TW: A recent book, Game Change, about the 2008 election recently garnered much attention for all the wrong reasons. The cable networks had a field day with Harry Reid's comment about Obama's light skin. Yet another cable journey into nothingness. The book apparently contained some interesting stuff though, little of which one heard about.
From Economist:
"... “You guys have a lot of work to do,” notes one operative to his colleagues after trying to coach Mrs Palin on the basics of policy. “She doesn’t know anything.” The image of the governor of Alaska, slumped and dishevelled, surrounded by hundreds of scattered index cards and unresponsive almost to the point of catatonia, is not one that will easily be shrugged off. Nor will her claim that her selection was “God’s plan”, which might, of course, be true, though not in the sense that Mrs Palin intended.
As for Mr Edwards, his brazen infidelity with a political hanger-on and videographer, who rambled on about reincarnation and who introduced herself as a witch, only serves to demonstrate that America dodged a bullet in 2004 when Mr Edwards was the vice-presidential nominee.
...Mr McCain comes off badly too, but the book’s account is tinged with sadness, as The Economist’s own reporting of the maverick politician’s tragic final act was also inclined to be. The transformation of the lion of the Senate into the baffled old man who, all too obviously, had little idea how to respond to the collapse of America’s financial system in mid-September is painful indeed to read. The candidate had to be warned by his staff to stop telling everyone that he didn’t understand economics. One refreshing thing about Mr McCain was always the healthy contempt in which he held the nastier sort of Republican (“Why would I want to be the leader of a party of such assholes?” he is quoted as saying). But in the end he gave them what they wanted by plumping for Mrs Palin..."
http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15268818
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