Barack Obama
Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin
29/03/10 18:39 Filed in: POlitics
464 pages, Harper. $27.99
Reviewed by Mike Attebery
Sooooo, perhaps you’ve read something about this book. It’s been getting just a smidge of publicity the last few months, with lots of sound bites hitting the airwaves and print outlets related to Harry Reid’s comments regarding Barack Obama’s chances in a Presidential Election, tidbits about John Edwards’ off-the-wall sleepover buddy and “webisode mastermind,” and anecdotes about S*r*h P*l*n and her run-ins with the McCain Campaign’s staff members.
First off, if this kind of this is, well, your kind of thing, there’s just one question you’ll be asking: Does the book deliver on its promise as a political soap opera? Well, it does and it doesn’t. I wouldn’t say all the best stuff has already been unveiled in the press, but if you’ve read any other accounts of the election, or you follow political news closely, it’s likely you’re already familiar with the basic timeline presented here. That being said, this really is a pretty engrossing book. Whether the accounts of events inside each campaign, or the imagined thoughts inside the heads of the key players are entirely accurate or artistic license gone awry is debatable (after all, how could anyone know what Bill and Hillary said to one another after going for a swim on a tropical vacation?!!), you can’t deny that this is highly readable and quite a page turner.
So here is my take. I don’t really care about Edwards, but there were a few points when I did think, “Holy Crap! He’s a total nutcase!” and later, “Holy crap, that lady sounds mean,” and still later, “Holy crap! That other woman sounds like a total fruitcake!” But after a while I got impatient with the Edwards sections and wanted the authors to move things along a bit. The same became true of the Hillary Clinton campaign. Some of it was quite interesting, but boy, there’s more about her in this book than there is about the guy who won! And that’s where the problems start. Yeah, there was lots of drama in the lead up, and the fight for the nomination was brutal, but the fight after the nomination was every bit as exciting, yet from the moment Obama gets the nod from the Democrats, and McCain picks some utterly unqualified Alaskan lady for his running mate, the book seems to be in a rush to the finish, and the balance and level of coverage just isn’t the same. The opening portion and the final acts are not well balanced at all! And the conclusion arrived before I was even ready. Hell, the ultimate event -- election day -- isn’t even covered! We jump right from November 3rd to November 5th! No account of S*r*h P*l*n’s much-reported (and appropriately undelivered) concession speech. No reporting on the unprecedented voter turnout. Nothing. Just the day before, the day after, and the feeling that lots of juicy tidbits didn’t even make it into the rough draft before getting the axe. To me, it felt like much of this was written as the campaigns were playing out, then the book got shopped around for much of 2009, before everything was sewn up in a quickly assembled final act, and the manuscript was sent off to the printers. The problem is that it all feels so rushed and cut short, that ultimately, I was left feeling pretty disappointed! So what can I say, this is recommended, but I suspect you may have to pick up another book to feel you’ve read the full ending to the story. Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming books, but in the meantime, pick up a copy of Game Change and see what you think for yourself.
The Audacity to Win by David Plouffe
09/03/10 09:13 Filed in: POlitics
400 Pages, Viking Adult. $27.95
Review by Mike Attebery
Books about the 2008 election are rolling in now. I’ve already read “Renegade: The Making of a President” by Richard Wolfe, and I’m currently in the middle of “Game Change” by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, but so far, the first to come from an insider who was with the campaign from the start is “The Audacity to Win” by David Plouffe, Campaign Manager of Obama for America.
At this point, I’ve read enough about the 2008 election, one which I feel represented a critical turning point for this country, to see a number of areas of repetition and ground well covered. I think that’s actually a good thing, as it lets us know that, yeah, we’re getting the story conveyed to us properly. Yet whereas “Renegade” and “Game Change” tell us the story from the outside, albeit through the often off the record accounts of those who lived it, or who knew someone who did, Plouffe’s book tells us everything from firsthand knowledge, from the anxious period during which Obama’s folks knew he could go either in in deciding to run or not run, to their first steps hitting back at an opponent in a way that the candidate felt was beneath both himself and the type of campaign he sought to run, we are there, clinging to the wall, antenna on high alert, picking up every bump and shift in the political landscape, and whats interesting, even at the early stages of the campaign, and in looking back on the campaign now that one quarter of the first Obama administration has run its course, is that all the signs are there for what to expect of his Presidency, what might drive some of us crazy, and what the folks in the inner circle found both perplexing and refleshingly reassuring about their man in the running for the most powerful job in the world.
The name No Drama Obama was accurate then, as it it now, and that sense of cool reasoning, calm demeanor, and careful deliberation is seen again and again over the course of the two years covered in this book. Not only that, we get to see the process of a man with incredible gifts, who often steps up his game dramatically only when pressed or after a period of extended procrastination. During the campaign those tendencies played out again and again as Obama prepared for major speeches, prepped for debates, and plotted turning points. Today, I’d argue it’s well on display as each of the administration’s signature initiatives reach ever increasing levels of opposition from political adversaries, not to mention those memebers within the President’s own party who for fear or lack of force, seem to be increasingly reluctant to step up and truly rock the boat in the way I believe the majority of American’s feel must be done. Yet as the folks on the campaign learned, you underestimate Barack Obama at your peril. They saw it, his opponents saw it, and even today, as I write this, we’re seeing it firsthand.
So then what of the book? I found it fascinating. It reads quickly, while providing enough insider morsels and jargon to stoke one’s curiosity for the subject matter. Unlike “Renegade” which I felt stretched its limited access to the candidate beyond its measure for reliable insight, I didn’t ever feel I was getting a story whose cracks had been spackled over with questionable insights or abbreviated recaps of events already well known to many of us in the general public. This if truly an account from the belly of the beast. It’s all here, all the nitty gritty, all the blood, sweat, and unexpected tears, and let me tell you, this is fascinating stuff.