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Double Down: Game Change 2012Double Down: Game Change 2012 by Mark Halperin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I picked this up the day it came out, which is one of those character-revealing statements, probably. Anyway, this is perhaps more gossipy and personality-driven than the 2008 volume, which is pretty impressive considering this book contains no John Edwards and very little Sarah Palin. The buzz in the circles I move in was mostly about Christie, as this book contains leaked details of his vetting file compiled by Romney's VP search team. And pretty unpleasant stuff it is, too. But you don't need to read the book for that; just wait about two years and you'll get the lowdown, whether you want it or not.

Mostly, though . . . eh. The funny thing about 2012 was, the more you knew about the election, the less interesting it was. And by necessity, I knew a shit ton about it. I can't count the number of times my friends were caught in spasms of anguish over it and I was like, "eh, take a chill pill." I mean, 2008 was genuinely interesting and, for a long time, genuinely suspenseful. 2012 was neither – the narrative crystalized early and never budged, and the electoral math was writing on the wall not long after. So what you've got left is Romney sticking his foot in his mouth, the President demonstrating to everyone how much he fuckin' hated debates, and The Donald. Just not that interesting, and this is me saying that.




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Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a LifetimeGame Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Unapologetically gossipy play-by-play of the 2008 primaries and general. Written so engagingly that it made me anxious at a few points, even though, hi, it’s not like I don’t know the spoilers. But this is entirely a trees book and not at all a forest book, despite the title and marketing. This is all day-by-day campaign strategy and not at all chronicle of the monetary/demographic/electronic/organizational revolutions that arguably occurred and are still occurring. Surprising, because when you talk to Halperin face-to-face, he’s all forest and no trees, in a really good way.*

But whatever, maybe it was too soon, maybe everyone was still living in it too much to see out of it when they conducted their interviews. And their access really is unparalleled. And if what you want is a heaping scoop of relatively reliable personality dissection with campaign strategy as a side dish, you honestly can’t do better than this. It’s just, you know, more about how the Clintons sabotage/make/unmake/worship each other, and less about the seachange that 2008 actually was.

*Though Halperin did insist in my hearing once that Romney is honestly a great guy one-on-one, not at all awkward or uncomfortable or bizarre the way he is on camera. Oookay. It’d probably take an entire new book to convince me of that.



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