Game Change (book)

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Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime is a book by US political journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin about the 2008 US presidential election . It was released on January 11, 2010, and in the UK it was released under the title Race of a Lifetime: How Obama Won the White House . The book is based on interviews with more than 300 people who participated in the campaign. The book describes the extramarital affair of the Democratic candidate John Edwards, the relationship between Barack Obama and his running mate Joe Biden , the failure of the candidate Rudy Giuliani and the candidacy of Sarah Palin .

The book is divided into three parts: Part 1 (14 chapters) on the Democratic Primarys , the Obama-Clinton duel and the Edwards affair. Part 2 (three chapters) on the Republican Primarys. Part 3 (six chapters) describes the duel between Obama and John McCain .

book

Game Change contains several new statements about the 2008 election campaign that were previously unknown to the public. It was explained that Senate Majority Leaders Harry Reid and Senator Chuck Schumer privately urged Barack Obama to run for the presidency in the fall of 2006 in the hope that it would stir the democratic base and increase the party's chances improve to win the presidency. The book also details an hour-long meeting between Hillary Clinton and Mark Penn during which Clinton accused Obama of "playing the race card" and importing people to Iowa to improve his chances at the primary. The book also claims that Hillary Clinton wanted to make a bigger cause of Obama's drug use, but was turned away by her staff. She also reportedly said, "I hate the choice the country is making. I think it's a terrible choice. "

Heilemann and Halperin write in Game Change that Clinton wanted to enter the 2004 presidential race and that she had very good poll numbers. She was asked to do so by her husband, former President Bill Clinton , but her daughter Chelsea Clinton advised her against it. Hillary Clinton was also against it, having promised her constituents in the Senatorial election that she would stay for the full term. Some Hillary Clinton's advisors are also believed to have assumed that Bill Clinton was having an affair. No further details were given in the book.

Game Change also includes details of John Edwards' affair with Rielle Hunter and his dealings with her before it was released to the public. According to the book, Edwards angrily dismissed requests from his advisors to distance themselves from Hunter. The book also describes, in some depth, Sarah Palin's role in John McCain's election campaign. In response to concerns that Palin was depressed and that she was underperforming in discussion training, McCain reportedly suggested moving Palin's discussion training from Philadelphia to Sedona , Arizona , to allow Palin to be closer to her family. McCain's aides were also reportedly concerned about Palin's complete failure to internalize basic data and general knowledge prior to their ABC News interviews with Charles Gibson . This related u. a. also to the fact that North Korea and South Korea are two different states. She also allegedly believed that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was responsible for the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The book ends with Obama's victory in the presidential election and Clinton's offer to serve as his administration's foreign secretary. Senator John Kerry later takes office.

reaction

Harry Reid has been criticized for making remarks about Barack Obama that only came to the public through the book. He said he gave Obama opportunities because, despite his paternal origin, he was a relatively light skin type and didn't have a " Negro dialect " unless he wanted to. Reid later apologized and Barack Obama accepted the apology.

National Republican Senate Chairman John Cornyn, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senator Minority Whip Jon Kyl all called for Reid to be re-elected after his comments about resigning as majority leader became known

Bill Clinton is said to have tried to persuade Ted Kennedy not to support Obama, but his wife, Hillary Clinton . Clinton is supposed to have said Kennedy a few years ago a guy like that would have brought us coffee . There is no evidence to support this statement. Kennedy announced his support for Obama. Reverend Al Sharpton describes this alleged statement as disturbing and worse than Reid's.

Critics complained about the book, the lack of sources. This approach followed what Bob Woodward took in his books. A teacher at the Poynter Institute who studies journalistic ethics said that the danger of this method is that the author will shirk any responsibility.

Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times wrote of the authors of Game Change, "They serve a spicy hodgepodge of observations, revelations and claims - some based on impressive drudgery and access, some that simply summarize campaign rumors and whispers, and some that are difficult to independently verify because the unnamed sources to fall back "" Kakutani and Marc Ambinder of the Atlantic wrote both the book glide into the gossip. the authors defended themselves against the allegations and claimed to have worked accurately.

Sarah Palin criticized Heilemann and Halperin for the way Game Change described their candidacy. Meghan Stapleton, Palin's spokeswoman, claimed that Palin's autobiography Going Rogue: An American Life was more fact-based. Jay Carney , White House press secretary, criticized the book but gave no specific passages.

output

Film adaptation

HBO Films produced the film Game Change - The Sarah Palin Effect , which Jay Roach directed. The film won numerous film awards. The main focus of the film is Sarah Palin , portrayed by Julianne Moore .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b About The Book: Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann, Mark Halperin . HarperCollins . Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  2. ^ Philip Elliot: Reid apologizes for 'no Negro dialect' comment . In: The Associated Press , Boston Globe , Jan. 9, 2010. 
  3. ^ Peter Stothard: Race of a Lifetime: How Obama Won the White House by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann . In: The Times , January 16, 2009. 
  4. ↑ a b Jonathan Martin: Book: Obama, Biden clashed in '08 . In: Politico , January 9, 2010. Retrieved January 10, 2010. 
  5. ↑ a b Marc Ambinder : The Juiciest Revelations In "Game Change" . In: The Atlantic . January 8, 2010. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  6. ^ A b c d Jeff Zeleny: 2008 Campaign, All Over Again in New Book . In: The New York Times , January 9, 2010. 
  7. ↑ Marc Ambinder : Game Change: Even More Juicy Stuff . In: The Atlantic . January 9, 2009. Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  8. ↑ Jeff Zeleny: Reid Apologizes for Racial Remarks About Obama . In: The New York Times , January 9, 2010. 
  9. ^ Mark Preston: Reid apologizes for 'Negro dialect' comment , CNN . January 9, 2010. 
  10. ↑ a b Mike Allen : Palin attacks book; Reid regrets . In: The Politico . January 9, 2010. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  11. ^ John Bresnahan: Republicans charge Lott-Reid double standard . In: Politico . January 10, 2010. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
  12. ↑ Anjeanette Damon: Sen. Harry Reid wins fifth term against anti-incumbent fervor . In: Las Vegas Sun , November 2, 2010. Retrieved March 11, 2012. 
  13. ^ A b Sharpton: Clinton 'Coffee' Remark About Obama 'Disturbing' , Fox News . January 11, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2010. 
  14. ↑ a b David Jackson: Obama, Reid, and the (latest) Washington book frenzy . In: USA Today , January 12, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2010. 
  15. ↑ a b c Michael Calderone: 'Game Change': The freak show . In: The Politico , January 10, 2010. Archived from the original on January 23, 2010 Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved February 14, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / dyn.politico.com 
  16. ↑ a b Michiko Kakutani : In 'Game Change,' Insight on the 2008 Campaign . In: The New York Times , January 10, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2010. 
  17. ^ Johanna Neuman: 'Game Change': Is the book gossip or journalism? . In: Los Angeles Times , January 11, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2010. 
  18. ^ Dwyer, Devin: 'Game Change' Authors: 'We Were Shocked' by Revelations from 2008 Presidential Campaign . In: Good Morning America , ABC News , January 11, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2010. 
  19. ^ Game Change , HBO webpage.

Web links