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mkesten's review against another edition
3.0
This book about the 2008 US presidential race confirmed something I have known for some time: you have to be a little unbalanced to want the job. It doesn't pay that much. Every aspect of your life is examined under a microscope. The race to get the job is exhausting, and once you've got it you wish you hadn't.
That said this book told me a few things I probably hadn't considered before. For example, my wife would have made a better Vice-President than Sarah Palin. I kid you not. John McCain couldn't possibly have believed he would be elected when he asked Palin to run with him. Or he is insane.
Hillary Clinton emerges as a favorite of the authors, and, it seems, of Obama himself. The book ends with Obama begging Hillary to become his Secretary of State. In hindsight, it was a good choice. However, the scene reminded me of something Lyndon Johnson is credited with saying: that he felt a lot more comfortable with his enemies inside the tent pissing out, rather than outside the tent pissing in. I'm not sure of Obama's motives for hiring Clinton. I don't think anybody will ever really know.
I don't really feel enlightened about why either Hillary or Barak ran for this office. You'd probably have to know these people very well to understand it. You don't really run the US government as President. You preside over it....and argue with the legislators.
The back and forth of the race for the Democratic leadership was a thrilling story, but I'm glad that wasn't me in the story.
That said this book told me a few things I probably hadn't considered before. For example, my wife would have made a better Vice-President than Sarah Palin. I kid you not. John McCain couldn't possibly have believed he would be elected when he asked Palin to run with him. Or he is insane.
Hillary Clinton emerges as a favorite of the authors, and, it seems, of Obama himself. The book ends with Obama begging Hillary to become his Secretary of State. In hindsight, it was a good choice. However, the scene reminded me of something Lyndon Johnson is credited with saying: that he felt a lot more comfortable with his enemies inside the tent pissing out, rather than outside the tent pissing in. I'm not sure of Obama's motives for hiring Clinton. I don't think anybody will ever really know.
I don't really feel enlightened about why either Hillary or Barak ran for this office. You'd probably have to know these people very well to understand it. You don't really run the US government as President. You preside over it....and argue with the legislators.
The back and forth of the race for the Democratic leadership was a thrilling story, but I'm glad that wasn't me in the story.
corgi66's review against another edition
4.0
An incredibly fast and light read. Always skeptical of deep background, but you can at least see the conventional wisdom of campaign insiders. It does not seem they are in disagreement on any of the campaigns or any of the candidates.
It's a non-fiction work which is essentially written like a political novel.
While I think the attraction is seeing Sarah Palin behind the scenes, it composes a sliver of the book, but also the funniest parts. I literally laughed out loud reading the Palin and Biden debate preps.
It's a non-fiction work which is essentially written like a political novel.
While I think the attraction is seeing Sarah Palin behind the scenes, it composes a sliver of the book, but also the funniest parts. I literally laughed out loud reading the Palin and Biden debate preps.
annakmeyer's review against another edition
3.0
Beyond gossipy, and totally anonymously sourced. It's hard to know what is really true. And it is very Obama-centric, though I don't know if that's bias or recent history.
Still, there was one bit about Hillary that I loved (sums up my life):
"She believed passionately in a more activist government, in a progressive agenda, and she was tired of seeing Democrats flounder in their aims simply because they lacked a coherent message, organizational skills, and a crisp, high-sticking strategy."
Still, there was one bit about Hillary that I loved (sums up my life):
"She believed passionately in a more activist government, in a progressive agenda, and she was tired of seeing Democrats flounder in their aims simply because they lacked a coherent message, organizational skills, and a crisp, high-sticking strategy."
n_nazir's review against another edition
4.0
A brilliantly juicy read - packed full of intimate details of the 2008 US Presidential campaign. No one really comes out of it particularly well but whilst the skewering of Palin was well reported, there is actually much more in the book devoted to the Clintons, neither of whom appear in a favourable light.
Would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in US politics.
Would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in US politics.
cook_memorial_public_library's review against another edition
5.0
Recommended by Jo and Ellen
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sgame%20change%20heilemann__Orightresult__U1?lang=eng&suite=pearl
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sgame%20change%20heilemann__Orightresult__U1?lang=eng&suite=pearl
judyward's review against another edition
4.0
What really goes on during a presidential campaign? Especially in the months leading up to the early caucus decisions and the early primaries? Why do some candidates with seemingly slim resumes surge to the top and other, more experienced, candidates fall by the wayside? John Heilemann and Mark Halperin reveal the ups and downs, the strategies that work and those that back-fire, and the last-minute maneuvers that create campaigns. And while the book focuses on Barack Obama, Hillary and Bill Clinton, John McCain, and Sarah Palin, the other candidates in the 2008 race are not ignored. The book is based on hundreds of interviews with the participants in the campaigns and the gossipy, breezy style in which it is written makes this nonfiction book read like a novel.
dja777's review against another edition
5.0
Even though I knew how it would end, I could not put this down from the moment I began reading. It reads like a novel, while giving you the feeling of being a fly on the wall during all the machinations of the campaigns.
cayceosborne's review against another edition
4.0
I found this book much more compelling than I thought I would, and I now understand a lot more about what a political campaign involves. Very interesting, even though it's not the type of book (politics) I usually read.
audaciouskay's review against another edition
3.0
Good overall. Ending was very anti-climatic. Waaaaaay too much political jargon. Writing wasn't always fluid. Sometimes seemed like the authors were trying too hard.