They begin as pure operatives, concerned only to win and ready to accept Palin on that understanding. “My job is to give political advice,” says Schmidt in the film’s very first scene, a cleverly reconstructed 60 Minutes interview. “We needed to do something bold to win the race.”
“This is a fantastic rollout, Steve,” is communications adviser Nicole Wallace’s coolly appraising reaction to the deftly stage-managed introduction of Palin to the country. What matters, or so the professionals at first believe, is the presentation, not the person. One red-state governor must be pretty much like another—right?
The professionals soon discover their mistake. “I don’t even like to say this, but has it occurred to you guys that she might be mentally unstable?” asks one staffer about the woman the McCain campaign proposed to put next in line to America’s nuclear codes. As they come to know Palin, the campaign professionals begin to feel an awakening of conscience: first qualms, then fears, and finally revulsion—not for the campaign, not for their careers, but for their country. They supported McCain because they saw him, in Schmidt’s words, as a statesman and national hero running against a celebrity with no major life accomplishments. In hopes of reversing adverse poll numbers, they yoked a great man to a running mate who was not merely unworthy, but dangerous.
Some of the best acting in the film is in the looks of unspoken dread that flit about the faces of Sarah Paulson’s Wallace and Harrelson’s Schmidt as they react to Palin’s wilder and wilder provocations. What have they done? And if this campaign somehow wins—and Palin is put within reach of the presidency—what might they have done?
In the end, Wallace confesses she could not bring herself to vote for the ticket—and Schmidt is left to wrestle with his conscience before the 60 Minutes cameras, gallantly casting aside all self-excuse and self-deception. “You don’t get do-overs in life,” he says in the anguished voice of a man who wished one did.
Is this film accurate? I asked Schmidt directly. “I felt as if I were having an out-of-body experience as I watched,” he said. In other words: yes.
You know as I read this I thought, "If I did not know ANYTHING about the campaign of 2008, or read the book Game Change, or knew what I know about Sarah Palin herself (I know right?), this review alone would be enough to compel me to watch this movie.
Essentially, despite what the Palin-bots and various critics have said, this movie is NOT the story of Sarah Palin. It is the story of Steve Schmidt, Nicole Wallace, and the other McCain operatives who believed they were getting a rare, though unrefined gem from up north only to discover to their dismay that they were dealing with a heavily lacquered moose nugget from the meth capital of Alaska.
I already have my popcorn ready, and in six days I plan to have a GREAT night of television.
By the way Palin is still ragging on this movie, and essentially telling people it is not worth their time. As if we needed another reason to make watching this a priority!
