Last night I watched the premier of Game Change on HBO that was a very interesting insight on Sarah Palin and the McCain-Palin ticket. To say the least I was shocked. In all the lead up to the movie, those involved have stated that it was less about Palin, and more about how we pick our leaders, but this was what I was not what I was shocked about. My point of shock was the lack of competency Palin was portrayed to have shown.
Those who would defend Palin would cite that she had just recently given birth, had a pregnant teen-age daughter, and a son shipping off to Iraq as distractions from the campaign. Those individually would cripple lesser people, but the hubris shown by Palin only compounded them. Most people understand politics to be a rough and tumble areana that is not for the faint of heart. Those who enter the fray under even the best of circumstances are worn down. Palin was even warned about how hard it would be but she waved them off. Simply by denying how hard it would be was but the first of Palin's problems.
Another problem shown by the film, and if true is purely horrifying, was how little basic knowledge about the world Palin brought. Several times in the film, Palin is shown being briefed the most common of knowledge. Playing catch-up is not un-common. My beloved Harry Truman knew virtually nothing of the atomic bombs only months before dropping them, Nixon did not really know his secret plans in Vietnam until he opened them in the Oval Office. These examples are far different, and less severe (albeit more serious) than Palin needing to be taught that Germany was part of the Axis Powers during World War Two.
Palin is shown to also be a bit manic which was a surprise. I watched Palin some during the campaign and have to admit I did not see many of the flubs and follies. This is a testament of how well she hid them. In the movie, several times Palin is shown going from very down and depressed, to extremely passionate. The scene where she is first approached to be the candidate, Palin comes across as a mild mannered, humble person being asked to help the party out. Later she is shown to basically take the campaign over and run it her way or no way. This can be written on as finding a voice or even growing as a candidate, but it also shows the cycle from depressed to manic that is common in the manically depressed.
I would be remiss to not mention what those involved in the film have said to be the main point. Picking leaders, and making sausage are two things you do not want to witness. That being said, Game Change should not be a shock to anyone who studies politics. The vetting, nomination or even simple selection of possible candidates is a messy process. Game Changes does show what happens when this process fails so in a sense it is a film about how we pick our candidates.
Layered beneath the facts and figures of Game Change is some very good acting by Julianne Moore, who is so spot on in her Palin that if you closed your eyes you thought you were listening to her. The film itself is very good. You could tell that very expenses were spared, which is common for anything Tom Hanks is a part of. Rather than use stock footage and newspaper articles, the filmmakers took the time to print newspapers with the actors in character, and cut filmed footage in to real newscasts. This allows the view to see Ed Harris and Moore as their characters rather than the real John McCain or Sarah Palin
Overall I would give Game Change a good rating. It is scary to think that Sarah Palin was that ignorant, but it is not hard to believe. In playing the "what if" game, I have to say that if McCain ticket had won, our country would have been fine...so long a McCain remained healthy. I must say, after watching Game Change, I would have been worried if Palin had taken over.
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