Double Down: Game Change 2012

Really good

Excellent quality!

Interesting

Interesting Dirt!

This was given as a gift, according to giftee, she enjoyed it.

great

Good

OK

I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced account of the US Presidential Election of 2012. The authors give a detailed description of the twists and turns of the electoral cycle and in fairness it reads like an adventure story. The characters are well drawn and the authors narration of events is authentic and supported by other sources. The contest for the Republican Party nomination and the travails of Mitt Romney the eventual nominee is especially entertaining. The picture of Romney that emerges is of a far more humane and complex man than the one portrayed by the mainstream media. According to this book it would appear that the problem for Romney was that his humanity and complexity held no appeal for the Republican base, especially its Tea Party wing. There is little new in the portrait of President Obama in this book. His strengths and weaknesses are as they were in 2008 and there is no real evidence of change or evolution in his thinking and attitudes to the political process.My main criticism of the book is that it moves swiftly along through the controversies and calamities of the election with undue haste and without sufficient reflection on the underlying causes of the various events that made this election one of the most keenly fought and bitter contests in a very long time. The scale of President Obama's victory obscures the fact that both camps had genuine reasons to fear they would lose the election and that almost to the very end the outcome was in the balance. That sense of fear and suspense is well captured in this book and for that reason I rate it highly and would recommend it as an entertaining and enjoyable read.

Probably due to the nature of the race, this book isn't quite as engaging as "Race of a Lifetime". But it does give a fascinating insight into the money machine that American politics has become, and how for all the appearances of the political machinations that occur, at the heart of it all are real people with their own strengths and weaknesses trying to navigate their way through a myriad of expectations. It reminds me of Alanis Morrisette's description of fame as something that doesn't really change who you are, but amplifies your various personality traits.

I started reading this book with the feeling that I'd be getting into a partisan account of the 2012 election. On the contrary, I was very much surprised to get through a thoroughly enjoyable and deeply interesting behind-the-scenes narrative on the recent elections. Really captures the emotions and political games behind the election cycle.Highly reccommended to fellow political junkies!

Clever and insightful analysis of how Romney moved through nomination and then the election race with Obama.Some clear core themes - Obama's constancy versus Romney's capacity for gaffes, echo throughout the tale, yet get developed and refined as events unfold.Even though we all know-how the ending, the book targets pace and maintains its grip. The story behind live debates is a strong part of the momentum.Obviously as an Englishman, I am excluded, but this would be essential reading for a 2016 candidate!

Once again the boys here written a very interesting book. For those seeking to understand how Obama got elected for the second time then this will deepen your understanding. This book mainly concentrates on the Romney campaign but nevertheless I believe it will improve your understanding about American elections. A good read for those of us who like political books.

Excellent, one of a pair of books covering both of Obama's elections. Im interested in American politics but not deeply interested. This pair of books is easy to read, topical, interesting with just the right amount of detail.

Double down excels in depth and is a reminder to why long form retrospective analysis still champs the hash tag generation. (Albeit, they've taken on much of its 'gossipiness'). Their access appears top to bottom with in-sight through both campaigns highs and lows. It's pacey - a gripping read on a topic of interest to politicos.

Great book

Prompt delivery and excellent product at a nice price.

Authors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, who chronicled the 2008 election of Barack Obama in their bestseller Game Change, once again team up to retrace the path of the candidates in the 2012 US Presidential election in Double Down: Game Change 2012. Based on hundreds of conversations with the candidates, leading members of the campaign staffs and with other political movers and shakers, the authors repeat the formula used in their previous book to once again give readers a behind-the-scenes look at the strategic planning and management of the Democratic and Republican 2012 election campaigns.The titular theme of "double down" is based on the notion that both campaigns repeated strategies which had worked for them previously, with differing results. For incumbent President Barack Obama, an aggressive attack on his opponent's adherence to conservative economic policy was used with greater force to portray his opponent as someone out of touch with the challenges faced by average Americans. In much the same way that Obama had tried to saddle his 2008 opponent John McCain with the economic failures of the Bush administration, the authors show how the 2012 Obama campaign once again tried to portray their Republican opponent as an out-of-touch, rich, vulture capitalist, turning Mitt Romney's strength as an successful businessman into a liability. For Mitt Romney, it is the candidate's refusal to be portrayed as a "flip-flopper" that causes him to "double down" on some of the conservative policies that enabled him to emerge victorious in a nomination fight among a host of right wing opponents, but which hurt him in the general election campaign and which results in a number of unfortunate gaffes.The book begins with a look at the position of the candidates going into the election campaign. For Obama, he has the advantage of not having to win a nomination, but is faced with a sluggish economy and an inability to work with congress. For Romney, the book follows his road to win his party's nomination, one in which he is seen as the candidate with the most electability after other leading lights in the party decide not to seek the presidency, but he is viewed by many in his party as a less than satisfactory choice. The book follows the ups and downs of both campaigns, including the effect of events such as two Supreme Court decisions (one on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, the other on the place of Super PACs), the heated battle for the GOP nomination, the Obama campaign's strategic use of attack ads between the time of Romney's securing the nomination and the conventions, the planning and staging of the conventions, the debates, the terrorist attacks in Benghazi, and Hurricane Sandy. While there is no Sarah Palin to liven the book up as in Game Change, a couple of interesting relationships are explored with delightful insight and analysis: that between Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, and that between Mitt Romney and Chris Christie.The authors take an objective look at what went right and what went wrong for both camps, and there is plenty of each. This is not the best post-mortem book on the 2012 election (that honour goes to Collision 2012 by Dan Balz), but the authors of this book write in an enjoyable style of 21st century hip prose that is neither too pedantic nor a dumbing down of its subject matter. This book is not as good as Game Change, and it doesn't contain many surprises or shocking revelations about the candidates or their campaigns, but it is still a very good recap of Obama vs. Romney, told by a couple of very talented reporters and authors. Don't expect an HBO movie from this book, but it's still very good history.

Ever since Teddy White came out with the first of his classic series on the American presidential election he has been sincerely flattered by his emulators. This pair, Halperin and Heilemann, are among the best of the breed. Despite the tiresome repetition of the more or less apt title phrase, "double down", they do a creditable job of dissecting the 2012 run for the White House. Notably, as opposed to some others who throw around mysterious and unverifiable quotes from unnamed sources, these two are highly professional in their approach, triangulating wherever possible. If I were to recommend one account of this election, this is probably the best.

Vale tutto quello che ho scritto per il primo libro: scritto benissimo, quantità incredibili di informazioni, visione molto intellettualmente onesta (per quanto possa giudicare da qui), una lettura inaspettatamente avvincenteRispetto al primo, l'intensità e la profondità non hanno momenti di indecisione o di distrazioneLeggetelo se siete interessati alla politica USA, leggetelo se siete interessati ad un romanzo di argomento politico in genereDato il ruolo degli USA nel mondo, capire meglio chi sia il Presidente e come si giunga a sceglierlo credo faccia parte dell'educazione civica che nessuno insegna, e questa lettura è pure piacevole!

Celui qui parle comme ça, c'est Bill Clinton, et celui dont il parle, c'est Barack Obama, en plein milieu de la campagne présidentielle qui verra le Démocrate rempiler à la Maison-Blanche. Clinton avait donc vu juste."Double Down', est un livre "fly on the wall", c'est-à-dire un récit "comme si on y était" des coulisses de l'affrontement Obama-Romney. Le récit est extrêmement détaillé, plaisant à lire pour celles et ceux que la politique US intéresse. Les auteurs évoquent moins la personnalité et les idées des candidats que leur entourage, l'univers dans lequel ils évoluent, les stratégies et contre-stratégies à coups de millions de dollars de pub, à coup de scandales et contre-scandales, qui révèlent d'ailleurs les points nodaux, les "divisive topics" (famille, mariage gay, avortement...).Il ressort de la découverte de cet univers une impression mitigée, sinon désagréable : le niveau des échanges, la pertinence des sujets évoqués, la frénésie médiatique (incluant Internet) à propos de détails, tout cela est souvent absurde et insignifiant intellectuellement. Barack Obama lui-même, cité dans le livre, manifeste son dédain pour les "débats" télévisés à la sauce américaine. Mais il faut bien y aller. Il faut bien y aller, parce que dans son esprit, les enjeux sont élevés ; et, sous l'écume, il y a le fond, et le fond c'est le danger que courrait le pays si les Républicains gagnaient."Double Down" est rédigé comme un long reportage. Les auteurs présupposent que le lecteur en connaît déjà un rayon sur le sujet. Le lecteur, c'est-à-dire moi, en connaît certes un peu sur le sujet : toutefois il n'aurait pas été contre un peu plus de substance.

If you enjoyed the first Game Change book, you will be delighted to revisit the formula in Double Down: Game Change 2012. The emphasis is firmly on the Republican candidates battling to win their party's nomination, and a rather lack-lustre bunch they are too. The book gets the balance right between juicy political gossip and analysis of their campaign strategies, meaning that it's enthralling for political junkies and interested amateurs alike. There's plenty to extrapolate about leadership, strategising and the importance of character when the chips are down. Roll on 2016....

Exactingly reported, reads like a fictional thriller but it's all true! Only fault is not being more critical of Obama, the book gives him too much benefit of the doubt and doesn't take him to task like they do Romney, showing their liberal bias. He deserves to be called a hypocrite much more than they do here.