Game Change - The shockers.

In the posts below I have laid out my outtakes of the book. Before reading them here's my list of shockers:

• In 2007 Hillary was confident of becoming the nominee to the point that she was already thinking of her running mate. Since she knew it wouldn't be Obama she planned to have two African Americans on her selection committee so it wouldn't look so bad. (100)
• Elizabeth Edwards was "cranky" on a conference call with the Edward's team. She inquired about her health insurance and was told it was complicated and it would be explained privately after the call. "She flew into a rage. If this isn't dealt with by tomorrow, everyone's health care... will be cut off until it is fixed... I don't care if nobody has healthcare until John and I do!" (128)
• Edwards top aides tried to tell him that Rielle Hunter was a problem. He seemed to listen. When confronted with the fact it would likely bring down the campaign, Edwards was angry, "Why didn't you come to me like a fucking man and tell me to stop fucking her?"
• The effort to get Kennedy's endorsement was fierce. Bill did not help Hillary. "The day after Iowa, he phoned Kennedy and pressed for an endorsement, making the case for his wife. But Bill went on, belittling Obama in a manner that deeply offended Kennedy. Recounting the conversation later to a friend, Teddy fumed that Clinton had said, A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee." (218)
• In the summer - long after conceding -Hillary could not give up her thoughts about Iowa: "'If we could have avoided Iowa, which I think would have been very difficult - I was the front-runner, blah blah blah, I had to prove my bona fides. I don't see how we could have, frankly. But I never felt good about Iowa., ever felt good about it.'"
• The book goes on, "Clinton shook her head in wonder at the Obama phenemon in the cornfields. 'You know, the Oprah thing,' she said. 'There was such a sort of cultlike, peer group pressure... They had drunk the Kool-Aid. And I am convinced they also imported people into those caucuses, which we will never prove." (265) For those who have never participated in the Iowa caucuses this may sound reasonable, but it's not. In a primary it might be, but in a caucus each precinct only gets a few delegates so stacking the deck would require an effort to bring in the Illinois ringers and evenly distribute them across the 1781 precincts in Iowa. Obama's campaign was good, but not that good.
• Told by aides in 2007 not to do immigration reform, "McCain refused. He was disgusted by Republicans in Congress and radio gasbags such as Rush Limbaugh who bashed immigrants. 'They're going to destroy the fucking party,' he would say. As McCain's town hall meetings devolved into shouting matches over immigration, the candidate let his frustration show through. He called Lindsey Graham in despair. Listen to these people, McCain said. Why would I want to be the leader of a party with such assholes."
• At the convention Hillary had written her speech. Bill came in and rewrote it. Hillary saw the rewrite just hours before she was to speak. "Hillary was furious, apopolectic. 'This is my speech!' she said, and then stalked out of the room and back to her suite. A few minutes later Bill walked into the conference room looking sheepish and chastised." (346-47) They quickly returned the speech (as best they could) to Hillary's original draft.