5 juiciest 'Game Change' shockers
"Game Change," the upcoming tell-all book about the 2008 election, is already causing waves in D.C. Here's why...
As we settle into the second year of the Obama presidency, a new book about the 2008 presidential election, "Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime," by Time's Mark Halperin and New York magazine's John Heilmann, has Washington, D.C. abuzz with scandalous revelations. Here are five of the volume's most notable details:
1. Palin's mental meltdown
The stresses of the campaign may have been too much for Sarah Palin, causing her to have "wild mood swings" and, occasionally, to completely "shut down." At times, "Palin would be her perky self; the next she would fall into a strange blue funk," the authors write. "When her aides tried to quiz her, she would routinely shut down — chin on her chest...speechless and motionless, lost in what those around her described as a kind of catatonic stupor." The book also reveals that Palin second-guessed her decision to run: "If I had known everything I know now, I would not have done this," Palin is quoted as saying. Palin's spokeswoman Meg Stapleton dismisses the anecdotes as "inaccurate gossip."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
2. Harry Reid's "racist" remark
"Game Change" reveals that, during the 2008 primaries, Reid (who's been dogged by controversial, race-related comments) privately referred to candidate Barack Obama as a "light-skinned" African American "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one." Though this revelation has provoked Republicans to call for the Senate Majority Leader's resignation, Reid has already apologized to President Obama for the remark, and reportedly had his mea culpa accepted "without question."
3. Bill Clinton's gaffes
"Game Change" divulges a variety of potentially damning scoops about the Clinton camp. Of Barack Obama, Clinton reportedly remarked to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, "A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee." The book's authors also assert that Hillary Clinton's campaign created a "war room within a...war room" in 2006 to deal with "a serious extramarital affair" on her husband's part. After accepting the position of secretary of state in the new cabinet, Clinton reportedly gave President Obama a heads-up: "I can't control [Bill], and, at some point, he'll be a problem."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
4. Edwards' embarrassments
The book shines a relatively negative light on John Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, who campaign insiders describe as an "abusive, intrusive, paranoid, condescending crazywoman." In October 2007, well before the rumors of her husband's infidelity were being taken seriously in the mainstream media, a furious Elizabeth allegedly tore open her blouse in the Raleigh, N.C., airport, "exposing herself" to her husband and wailing, "Look at me!" before staggering and "nearly falling to the ground."
5. Obama-Biden fallout
Vice President Joe Biden has a long history of verbal snafus, some of which caused tension between him and his running mate, Obama, during the '08 campaign. Shortly before the election, Obama apparently snapped at advisors, "How many times is Biden going to say something stupid?" According to the book, Obama and Biden's relationship cooled to a near-freeze, with the two rarely speaking and the vice presidential candidate often barred from campaign conference calls. Speaking to his staff, Biden responded to Obama's criticism, jokingly saying, "I guess it's a good thing I didn't say anything about bitter people who cling to their guns and religion."
.......................................
READ MORE ON THE WEEK:
• Sarah Palin: It was "God's plan" that I be McCain's running mate
• 12 biggest controversies of 2009
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Today's political cartoons - April 20, 2024
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - papal ideas, high-powered debates, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 sleeper hit cartoons about Trump's struggles to stay awake in court
Cartoons Artists take on courtroom tranquility, war on wokeness, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The true story of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans
In depth The writer's fall from grace with his high-flying socialite friends in 1960s Manhattan is captured in a new Disney+ series
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published