This is the easiest to read, most entertaining, and enlightening book yet to come to print dealing with the personalities and forces at work in the 2008 Presidential elections and the primary battles that led up to it.

Lots of inside info, interesting tidbits, and just enough salacious details to make an exceptional book even more interesting. The authors take you inside the game and you come away with a lot better view of the people involved in this historic election.

Easily one of the best political non-fiction books ever written. It will become a classic within the genre, read by generations of Americans yet to be born.

I enjoyed reliving this election with all its interesting characters and unpredictable events. Delving "behind the scenes" was interesting and enlightning: people in politics are a strange group. In modern elections, it seems it is all coming down to who can manipulate the voters the best, not necessarily who is the best person for the job. I can't believe that either McCain or Obama is the best person to fix what is ailing our country, but McCain definitely played an inferior game in the campaign. He was too pro-war, too economically weak, and too much of a risk taker. He lost my vote when he picked Palin. And after reading this book, I feel especially good about that being the deciding factor in casting my final vote: she's a lot scarier than I thought. You betcha.

I couldn't put it down! I have always enjoyed the insider's look into the Presidential Life. I found this book so intriguing because the authors blended an exciting campaign story from historical research and included many of the hopefuls' behind-the-green-door-associates' perspectives without the barrier of political correctness. The writing is fluid but intelligent as well as scandalous, with shocking secrets and suspense! It wasn't expected to be a quick read and I look forward to the sequel - perhaps the title should be "COFFEE, TEA OR BEER? The Presidential Vision of Barack Obama"!

This book reports a very in depth view of the Political Race of 2008. The story focuses on both primary elections and the general election.

This is a book about which I heard good things, and >I WISH I COULD< actually submit a review. This is impossible at the present time, however, because the book never arrived. It was supposed to've been shipped from Amazon subseller TEATREE, INC., and it had a "delivery window" of 3 weeks. The book never arrived; has still never arrived; it shows no signs of ever arriving, despite what I would call more of a delivery "Barn Door" than a window!! And also despite an e-mail msg to TeaTree -- with my order number -- describing the pblm and requesting a response. Nothing. These are things I "would have wanted to know before (I) purchased the product". So altho I WISH I COULD review "Game Change" for anybody who might be interested, as you can see, that is not possible. (Oh, yes....I HAVE received my *Amazon Credit Card* bill for this purchase, however. A bill with a 14% interest rate for non- or late-payment, my wife tells me. But the book I still do not have.)

This book is a great "behind the scenes" look at the 2008 presidential campaign. Mr. Heilemann and Mr. Halperin deliver the goods and that is the reason that this compelling read sits at the top of the NYT Bestseller list. Political junkies will enjoy riding the campaign buses and having a seat at the strategy meetings. The book has been critisized stylistically (the authors failure to cite sources) but I've yet to read that it is factually wrong. It is a compulsively great read!!

Fascinating read. Once you get into the book it is hard to put down. It will also change your views on politics, politicians in general and the election process.

I followed the presidential campaign quite closely, and I still learned a good bit from this book. Did it cover issues or policy? Not really. But it does give you a sense of the candidates' personalities and how they managed their campaigns. My only quibble - spent perhaps too much time on Obama's decision to run and on Iowa, and very little at all on candidates who didn't gain traction, like Romney, Huckabee, Dodd, and other Democrats.

This is an entertaining look at the 2008 Presidential election from a couple of Washington insiders who viewed some of it up close and personal, and had a lot of connections and sources to fill in the blanks. Since the campaign itself immersed a lot more of the population in process, this is a good look back for a lot of readers. There is a slight Obama slant, but the public gets to see far more of the "warts" of politics at this level, and really, has to wonder why anyone would choose to insert themselves into this crazy process.

I tried to ignore the early gossip about the book and the "reveals" and just evaluate it on the face of my own reading experience.

Edwards, Palin, McCain and Bill Clinton take the most hits of any other figures in the book. Hilary, while at a loss in the race, comes off as the most believable and heroic of all the figures (and I'm not a fan!). There is good support for all the smart moves made by the Obama campaign and realistic introduction of some of the criticsm of his past connections. All in all, a fascinating account, without any particularly laudable skill in the phrasing or historical significance.

Enjoy!

A fast read. Plenty of juicy anecdotes about the main players, and, some revealing looks at them, and their ability to lead. The authors leave little room to question that the best person won, assuming their telling of the facts are true and fair.

As someone who turned 18 in July 2008, this was the first election I could take part in. Furthermore, trying to figure out who stood for what (and more importantly who everyone really was) was overwhelming and the media, confusing. Although this book is clearly biased in favor of Obama, it does acknowledge moments when he wasn't on his A game. I personally found this book interesting and a good overview of the election. While it may read more like a soap opera (think Palin surrounded by index cards screaming that no one likes her) I found it an easy and enjoyable read.

"Game Change" is wonderfully entertaining. It is entirely unsourced in the sense that few sources are identified. The authors claim to have conducted more than 300 interviews with more than 200 people, all of whom were allegedly players in the various campaigns. The interviews, the authors say, were conducted on a "deep background" basis, which means the authors agreed not to identify the subjects as sources in any way.

Now that is really a convenient peg to hang your hat on , isn't it?

You get to say whatever you want about people, always claiming that your comments are actually the opinions of another person - but you conveniently then claim journalistic immunity from identifying the alleged source.

When you combine this clever ruse with the backgrounds of the authors, one at the New Yorker, the other at Time, you've received fair warning: don't believe everything you read.

I didn't. But that didn't prevent me from enjoying this book as pure entertainment.

Obama is depicted largely in hagiographic terms. Halperin's colleague at Time Magazine recently referred to Obama as Nelson Mandela's successor on the world scene. Halperin and Heilemann seem no less affected.

Everyone else is mean, mean, mean. Not to mention incompetent, bumbling, confused, demanding, irrational, ignorant and otherwise largely devoid of admirable qualities.

John Edwards is - very belatedly - revealed as a liar of epic proportions. The media knew during the campaign of the Edwards alleged affair, but chose not to investigate it. The authors were among those who made that choice. Yet the mainstream media, the very same business that employs the authors, found time to accuse McCain of having an affair with a lobbyist. The false allegations were based on the assertions of anonymous sources - just like everything in this book.

Much of what the authors write, with the exception of their descriptions about Obama, ring true because we've already seen it in video or read it in print. We learn that Mitt Romney was indecisive, flip-flopped on his positions, had a "Mormon" problem and prevaricated.

In truth, if the authors did have all those interviews, a lot of the people they spoke with had axes to grind. For with the singular exception of Obama, everyone comes off looking bad.

Political junkies - and I am one of them - will love this book for its detail, real and imaginary.

The authors are skilled writers and you can see the outline of a screenplay on every page. This would be a great movie, patterned along the lines of "All The President's Men", with the authors as hero journalists who rooted out the "truth" of the campaign.

They have some great lines, like one purported comment about the Republicans and McCain where the speaker allegedly says "the Republicans nominate Bob Dole again". In fact, that was true. Whether someone said it to the authors or the authors invented the statement is unknown and immaterial. Point is that it is a funny line and widely recognized at the time by many.

The authors, as noted above, appear to have a bias in favor of Obama - and a real animus toward Sarah Palin.

But in the end, the biases of the authors don't matter. This isn't history: it is entertainment. And as such is well done and worth reading. Just don't believe everything you read here.

Jerry

I had a lot of fun with this book. I knew about the politics of 2008 and before, and even worked for the Obama campaign in Florida. However, I did not know much of the inside personal "gossipy" stuff like what nasty people some of the most important candidates and/or their spouses were. To find out that Rielle Hunter was 8 months pregnant and Edwards was still hoping for something big really threw me.

If you want a good ride for few days I suggest this book. The truth is not necessarily all there; I'm not trusting of all the sources. But it's still fun.

Let's get this out of the way: this is a book about politicians and politics. Don't pat yourself on the back that you're reading anything remotely edifying. There is no policy or discussion of ideas. This is gossip, however well-substantiated it might be. That some of it affected who became the President of the United States is both hilarious and frightening.

The star may be Obama, but Hillary Clinton's is the story's surprising heroine. She was, in many ways, at the wrong place at the wrong time. The media loved Obama and could not stop themselves from jumping all over any potential gaffe she might have made. She said a couple of stupid things- the Bobby Kennedy reference seemed to come from out of nowhere- but to accuse her of race-baiting was ridiculous. Obama and his team understood the media landscape better than anyone else, and played it best. The fact that later debates involved most of the other candidates pig-piling on Clinton is just one more illustration here of how ugly politics can be.

But those weren't the best parts. The Edwards debacle is a train wreck you can't stop looking at- hubris has never been so entertaining. Of course, the fact that he was theoretically so close to the nomination while all of that was playing out made me shake my head. Whatever sympathy both Edwards may have cultivated because of Elizabeth's cancer is permanently gone.

McCain's campaign redefines disaster. McCain, the former media darling, can't seem to decide between sticking to his guns and catering to the polls and pols. By picking Sarah Palin as his running mate before his team had properly vetted her, he clearly chose the latter. Having read the account of her erratic behavior and her almost pathological lack of desire to educate herself about the issues, I am not worried one bit about the possibility of a Palin anything in the future.

Although there's criticism due to everyone featured in the book, the worst offenders may be the reporters and bloggers in the new and old media. Did Obama deserve the love-in he generated when he couldn't articulate what his health care plan was? Did he deserve to be thought of as possessing unimpeachable ethics when he and his team perfected the art of playing dirty while looking clean? Why was the National Enquirer the only publication that remotely cared about the Edwards' story? And should the McCain campaign, for better or worse, have been so vulnerable to media coverage? And why did we, the electorate, move so forcefully on the basis of what was published? But these questions are only implied- they certainly aren't answered here.

If you're a politics junkie, this is for you. If you're a policy wonk, stay far away.

Although I would have liked to read more about Sarah Palin, this book gave an insight into what it was like to be a female running for the office of the President of the U.S. It illustrated how the hopeful candidate has to put in 16 hour days and still appear fresh and competent after a long journey that does not seem to have an ending.
It left it up to the reader's conclusion as to whether Bill Clinton was an asset or a pain-in-the-neck. Would Hillary have been better off without her husband's good intentions? Hillary Clinton defied the odds of the insiders and came back time after time to win primaries when she had all but been counted out.
John Edwards was an also-ran because of his internal conflicts with his wife and his womanizing. He ended up willing to settle as the attorney-general in the new administration.
John McCain's race for the White House was doomed when he chose Sarah Palin as his running mate, mainly due to the fact that the vetting process for Palin was incomplete and poorly organized.
The 2008 race for the presidency was so successful for Barrack Obama, the first African American president, because he ran his campaign like a well-oiled machine, relying on the internet for small donations ($10) and an extremely well organized grass roots campaign. Obamas' expertise as a Chicago community organizer was a valuable experience that helped him run his smooth and popular campaign.
I believe that "Game Change" will be a guide for political aspirants in the years to come.

Most of the items in this book is general knowledge to anyone who followed the campaign closely.
But there are some interesting things about all the candidates.
Hillary's denial regarding Bill and his affairs is astounding. I assumed she had just made peace with him as a cheater, but this book implies that she doesn't believe he cheats. It was also surprising that Hillary's campaign left Bill out of their strategy sessions. I was also surprised at Hillary's comfort level with disfunction. her campaign manager was clearly not doing a good job, Solis. I was also surprised by how hands off Hillary was and how indecisive she was, totally contrasted with her public image.
Obama's willingness to ride on the media early, and how Hillary's knowledge of policy and her destroying him in early debates forced him to get engaged and learn the issues. I was also surprised by the problems between Biden and Obama,i didnt think they went that deep.
Elizabeth Edward's image took a huge hit in this book, the comes across as the political wife from hell. Edward's reckless actions are astounding.
McCain's level of detachment form campaign decisions is also alarming. its as if he just wanted to wing everything. Also the adultery issues surrounding Cindy are not really refuted. His actions during the financial crises are even more out of touch than they appeared at the time. He was completely clueless. McCain's process for choosing Palin was even more reckless than originally thought. His own campaign had not done a real vetting of Palin at all.
Palin, wow, it was like reading about a petulant child. She just wouldn't speak to her advisors...seriously? i was stunned.

Reading this book, you understand how Obama won, and how candidates ran their campaigns had a direct impact on winning. Obama's campaign was a machine, with a mission, focused well run. The other's were not.

Loved the book - it gave a different perspective of all the major candidates, even those that I had worked on campaigns for. I thought it was written with great ease and became impossible to put down - sort of like a mystery even when you know the outcome. I also know that there was concern that sources are not named, but then we have to take this for what it is - sort of an inside gossipy book, still, I loved it and recognized things about some of the candidates that I sort of already knew.

John Heilemann and Mark Halperin must have talked to everyone involved in the 2008 presidential race. The result is titled, Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime, an insider's view of the feats and foibles inside each major candidate's campaign. This is required reading for political junkies, for whom every step and misstep can be savored. For those interested in the dirt, within days of release, the most startling revelations were covered in the press. I was less interested in the gossip, and more intrigued by strategy and execution. With even the short distance from these events, it is easy to see the gaps in the Clinton and McCain strategies that led to their losses. At times the level of backbiting and infighting among staffers of the same candidate made me feel like I was reading about high school cliques. Any reader looking for a distraction from the current political mauling over healthcare will find a few hours of gossipy revelation and a bit of insight into strategy and execution on the pages of Game Change.

Rating: Three-star (Recommended)

With so much attention, how could it live up to the hype? Well it does, but only in parts. The first 2/3 of the book are all about the democrats. Hillary is exactly as reported at the time, John Edwards comes off as a complete self centered fool and Obama is portrayed as an arrogant man out of his league who is pushed up too quickly into the spotlight. In fact, if it wasn't for Hillary running, Obama probably wouldn't have had a chance because he is portrayed as the anti-Hillary in a party looking to put almost anyone up there to block another Clinton from becoming President. The republican part of the book is much less detailed and researched. McCain comes off as an old man disinterested in running and most of the focus is on his team and how they didn't know how to deal with Palin. If Obama wasn't prepared with 2 years of getting ready to run for President, Gov. Palin was even less aware with 2 days of prep and McCain's team doesn't look very good in the way they let her down and didn't guide her properly.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book but wish that as much focus and research was put on the republican race, but I guess that is because the real drama was between Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama. That part is riveting. The rest of the book is just ok and left me wanting more.

At the end of the day I don't know how much is actual fact and how much is made up, but it sure makes for an entertaining read. In the current world of twittering, facebooking and incessant blogging the mystique behind what goes on in Washington has pretty much been cratered. So it wouldn't surprise me if many of these events weren't in fact true. Yet by the end, more than painting general pictures of the candidates at times with their worst behavior exposed, it really shows how human these people are in the face of extraordinary circumstances and pressure. I mean, seriously, who'd want these jobs!

although you know the outcome the stories of what happened behind the scenes of both campaigns were enthralling

"Game Change" is about the 2008 election campaign. It is not about what positions the candidates took on issues, but, rather, about the demeanor of the candidates and the conduct and management of the campaigns. It reads like a novel, and I found it fascinating. I, however, am a political junkie, so consider the source.

The book starts with the pre primary debates, although it doesn't describe all the players or all of the debates. Ron Paul, who, in my opinion, won at least one debate was hardly mentioned. Mike Gravel, who similarly won two early debates before he disappeared from them, wasn't mentioned at all.

Having said that, there is lots of mention of the inner workings of the other campaigns. Neither one of the Edwards came out looking good despite the fact that, in my opinion, John Edwards won at least one debate. Apparently a lot of what we learned after the campaign was already known by the insiders, and it was a good thing he was not nominated.

Since I had followed the campaigns so closely, there were few surprises. We see that Hilary Clinton, who knew her stuff and had had Whitehouse experience, ran a loose disjointed campaign. She definitely appears to be more of a policy wonk than an executive and is probably perfectly suited to the job she has now. The book explains how Obama persuaded her to be his Secretary of State.

We see how McCain rushed into decisions without all the facts. I did learn how nasty a temper he has from a description with of a "discussion" he was overheard to have with his wife. (I would have left him on the spot and the next time I got in touch with him would have been through lawyers.)

We already knew that Joe Biden puts his mouth in gear before he engages his brain at times but that he is honest and knowledgeable. In my opinion he won at least one of the early primary debates.

We all knew that poor Sarah Palin was tossed into the national scene with no background whatsoever. She is quick and witty but was way out of her league, and her trainers knew so little about her that they managed to compound the problem. The authors found her a sympathetic figure.

The authors misjudged Lieberman whom they called a liberal except on security, but who is a conservative except on the environment. He definitely was under consideration for McCain's vice president.

And we see through it all that Obama, besides understanding the issues, is methodical about finding out all the facts before making a decision and has good executive ability - with his well run campaign as an example. He doesn't make a decision without thinking of the long term implications and always does his homework. He was competent in the debates, but he did not shine.

The book is easy to read and gives us good insight into the personalities of the players. I had trouble putting it down. (I think the most surprising thing in the book is how many of the candidates used foul language. I suppose the reason Clinton shocked me is that I remember hearing the word f***k only once all the time I was growing up, and she grew up in the Midwest. I am, however, pre baby boom.)

For anyone interested in politics, and in particular, the 2008 election, this is a great non-stop read. The authors' abilities to bring all of the characters and players to life is superb. However, beware it you're not an English major. Thank goodness I had my Kindle edtion so I could look all of the uncommon words which the authors appear to hold so dearly in their writing. For example, a lawyer's "mein," and "pilloried" or "gobsmacked." I couldn't read a chapter without seraching the dictionary for the defintion of a verb or adjective. It is more noticeable when laced with the four letter words erupting for the candidates, their spouses, and staff's mouths.

Yet, in the end a good read and real page-turner.

This book, although informative, reads like a novel. You'll have a greater depth of knowledge about the occurrences behind the podiums and speeches in the political arena. It is a true page turner. I felt I knew each person a little bit better.

The one thing glaringly lacking in this interesting page-turner was the candor of Obama's inner circle with the authors. Every pock, flaw, defect, character failing, ill-temperament, intellectual short-coming, emotional disturbance, ego trip and failure of sound judgment by every other candidate (and often their spouses) from the 2008 race is found here, whether Hillary Clinton, McCain, Palin, Biden, Edwards, Giuliani or Romney but nothing about Barack or Michelle Obama's blemishes. One must conclude that either Obama is possessed of a singularly flawless character and temperament, whose biggest failing is that he didn't debate well in the Democratic primary, or that Obama's people the authors consulted simply refused to give up the goods and painted only the most rose-colored glasses insider's portrait they could concoct about their man.

But this would be no surprise really. The spoils always goes to the victor in politics and that includes the victor always being protected and insulated by the people around them from the light of media scrutiny, at least for a time, while the vanquished are always surrounded by axe grinders just chomping at the bit to achieve catharsis by trashing their former employers. The first casualty of defeat is always loyalty.

The authors seem a bit protective of and entirely too dazzled by the president as well in what should have been a more dispassionate exercise. They never really explore the relationship between Obama and the unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers, which is much deeper than they will allow, and content to accept the Obama campaign's spin about Ayers merely being an "acquaintance" when an examination of the history of that relationship puts the lie to that claim. Can you imagine these writers or anyone else in the journalistic media cutting so much slack to John McCain if he had kicked off his campaign in the home of an abortion clinic bomber or worked with him on an education initiative to indoctrinate students in extreme ideology? They are also all too willing to accept Obama's attempts to put Rev. Wright at arm's distance after many years spent embracing him simply because they were so clearly enamored with Obama's speech on race, which may have been eloquent and effective but in the end was still a political expedient.

Regardless of these flaws, the book is a very readable and user friendly insider scoop that will keep you fascinated on nearly every page. The deeply hidden insider secrets of nearly all the candidates and their private as versus public characters is on full display here (again, save for I believe Obama's).

Most disturbing is the portrait painted of Sarah Palin. She is shown to be vapid, lacking in heft, ignorant of history and the world around her and emotionally unprepared for higher office. I sympathize with how going from a relatively quiet governorship in Alaska where she was able to be with family most days to a nationwide, high speed, high stake circus far from her baby and loved ones and in front of a constant media firing squad must have wrecked havoc on her emotionally. But that being the case, perhaps she should reconsider any national aspirations in 2012. While the behind the scenes of Palin isn't pretty, and she is not someone I will ever support for the GOP nomination, it must be said the media's evisceration of her was unseemly, unprofessional, partisan and frankly indecent--especially knowing how little scrutiny was given the many problems in Obama's far left record and friendships in his past or Biden's many clownish moments (all the while being crowned by the media as having "gravitas.") This is not a woman guilty of some gross abuse deserving of the media's fiercest opprobrium. Let's face it--her biggest sin was telling the truth about Obama and the damage left wing policies have done to the nation.

One additional questionable thing about the book is the authors' seeming willingness to accept certain left wing articles of faith such as referring to Obama critics in talk radio, the blogosphere and elsewhere as "the right wing freak show" and unquestioningly accepting that the Bush presidency was disastrous as if all the difficulties that arose on the former president's watch were all Bush's doing--while ignoring the often successful conclusion or at least handling of these challenges under Bush's leadership. Perhaps these conceits were simply meant to portray the thoughts of the Democrats being discussed.

Additionally near the end of the book scorn is heaped on McCain for unleashing "dark forces" through his supposedly negative campaign (one which never put Ayers, Wright or even Obama's far left Senate voting record to much use) while glossing over the Obama campaign's uglier moments like mocking McCain's war injuries that disable him from holding his arms in a position that allows use of a computer keyboard (with one Obama aide said to have even mimicked McCain's disabled physical bearing) or the way in which it was clear Obama flipped the bird to Hillary at the end of the primary and again later at McCain at the end of their contest. The audience clearly knew what Obama was doing both times as they roared in approval with Obama's smug smirk betraying what he was up to. Yet the authors never speak about the extreme partisanship evident from Democrats during the campaign against Bush, McCain and Republicans nor McCain's very classy concession speech.

But ultimately for anyone wanting an engrossing and fast paced account of the 2008 race, this is worthy read. The book doesn't get bogged down in a lot of tedious biography or historical background like a number of other 2008 race books I've started--and left unfinished--have done. And the book never goes long before pulling another fascinating revelation onto the stage. I think the book's credibility would be enhanced if the authors had acknowledged what to me was fairly obvious--that Obama's people simply were not candid in sharing the worst about their candidate as were the sources relevant to the other candidates. It creates a real dissonance of very jarring revelations about everyone else juxtaposed against Obama being portrayed largely in only the most flattering of light. If you can overlook this lack in the narrative and the sometimes thinly guised bias and occasional forays into Obama fawning, this book will not disappoint.

Forty eight years after the race depicted in Teddy White's masterful The Making of the President 1960 (Harper Perennial Political Classics) we are given the second best inside look at a modern presidential campaign. From dreams to forays around the country to caucuses and handlers, aspiring candidates pressed forward trying desperately to stave off elimination as their poll numbers plunged or surged depending on events far beyond their ability to control. In the end there should have been only two that mattered, Obama and McCain but even those finalists were buffeted by external events.

Is this any way to pick a President? Had the founding fathers foreseen television, campaign jets and Saturday Night Live, perhaps we might have a king instead.

The fun part of this book, starts and ends with Sarah Palin, who does nothing to enhance her public perception, But it is the pre-Palin accounts, centered around amitious politicians all convinced that their time has come, which give this book its flavor.

Game Change is a big, overpriced bore. The hype promised delicious new morsels of political gossip and failed to deliver. Details are few and the book is really nothing more than a series of snapshots. In particular, general character assessments are offered without the supporting details. For example, the authors report that John Edwards was dismissed as an empty suit by party Brahmins long before the 2008 campaign. The authors do not explain the basis of this widely held opinion. Nor do they offer any details.

I don't know what made me think journalists for "New York" and "Time" magazines would write a book without a liberal bias. Any misstep during the campaign by Obama was glossed over or blamed on someone else. Problems were quickly solved by the all-knowing "chosen one". John McCain was protrayed as an obscenity-shouting madman. Sarah Palin comes off in the book as being a few steps away from being committed. The book should be sold with a large bottle of Pepto Bismol.

This book was new and arrived on time. The book was a great read and the authors claim that the material is authentic.
If it is the information is juicy, offering a picture of all the players and how they proceeded through the last
presidental campaign with no holds barred. The book was easy to read and perhaps presented TOO much insite into the
candidates, but it was a fascinating book that I could not put down.
Carol

Written by two savvy political reporters, it seems as though no one is treated kindly in this tome. Essentially it chronicles the 2 year race to the 2008 presidential election and all the private bickering that went down among the front runners from both parties. Refreshingly, this book doesn't take political sides and pretty much tells it like it is.
I'm sure that many political junkies and just plain citizens, don't find the many major selling points for this book a complete revelation. So much animosity and political jockeying played out on our tv screens this time around that the followers of the national election were able to nail the political climate inside and outside of party lines. As the election progressed, it was hardly a suprise that Hillary Clinton appeared to be falling apart after the Iowa caucases or that Giuliani made a huge political blunder by avoiding other primaries only to get massacred in Florida. Even Obama's referring to a formidable block of voters as veritable rednecks was clearly a beaucoup faux pas that had many asking 'what was he thinking'.
At the heart of this book is the stuff we didn't know unless we had political operatives as friends or family. Some of it was funny, but an awful lot of it was disturbing. The selection of Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate was essentially a crack decision done with little or no vetting to throw the Dems off kilter. Obama's carefully crafted image didn't include his frequent use of the 'f' word and a private persona that didn't match with his carefully on message public persona. The report that the McCain's marriage wasn't all that tight may not have been a revelation, but reports of Cindy McCain having a gentleman friend in Arizona may have some credence. Elizabeth Edwards was portrayed as a shrew who frequently ranted at her husband and referred to him as a hick and her intellectual inferior, was a new one for me and helped support the assertions in THE POLITICIAN. In fact, there is so much information reported re: John Edwards and his sexual relationship with Rielle Hunter that I truly am surprised that this story took so long to pick up steam. Hillary Clinton jumped the gun in 2007 and started looking for the perfect running mate before she knew if she'd get the nomination. Clinton also admitted to she never knew what Bill Clinton was going to do or say. As for Bill Clinton, let's just say he's nuts and goes off the wall whenever he gets a little mad. The list of revelations as well as the information re: inside bickering just goes on and on. Since I always speculate about these public figures privately and am waiting for the other shoe to drop (Hey, John Edwards!) I found this very interesting.
It's a fascinating read and it is hard to put down regardless of your political orientation. I'd recommend this book to political junkies, but any citizen should read this. It's frightening to even contemplate who gets elected to public office these days and even more frightening to see how things are done in DC. If you don't trust politicians, after you read this book you will not question your judgement.

although I am not one to be seeking the political documentation, I could not put this book down. When is the movie coming out?

An enjoyable read, although many will challenge it based on not enough research and unidentified sources and contributors. But, deep down I think we all know its true - really doesn't matter what party - nature of the beast.

When I got to the end of this book I said, "something's missing" and realized that one person came through "Game Change" unscathed: Michelle Obama. All of the other campaign '08 characters' poor behavior/shortcomings/personal warts, etc., were highlighted and yet there was no mention of Michelle's frequent & offensive public comments about her husband and his shortcomings. Back then even Chris Matthews was shocked at her nasty remarks about her husband and asked (on "Hardball") if possibly she was just jealous of him. Immediately after this she disappeared from the campaign for a few months and when she returned it was with a new and pleasant attitude. The authors sure didn't miss mentioning when any of the other spouses behaved poorly. Other than that, it's an ok read and provides a pretty good description of how grueling a campaign can be. As other reviews have pointed out, "Game Change" makes it all too obvious that we need a better system for finding good candidates and enabling them to adequately show the voters their beliefs and goals.

What else can you call the Presidential Election cycle of 2008 except "Game Change"? This book is to politics what "Ball Four" was to the New York Yankees. This book in informative, serious and,yet, incredibly gossipy at the same time. Hey folks, this is as "inside" as you are going to get when it comes to presidential politics. It's pretty well-balanced in terms of portraying Hillary and Barrack but is decidedly less friendly to other players- The Edwards come off as completely unsettling- John is portrayed as something of a opportunistic lightweight- corrupted by adulation and the spotlight and his wife? Buddy, she seems like a nightmare- overbearing and emotionally fragile. Cindy McCain? Oh, brother McCain should be awarded a medal just for staying married to her. Palin? Well, let's just say that this book only adds to her status as the devil of the right. You notice the pattern? The portrayal of women in this book tends to play towards the worst anti-feminist stereotypes. I don't know if this is because the sources are predominantly men playing in what was traditionally a man's game or it's just the way it went but boy it is noticeable and the only one to escape, dignity completely in tact, is Michelle Obama- who comes across as appropriately skeptical of her husband's growing cult of personality. The portrayal of the women aside- this book really gets inside the campaigns- the sly aggression of the Obama camp, the growing desperation of the Clintons, the race against scandal of the Edwards campaign, which finds John Edwards racing against the birth of his illegitimate child to get a position, any position in the next administration-who ever it may be. The inner-strife of the McCain candidacy as it fights against it's own, seeming, irrelevance and it's third and long Hail Mary VP selection. Palin goes off like a handgrenade in the middle of the national race.

If you have only a passing interest in politics this book is a must read.

I had a political science professor that always responded to the apathy of America's population towards political discourse to Noam Chomsky assertion that our population has the potential to follow politics earnestly, as evidenced by the rabidness of sports fans throughout the United States. The implication has always been that if politics can ever be as entertaining and engaging as sports are to all socioeconomic classes, we may one day witness political discussions in our everyday life like we hear people at bars and at lunch counters arguing about our nation's policies in the same way that Joe Torre handles his bullpen. I bring this up because, unfortunately, I feel a lot of younger journalists, including Heilemann and Halperin, have tried to tap into a wider audience by appealing to the tabloid culture that has engulfed America.

As numerous reviewers have pointed out, a lot of this book is pure gossip. The fact that all of the sources are anonymous further propels the idea that this book's foundation is a collection of interviews of ego-driven campaign advisers that want to do everything possible to portray themselves in the best light possible while shoveling dirt on whomever else they feel has been throwing dirt on them.

While not the political masterpiece that I was hoping to read, the book did shed some light on some issues. For example, I had no idea how President Obama was constantly talking with Treasury Secretary Paulson during his campaign to try and get some further insight into the economic situation that was unraveling in September 2008. During the same time period, McCain wanted earnestly to appear as if he was putting the nation's economy ahead of his campaign by threatening to not show up to a Presidential debate in order to return to Washington. However, once he was in Washington, he didn't really add anything to the ongoing debates and did nothing to unify our government, as he asserted he would.

If you are a fan of politics or just have a mild interest in the 2008 campaign, reading this book isn't a giant waste of time. However, if you are looking to get an inside look into the drafting of policy decisions within the campaigns, its not going to be found in this book.

This book provides insight into a very political person who seems to be a very intelligent person, with strong convictions that you might enjoy knowing more about. Especially if you tend to be a more conservative thinker.

This book was very revealing; and I considerate a learning experience. Although the election is over and the people are back to their lives, I can understand why some of the candidates did not get to where they wanted to be.

The book was really good. It provided a lot of insight to things we had just heard or seen from the media. Was this book also biased, I guess that is up to the reader. If you like politics, if you like current events, this is a great read.

Having paged through some of this nonsense, I now officially hate all the kry-babies who make me look like an idiot for owning a Kindle. You people truly suck. Grow up.

Several times, the authors mention how angry Bill or Hillary Clinton were at the media giving Obama a total pass, a free ticket to do whatever he wanted, with none of the usual recourse and questioning from the media. Well, obviously Mr. Halperin and Mr. Heilemann have been dipping into the Kool-Aid, since this book is a case in point. It presents everyone except Obama in a fairly unflattering light. Clintons hopeless and angry. McCain as an absent-minded, bumbling uncle and Palin as a nut who was about to melt down.

The book doesn't even get to McCain/Palin until about 2/3's through.

Just one more effort to canonize St. Obama by the drive-by media. It's no wonder the Clintons were angry.

I expected something more along the line of Pulitzer winner Richard Ben Cramer's What It Takes: The Way to the White House but got the People Magazine version of the 2008 election.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book - but I am a political junkie. Love the fact that nothing has been disputed by any of the people written about. It seems as though the authors took a cue from Woodward and Bernstein, whose books I also devour.

After seeing the authors on various TV shows, I was anxious to get my hands on a copy. I bought it and started reading it the day it was released. I'm a pretty optimistic person, so the book was a little depressing, since it was so negative. Since it's been awhile since I read it, my opinion has probably mellowed some, but I found a lot of the stories hard to believe. I also find it hard to believe that the participants could remember exact conversations months after the events supposedly occurred. But what I really didn't like was that I had to read with the book in one hand and a dictionary in the other. There were truly so many words I had to look up where the authors could have used the common definition, and it would have made for a much easier read. I didn't start keeping track until page 222, but here are just a few examples: pulchritudinous, sobriquet, immolation, calumny, ameliorate. Do you know the definition of these words? Some of the words weren't even in my 1232 page Webster's dictionary, so I just skipped over them because I didn't want to drag out a larger dictionary. It was an interesting look behind the scenes of political campaigns, but I'm kind of sorry I wasted my money.

If you want to know what really went on behind the scenes in the historic presidential election campaign of 2008, read this book. But don't expect an uplifting tale that restores your confidence in American democracy: practically none of the candidates or their spouses comes off well in this no-holds-barred saga of the political clusterf*** of 2008.

Well, practically none. Barack and Michelle Obama emerge fairly unscathed. But everyone else who is treated at any depth in Game Change comes out wounded, most of them grievously so. Not just McCain and Palin, either (although the authors' portraits of them are especially colorful). Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, John Edwards, and Elizabeth Edwards (yes, even Saint Elizabeth) shriek and cuss and fume and generally make total fools of themselves. Others treated more cursorily -- particularly Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney -- come off poorly, too, but the authors' fire is largely reserved for the eventual front-runners.

Heilemann and Halperin obviously spent a great deal of time with sources inside each of the leading campaigns. conducting hundreds of interviews -- and their accounts are fully consistent with the tales campaign insiders were telling out of school at the time.

So, what are we to conclude from this discouraging story? Several thoughts come to mind:

(1) The complexity of the American presidential election system -- a two-year slog through donor meetings, primaries, caucuses, and media interviews -- is one hell of a terrible way to choose the most powerful person in the world. And the complications and confusion of the primary season are compounded by the irrationality of the Electoral College.

(2) Presidential politics is no place for a normal, sane human being. Any reasonably well-balanced person who spends more than a short time on the presidential campaign trail -- and, I can say from experience, not just the candidates but senior staff members as well -- is highly likely to wrap up the experience as a candidate for a straight jacket.

(3) In fact, high-level political campaigns -- including gubernatorial, Congressional, and Senatorial races -- have a pronounced tendency to attract candidates with severe personality defects. Anyone who's spent much time around the people who contend to run the country knows full well that there's often something badly wrong with our most senior politicians. Not the corruption that they're so loosely accused of committing, but simple character flaws that are magnified in the spotlight of center stage.

(4) As Winston Churchill reminded us, democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.

(From Mal Warwick's Blog on Books)

The "Game Change" - I was somewhat disappointed in how McCain could choose someone like Sarah Palin for a running mate. However, everything and everyone in this book did not suprise me too much since I work locally with the political leaders in my neighborhood. I would recommend this book to my family and friends.

It was a fascinating read. I found it difficult to put down once I started reading it. But at the end, though well written, I found it also "scary".
The way a presidential campaign evolves and who wins seems to be based by twists and turns, lies, half truths and the lengths the candidates go to
in order to convince the public that this one particular candidate is the best one to lead the country. The infighting between, staffs, husbands and wives and the candidates themselves is unnerving.

When I was finished reading, I had the feeling it seemed to be luck who won. The nomination win of McCain and how he chose Palin , a little over
a weekend - a beautiful but ignorant woman with little knowledge of what it means to be a VP, not to mention knowledge of the world, politics and
the United States and its role in the world was deplorable. No one in his staff or McCain himself had any idea of what she was like, and the
minimal vetting of her for the job was almost unbelievable. That left me with a very uneasy feeling that in the Presidential race, many people failed to do their job and
how very stupid people can slide into positions of power. That fact alone was the one thing made me I wished I hadn't read the book; it was well written and
informative, maybe too informative as I wonder how our government really can function effectively. I actually thought to myself "I wish this book was
fiction!!

This has been such a disappointment for me. Honestly, I am going to be delighted when I get through the final chapter. I am ready to read a good book! There is
nothing in this book that you haven't read in a good magazine or watched on TV. It goes all over the map and you have the feeling that you don't remember where you've been or why you wanted to go there in the first place. Save your time and money.

This is a "hard to put down" book. I purchased two -- a large-print book for my 90-year-old mother-in-law. She's having a hard time putting it down as well. This is a fast-paced, fascinating glimpse at how politics is played.

Granted I am just getting to the parts on Sarah Palin where the authors may veer of the path of being fair but so far this book has surprised with me how close to unbiased it has been. While there is still the tendency to celebrate Obama too much, they do not make a joke out of McCain which was nice to see. Overall, this is really a fun book to read and probably as unbiased an account as you can expect from reporters.

This book reads like a gossip story, it is juicy with details I hadn't heard before. I felt that I got to know the candidates better, their positives and negatives. It showed that people in the news are complex and have many sides to them.

It is not a challenging book, but fun to read. I would recommend it. Sort of like a beach book.

This is a great book that reads like Page Six of the NY Post the whole way through from start to finish! I highly recommend it if you enjoy the rough and tumble of politics in America today...