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)

Fairly good job of reliving the election of 2012

The book does a fairly good job of reliving the election of 2012 going all the way back to the earliest republican primary battles. There are allot of new and interesting bits. The kind of stuff that one says "I can't wait until the book is written on this to really know what happened behind the scenes." For example, how did Obama prepare for the first debate and what was the cause of his poor performance? Or how did the whole Clint Eastwood speech at the RNC go so wrong? But all together this is really just a recap of the media's portrayal of the election as a neck and neck fight all the way to the finish just with some extra insider perspective. There is no real explanation for how Obama won by such a landslide in electoral votes. I don't feel like I'm getting the real inside scoop, just a more in-depth version of what was portrayed in the media at the time. What about some insight into how new technologies where applied and what did the Romney campaign do to miss out?

Great sequel

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Only if they were way into politics.

What did you like best about this story?

The depth of the narrative. Take the soundbites you heard in 2012 and this will go about 400% deeper.

Any additional comments?

If you loved this first one this one is just as good. I basically listened to it nonstop until I was done.

Good Companion to Game Change

I really enjoyed Mark Halperin and John Heileman's Game Change so I decided to use a credit on Double Down. It was a credit well spent.

Let me say that once again Halperin and Heilemann takes the listener deep inside the real mechanics of political campaigns at the highest level.

Carefully researched without being at all dry, Double Down's insider's view reveals the miss-steps, slip-ups, and dumb luck that can doom or lift a presidential race.

Presidential campaigns are a lot like making sausage. Don't listen if you don't want to know what really goes on.

Obama's landslide in 2012 should have been a given

Where does Double Down rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Although the Presidential race in 2012 seemed a tad boring, this book provides many revelations on how Obama's campaign team ran like a luxury vehicle and the Romney team was a lemon. Events went the right way for the Obama team, the only break for Romney was the Denver debate.

What did you like best about this story?

Any Democrat will love this book, while Republicans will hate it. Mitt Romney let the far right define his candidacy and it painted him into a corner. After the implosion of the Jon Huntsman and Tim Pawlenty short-lived runs, Romney faces a bunch of clowns that brought him crashing to earth. Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain, Michelle Bachman, and Rick Perry come from a casting couch envisioned by the writers of Comedy Central's the Daily Show and Stephen Colbert.

Have you listened to any of Robert Fass’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Robert Fass reads dramatically and the listener gets caught up in the sense of history being made. Even though everyone knows the ending of the story, the narration provides many thrilling details to keep the listener spellbound.

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

Although the Romneys and the Huntsmans are related distantly and come from the same Mormon Utah background, the two families share plenty of bad blood. Also, that Rick Perry considers himself a serious politician and not as a comedic villain.

Any additional comments?

I can't wait for the movie version, even though Sarah Palin only plays a minor role in the 2012 campaign. The real story of the 47 percent tape was revealed on MSNBC, but it helped define Mitt "Moneybags" Romney.

Great for political junkies.

I read Game Change and lived that book too. Their writing style really allowed me to feel like I was a fly on the wall observing.

Another win

This another incredible insight into the 2012 elections...I'm already excited about their 2016 book.
Their insights and in-depth behind the scenes reporting pulls back the curtain on the state of present day elections.
If you want to know, this is the book to read. My biggest complaint may be I wish it was longer.

Great for political junkies

A fascinating inside look at the personal dynamics involved in the 2012 election. I recommend listening to Game Change by the same authors, which is about the 2008 election, first.

Good reminder of the 2012 election.

Would you listen to Double Down again? Why?

Maybe, but it's not a top priority. Some good bits but not as good as the first book when they had Palin to skewer.

What did you like best about this story?

This is a gossipy book. Most of these things I already knew because I am a bit of a political junkie. The things I didn't know were fun and interesting.

Which character – as performed by Robert Fass – was your favorite?

No characters this is a book of non-fiction, I liked the info in the second section the best, It was about the GOP wannabes and was quite enjoyable. I had no idea of all the feuds going on there.
My favorite people in this book were Mrs. Obama and former Pres. Clinton. Clint Eastwood was an honorable mention.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Parts were very funny but for the most part it was sad that people could make such foolish mistakes.

Any additional comments?

I thought the nicknames used for the various people were kind of goofy and wasn't clear if the authors called them this or if these were ways politicians distinguished them. POTUS and FLOTUS are bad enough but Pufferfish for Christie and Fishsconsin for Ryan? Uncle Joe for Biden?

A bit much.

Great read if you like modern politics

I've always been a wonk for all the nitty-gritty details in political stories and Halperin and Heilemann deliver that in stride. I felt as though the book was fair to both campaigns and tried to stay as neutral as possible which is good. You really get a good mindset for all the dealings, reactions, overreactions, highs and lows that come with running for office. If you like knowing all the behind-the-scenes details, this is a good book for you.

The foresight into the 2016 race with Clinton and Trump was also something I was paying attention to and I was impressed with how possible the authors implied this to be.

I didn't have any complaints with the narrator which is the highest praise I can think of. He was clear, concise and inflective at the appropriate times. I'd definitely listen to another book read by this narrator.

Good insider telling of the 2012 election

It's not as good as Game Change, but 2012 is not 2008. Yes, it's just stories, and just about people, nothing high minded here. But these are the people who run the political system and affect our lives. It's amazing to see how fragile and human they are.