Game Change - the general election

Here we go:

• "...McCain's view of Obama was firmly fixed and strikingly similar to the one that Hillary held: Obama was a lightweight, a line cutter, a go-along-to-get-alonger who pretended to be a man of independence, and who bore none of the scars of political sacrifice that McCain wore as medals of honor." (325)
• McCain ran effective celebrity ads in late July/early August 2008 comparing Obama to Paris Hilton. The campaign nixed one with Oprah in it with the campaign manager saying, "'Don't politicize Oprah. She's more powerful than you can comprehend, like Obi-Wan Kenobi.'" (330)
• Obama remarked that he didn't look like other presidents. True, but it led the McCain campaign to accuse him of playing the race card... To which Obama told his people, "McCain is playing the race card by accusing me of playing the race card." (333)
• While the Clintons were on board the Obama campaign, "The Arizonan regularly phoned Bill and chatted with him about foreign policy. Boy, McCain gets it, the Clintons would tell people. John McCain is tough."(344)
• Obama found Biden to be boring. While in the senate he listened to Biden go on and on Obama passed a note to the guy who is now his press secretary saying, "Shoot me now." (28) I saw the same expression when I saw Biden speak at the Blue Strawberry in CR.
• Lieberman was McCain's first choice to be VP (not Tom Ridge as many speculated when they trial ballooned the idea of a pro-choice VP). Lieberman wondered, "Am I going to have the unique honor to be the only person in history to lose twice as vice president on two different tickets?" (356)
• While the McCain campaign knew they hadn't come close to fully vetting Palin's background they were not concerned about her understanding of issues. "They didn't explore her preparedness to be vice president. They assumed she knew as much as the average governor..." (362) Wow, understandable, but wow.
• Campaign manager Schmidt couldn't believe Palin's calm before being announced as the VP selection. "Palin nodded and replied, 'It's God's plan.'" (364)
• Schmidt later realized that Palin might not know as much as the average governor. Telling the group charged with getting her up to speed, "'You guys have a lot of work to do. She doesn't know anything.'" (370)
• McCain left Bernanke "flabbergasted" by his lack of understanding of the financial crisis. (381)
• The suspension of the McCain campaign is presented as a huge blunder. Even President Bush was not happy at the meeting where he was forced (by the McCain campaign) to call the leaders of Congress together with Obama and McCain. "Bush was dumbfounded by McCain's behavior. He'd forced Bush to hold a meeting that the president saw as pointless - and then sat there like a bump on a log. Unconstructive, thought Bush. Unclear. Ineffectual." (389)
• McCain's performance during the financial crisis led Treasury Secretary Paulson's chief of staff to say, "'I'm a pro-life, pro-gun, Texas Republican. I worked all eight years for Bush. I helped sell the Iraq War. I was in the Florida recount. And I wrote a letter to John McCain asking for my five hundred dollar contribution back, when he pulled that stunt and came back to DC. Because it just isn't what a serious person does.' To his amazement, Wilkinson determined that he would be voting for Obama." (393)
• In the attempt to buck up Palin after disastrous interviews on ABC and CBS, she was told, "Ronald Reagan said that trees cause pollution and went on to be a great president." (402)
• Palin kept calling Biden "O'Biden" during debate prep leading to the decision for her to ask if she could just call him Joe. Dems were worried that Biden would talk patronizingly. He avoided it but given how many times she goofed during the debate Biden told his handlers, "You guys owe me. You don't know how much restraint that took." (407)
• Towards the end of the campaign, "Some in McCain-world were ridden with guilt over elevating Palin to within striking distance of the White House." (416)
• In October an Ohio focus group of undecided voters met where one "middle-aged woman let loose with... 'He's a Muslim. He's soft on terrorism - because he's a muslim. He doesn't (put his hand on his heart). We're not even sure he was born in this country.'" The moderator was confused... she is an undecided voter? "Because if McCain dies, Palin would be president." (416)
• One of the reason Powell endorsed Obama is that "He was startled by the crazies at (McCain's) rallies." (422)