race, and they are as shocked as the rest of us as she reveals her true deficiencies.


ABOVE: Turns out that John McCain didn't really give a shit

Obama's frustrations with Joe Biden after he is picked as running mate are great fun, as well. I loved when Obama's team was briefing Joe on Obama's tax policy in preparation for Joe's appearance on Meet the Press, and Joe erupts, "That's our policy? That's our policy? Well, it's your campaign. I'll say what you want me to say. But after Election Day, all bets are off." But Joe doesn't wait until Election Day. Later on his plane, he tells a gaggle of journalists that in fact, he is much more qualified than Obama to be president. And after Biden's infamous comment that Obama would be "tested" within six months internationally because he was so green, Obama shouts to his team "How many times is Biden gonna say something stupid?"

Everyone in this book takes harsh hits, but unsurprisingly, Obama comes out looking the best while Hillary is a sad figure who made many crucial mistakes. McCain comes across overall as an honorable man, but one who's time had passed and who really should have been elected president in 2000. (Although the verbal assaults launched between John and Cindy McCain are somewhat shocking. "F*ck you! F*ck you! F*ck you!" McCain screams in Cindy's face in front of a stunned campaign staff when she dares to interrupt him). This is a must-read for anyone who is interested in the inner workings and personalities of politics. If I have a complaint, it is that the authors do not ever really name their sources for all of this great info. Most of that is due to necessity, as they explain. In order to get important people to talk, it had to be on deep background. But I have faith in their methods, and they double and triple checked their facts and episodes wherever possible. Fascinating read.

**** out of *****