The book Game Change by Mark Halperin and Joh Heileman is about the historic 2008 presidential election. There are twenty three (23) chapters in the book. The first fourteen (14) are devoted to the Democratic nomination. The next three are about the Republican nomination which are followed by the final six chapters covering the Obama-McCain election.
The book Game Change is an excellent telling of the election and I highly recommend you read it.
To review – 14 chapters Democrat nomination followed by 3 chapters Republican nomination followed by 6 chapters national election.
The movie the Game Change currently airing on HBO does not have a single Democrat, save Democrat turned Independent Joe Lieberman, in the credits. Not one. 20 out of 23 chapters of a book in which Democrats are prominently discussed and yet not one of those Democrats actually appear in the movie. Not one.
Given all that, it would not be hard to imagine anything coming from HBO that would be even remotely accurate as to what actually occurred in the final two months of the presidential campaign. The movie is yet another attempt of the left wing Hollywood Establishment to vilify former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
We get it. The Left hates Sarah Palin. Fine.
Are there parts of the movie that are true? Probably.
The problem is that the movie is such a gross and distorted exaggeration that it really should not be taken seriously. Rarely will I tell anyone not to watch a movie with this kind of a topic and will merely suggest one decide for one’s self. It would be too simplistic to suggest that one not watch this patently false film.
You SHOULD watch this movie in order to understand just how bad an influence the Hollywood Left is on our country, our politics and our culture.
Sadly, some nitwit high school teacher, or worse, college professor will make Game Change required reading. If the book is so good, why is that bad? Because a vast majority of the students will not read it and will instead simply watch the movie.
What is so deeply offensive and inaccurate about the movie is the portrayal not of Governor Palin – we knew that was coming – rather it is the depiction of the crowds at the McCain-Palin events during September and October of 2008.
As the Virginia Co-Chairman of the McCain Campaign, I had the job (honor and privilege, by the way) of speaking at many events around the Commonwealth and not once – NEVER – did I experience any of the disgusting representations made by HBO.
On four occasions, I spoke to crowds of thousands of people who were waiting to hear from either Senator McCain or Governor Palin. During those events, the excitement was palpable. The energy electric. Positive, upbeat and, yes, patriotic are the words I would also use.
During those BIG rallies, the speakers, like just about everyone else has to arrive very early in order to clear security and get ready for the Main Event. There were a couple of perks – better parking, access to restrooms and bad coffee – but the coffee was hot which helped take some of the chill out of the air. Heck, in Salem – it was snowing!
Seventeen thousand people don’t freely assembly at night in Salem’s Victory Stadium hours ahead of time to listen to speeches without wanting to see and hear Sarah Palin. They weren’t there to be hateful or negative, they were there to support their candidates in an effort to win. If there had been ANY of the things the HBO portrays in Game Change, you can be daggone sure the national news media would have reported them – in 2008.
I only met Governor Palin a couple of times but since she was such a tremendously important person during that election, it was easy to draw up some opinions and thoughts about her. Since the HBO folks won’t give you that courtesy, I thought that I would in order to give Game Change a smidgen of balance.
In my opinion, Sarah Palin is the most genuine politician I have ever met. For all that was circling around Gov. Palin at the time (the time on which Game Change is based), she was as calm and serene as you could ever imagine. To me, that is personal strength. I am sure that she had moments when she lost her cool or showed other emotions; however, she would not be human had she not done so.
Campaigns are Crazy Times. There are three levels of Crazy. Crazy – getting a bunch of kids out of the house to school after every sleeps past the alarms. Bat Sh*t Crazy – where someone is teetering on the edge of reality/escapism and black helicopters and Cuckoo For Cocoa Puffs Crazy – where one is likely to end up institutionalized for their own safety. Campaigns wobble between Crazy and Bat Sh*t Crazy. Ok? So, when a person who was so new to the national game was as composed as Sarah Palin was during those times – give her a little credit. That’s not easy to do. Especially without tele-prompters.
Secondly, Sarah Palin is a mom. When she was around our kids, she was instinctively maternal and caring. She would engage them with a real concern for them. Just the way she would put her hands on their shoulders and say “How are you?” She meant it. You just knew that she would have preferred to talk about their schools, sports and social life rather than get in the Secret Service protected limouSUVine to be rush off to the next round of interviews, speeches or fundraisers.
Lastly, Sarah Palin was new. Too new.
The American electorate was unprepared for her and, in hindsight, should not have been expected to agree with McCain’s decision to put her on the ticket in such a short amount of time.
She was a game changer alright and the Obama/DNC/Hollywood/FemaLibs were stunned for three weeks as to what to do with her.
They figured it out just as the economy imploded and the early voting began.
Game Over.
Maybe next time, HBO will focus on the VAST majority of the book and retell the fascinating story of the nominations fight between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
But whose side would they take? oohhhhhhh……..
Related articles
- History contradicts claim made about Palin in ‘Game Change’ movie (dailycaller.com)
- McCain says HBO’s ‘Game Change’ disrespectful to Sarah Palin (thehill.com)
- Barack Obama vs….Sarah Palin? (thewritesideofmybrain.com)
- Game Change Co-Author Halperin Insists HBO Movie Leads Palin Detractors to Appreciate Her (newsbusters.org)
- ‘Game Change’ director and writers: Film ‘fair’ and ‘favorable’ to Palin and GOP [VIDEO] (dailycaller.com)
