Double Down

Game Change 2012

By: Mark Halperin, John Heilemann

Narrated by: Robert Fass

Length: 19 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

In their runaway best seller Game Change, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann captured the full drama of Barack Obama’s improbable, dazzling victory over the Clintons, John McCain, and Sarah Palin. With the same masterly reporting, unparalleled access, and narrative skill, Double Down picks up the story in the Oval Office, where the president is beset by crises both inherited and unforeseen - facing defiance from his political foes, disenchantment from the voters, disdain from the nation’s powerful money machers, and dysfunction within the West Wing.

As 2012 looms, leaders of the Republican Party, salivating over Obama’s political fragility, see a chance to wrest back control of the White House - and the country. So how did the Republicans screw it up? How did Obama survive the onslaught of super PACs and defy the predictions of a one-term presidency?

Double Down follows the gaudy carnival of GOP contenders - ambitious and flawed, famous and infamous, charismatic and cartoonish - as Mitt Romney, the straitlaced, can-do, gaffe-prone multimillionaire from Massachusetts, scraped and scratched his way to the nomination.

Double Down exposes blunders, scuffles, and machinations far beyond the klieg lights of the campaign trail: Obama storming out of a White House meeting with his high command after accusing them of betrayal. Romney’s mind-set as he made his controversial “47 percent” comments. The real reasons New Jersey governor Chris Christie was never going to be Mitt’s running mate. The intervention held by the president’s staff to rescue their boss from political self-destruction. The way the tense détente between Obama and Bill Clinton morphed into political gold. And the answer to one of the campaign’s great mysteries - how did Clint Eastwood end up performing Dada dinner theater at the Republican convention?

In Double Down, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann take the listener into back rooms and closed-door meetings, laying bare the secret history of the 2012 campaign for a panoramic account of an election that was as hard fought as it was lastingly consequential.

©2013 Mark Halperin and John Heilemann (P)2013 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Those hungry for political news will read Double Down for the scooplets and insidery glimpses it serves up about the two campaigns, and the clues it offers about the positioning already going on among Republicans and Democrats for 2016...The book testifies to its authors’ energetic legwork and insider access...[C]reating a novelistic narrative that provides a you-are-there immediacy...They succeed in taking readers interested in the backstabbing and backstage maneuvering of the 2012 campaign behind the curtains, providing a tactile...[S]ense of what it looked like from the inside. (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times)

"Chock-full of anecdotes, secret meetings, indiscreet remarks.... No one can compete [with Halperin and Heilemann]. That’s what it means to own the franchise. It’s a small club: these two guys and Bob Woodward. And with this book, they’ve earned their admission." (Michael Kinsley, The New York Times Book Review)

"Sharp insights buttressed by startling indiscretions fill Double Down, a new account of Barack Obama’s win over his 2012 Republican rival, Mitt Romney. This gripping book - a sequel to Game Change, a best seller about Mr. Obama’s 2008 path to the White House - cements the status of the authors as unrivalled chroniclers of campaign politics." (The Economist)

Very enjoyable 'back story' to the 2012 election

I recently read a review of this book which criticized it as deriving from 'The Great Men' theory of history as opposed to a more social historical analysis of the longer term trends that drove the results of this election. Baloney!

This is a reporter's book of what happened behind the scenes of the presidential campaign that many political junkies and others who follow politics closely love knowing about. It is NOT an historical analysis of the election results and in no way attempts to be one.

I enjoyed it tremendously and the narrator was great.

I also read GAME CHANGE and loved that - perhaps even more because there was more suspense to that election.

This is highly recommended for those looking to understand what went into some of the decisions made by the campaigns rather than a social explanation of the outcome. The only reason I rated it four stars instead of five is that I enjoyed GAME CHANGE even more.

Not as good as the first, but good.

One of the best audiobook narrators I have heard as well. Interesting story. awaiting Part3

Compelling View on the 2012 Election

An amazing look behind the curtain of the 2012 Election. I especially enjoyed the breakdown of the Republican Primary!

A political junkie's cup of tea

Would you listen to Double Down again? Why?

Much as I enjoyed the inside info on both campaigns, I would not re-listen.

What other book might you compare Double Down to and why?

Reminds me of Doris Kearns Goodwin's meticulously researched works.

What does Robert Fass bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He slips "into character", using modified accents of candidates such as Rick Perry.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

What a big-bucks business politics was and is in the US.

Any additional comments?

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Highly recommended.

Double Down is a Home Run

I'm a politics junkie (or at least I used to be, before the 2016 presidential cycle forced me to stop following it cold turkey). The presidential race is the Super Bowl of politics. Unfolding as it does over the course of several years, it is a long drawn-out process, sometimes painfully so. But not this book! This is like the NFL Films version, reliving all the best moments of the race, replete with the sideline chatter that you don't hear in the heat of the race.

That this was the kookiest presidential race in my lifetime (until the next one), and certainly one of the most partisan (until the next one), made the process of reliving it through Double Down that much more interesting and fun. Especially Part 2, which reconstructs the Republican primary race. Double Down details how most of the serious hopefuls chose to sit this one out and how most of the fringe candidates jumped in feet first.

With all of the ex-post explanations of how and why certain episodes went down, what can you say, this is candy for politics junkies. Unfortunately, much of it has been rendered moot by 2016 and beyond. What seemed weird and extreme in 2012 now seems quaint and tame. But along with its precursor, Game Change, the same exercise about the 2008 election, it still serves as a good (and chilling) illustration of the stepping stones that brought us to where we are now.

The most interesting character here is Mitt Romney -- after years of Obama as president, his presence in Double Down is not as much of a revelation as Romney. It's truly fascinating to relive his evolution from incorrigible flip-flopper to a guy who doubles down on even the most ludicrous of positions just to avoid being labeled a flip-flopper -- the series of self-inflicted wounds he brought down on himself is mind-boggling (as evidenced by Obama scratching his head at every turn wondering what the heck his opponent thinks he's doing).

Halperin and Heilemann continued on to their third presidential race in 2016, but they did it on TV (Showtime's The Circus) rather than in print. I had been hoping for a book version, but in the aftermath of that election, I probably would not have read it. They're still at it on Showtime, but I've tuned out.

If you like political gossip this is your book

Would you listen to Double Down again? Why?

The insider's view of the 2012 presidential campaign. If you want mud to sling, if you are looking for juicy details and facts about the major players this is your book. This book will tell you of the main actors, the strategies and tactics both campaigns employed and the obstacles that had to be overcome. Looking for why Chris Christie was not chosen as VP here you'll find the reasons. Want to know why Romney did or did not do something you'll find the answer here. If you're interested in politics you will want to read this book.

Meh

This double down was definitely not a game changer. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Especially since that's the kind of writing you can expect in this book.

Obama is luckier than a dog with two "D's"

Great book, interesting information on the Obama vs Romney campaigns... Very insightful. I would recommend it to anyone who want a over picture with details on the reasons why Obama won and why Romney grafted.

Same Change

It's just another tail of the elephants in the room losing the race. Whenever again

Worthwhile, but not as good as Game Change

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

If you are a political junkie like me, you will enjoy this gossipy, insider's view of the 2012 election. The book manages to both dramatize and humanize the major (and some minor) players in the election. However, the structure of the book made the packing seem slow and often repetitive, especially the middle section where he describes the aspirations and then the decisions not to run by various Republican politicians. The timeline starts over with each politician, so sometimes you are not exactly sure what month/year you are being described. Also, there are a lot of nicknames and colloquialisms used (moreso than in Game change) and this undermines the serious journalism tone of the rest of the writing.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Spoiler alert: Obama won the 2012 election.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Robert Fass?

Dennis Boutiskaris did Game Change and he was great. Robert Fass committed an incredible number of obvious word pronunciations that distracted from the actual text of the book. The director/producer of this audio book should have caught them as these were fairly common words such as irreparable and imprimatur among several others. I started keeping a tally of the mispronunciations because I was so irritated by them and it numbers in the thirties.

Was Double Down worth the listening time?

Yes, with reservations for the reasons I listed above. That narrator should never read another book though.