Game Change

Game Change included several new revelations about the 2008 campaign. Among them were that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and New York Senator Chuck Schumer had privately urged Barack Obama to run for president in the fall of 2006, in hopes that it would energize the Democratic base and improve the party's chances of winning the presidency. The book also details an hour-long meeting between Hillary Clinton and pollster Mark Penn, during which Clinton accused Obama of "playing the race card" and importing people into Iowa to improve his chances at the caucus. The book also alleges that Hillary Clinton wanted to make a bigger issue out of Obama's drug use, but was dissuaded by certain members of her staff. Also during this meeting, she allegedly said, "I hate the choice that the country's faced with. I think it is a terrible choice for our nation." Heilemann and Halperin wrote in Game Change that Clinton had considered entering the 2004 presidential race, and that polls indicated her odds were encouraging. She was encouraged to run by her husband, former-President Bill Clinton, but their daughter Chelsea Clinton advised her against it. Clinton was also against running because when she was running for senator, she made the voters the promise that she would complete her full senate term. Also in 2006, according to Game Change, advisers to Clinton worked on a strategy to deal with any public disclosure over an affair which some of Hillary Clinton's advisers had believed Bill Clinton was then carrying on. The book did not provide any further details, except that the affair was "a sustained romantic relationship". Game Change also included details of John Edwards's affair with Rielle Hunter, and his handling of it before it was made public. According to the book, Edwards angrily rejected requests by his advisers to distance himself from Hunter. The book also described, in some depth, Sarah Palin's role in John McCain's campaign. In response to concerns that Palin was depressed and unresponsive to debate training, McCain reportedly suggested debate sessions for Palin be moved from Philadelphia to Sedona, Arizona, so Palin could be closer to her family. McCain aides reportedly were also concerned about Palin's failure to understand basic facts prior to her ABC News interviews with Charles Gibson, including why North Korea and South Korea are separate countries. She also allegedly believed Saddam Hussein was behind the September 11 attacks. The book ends with Obama being elected President of the United States and reporting on how he offered Clinton the job of United States Secretary of State in his administration. After initially turning Obama down in part out of fear that Bill Clinton would become a distraction for them both, she accepts the job after a late night phone conversation with Obama, who convinces her that she would be the best person for the position. ==Reception==

Harry Reid was heavily criticized for comments he previously made about Barack Obama, which had not been made public until they were published in Game Change. According to the book, Reid said he believed Obama could become the country's first black president because he was "light-skinned" and had "no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one". Reid acknowledged and apologized for the comments, and his apology was accepted by Obama. The disclosure came at a time Reid was facing a difficult reelection campaign in his home state of Nevada. National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair John Cornyn, Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl called on Reid to step down as majority leader for his remarks. Reid ultimately won reelection for his seat. Also reported for the first time was a comment Bill Clinton supposedly made in trying to convince Ted Kennedy not to back Obama's candidacy but rather that of his wife, Hillary Clinton. Clinton reportedly said to Kennedy that "a few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee." There is no evidence that Clinton ever made the remark. However, the alleged belittling of Obama's candidacy supposedly helped lead to Kennedy's endorsement of Obama shortly thereafter. Critics questioned the lack of explicit sourcing in Game Change, which was done on "deep background" with no sources being identified in any way. This followed the approach made famous in many of Bob Woodward's books. Kakutani and Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic both said that at times the book veered into gossip. The book was also criticized as being the embodiment of insider, establishment journalism. Sarah Palin has criticized Heilemann and Halperin for Game Change's depiction of her candidacy. Meghan Stapleton, Palin's spokeswoman, suggested Palin's autobiography Going Rogue was a more accurate portrayal of the campaign and Palin's role in it. In 2018, Meghan McCain, the daughter of John McCain, condemned the book during a discussion on ABC's The View. She compared the book to Michael Wolff's 2018 book on the Donald Trump White House, Fire and Fury. She said that both books were unethical and were reasons why she did not trust journalists. ==Film adaptation==

HBO Films produced a film adaptation of Game Change directed by Jay Roach. The film, which focuses primarily on the third part of the book, premiered on March 10, 2012. The film received numerous award nominations, and won four Emmy Awards, including the award for Outstanding Actress in a Miniseries for Julianne Moore, who portrayed Sarah Palin. In light of sexual harassment charges brought by six women against Halperin, Penguin canceled a 2016 version of his book and HBO dropped its miniseries project based on the book as well. ==References==