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Game Change (film)

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Game Change is a 2012 American film about the selection and performance of Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin as running mate to Senator John McCain in the 2008 presidential campaign.

Directed by Jay Roach. Written by Danny Strong, based on the 2010 book of the same name documenting the campaign by political journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann.
Politics would never be the same.

John McCain

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  • And they said we were dead. Next stop: the White House!
  • [While watching one of Barack Obama's speeches] If he heals a sick baby, we're really fucked.
  • When my grandfather found out that the Japanese had surrendered, he was lost. He didn't know what to do with himself. He came home, dropped dead the very next day. Fought his war, then he died. And my dad, when he retired from the Navy, he fell into a sense of despair for the rest of his life. I'm never gonna quit, Steve. I can't. I don't know how to just fade away.
  • You're one of the leaders of the party now, Sarah. Don't get co-opted by Limbaugh and the other extremists. They'll destroy the party if you let them.

Sarah Palin

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  • I am raising millions of dollars for this campaign; hundreds of thousands of people are coming to see me speak! Not John McCain, God bless him, they are coming to see me! So, if I am single-handedly carrying this "campaign"... I'm gonna do what I want!
  • I'm trying to trust you people, but you're making it really hard for me!
  • I AM RUINED IN ALASKA! [hurls flip phone]

Steve Schmidt

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  • There are unknowns with Palin, and ah, certainly it could go bad. But if it were me, I'd rather lose by ten points going for the win than lose by one point and look back and say "Goddamn, we should have gone for the win".
  • Governor, this country has just elected the first African-American President in the history of its existence, and it is the concession speech that will legitimize his succession as Commander-in-Chief. It is a serious and solemn tradition, and John McCain, and only John McCain, will be giving the speech. This is how it has been done in every presidential election since the dawn of the Republic, and you, Sarah Palin, will not change the importance of this proud American tradition!

Dialogue

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Rick Davis: Listen, I too wish that the American people would choose the future Abraham Lincoln or Thomas Jefferson, but unfortunately, that's not the way it works anymore. Now it takes movie-star charisma to get elected President, and Obama and Palin, that's what they are - they're stars.
Steve Schmidt: Primary difference being Sarah Palin can't name a Supreme Court decision, whereas Barack Obama was a constitutional law professor.
Rick Davis: Fuck you.
Dr. Ollie: Hey, how are you doing?
Steve Schmidt: That depends. How does she look?
Dr. Ollie: For a woman who's just had a baby, has a pregnant teen daughter, and a son in Iraq... I'd say not half bad. You, however, look like shit.
[Before the convention.]
Steve Schmidt: Is she gonna be okay?
Nicolle Wallace: I'm more concerned about one-on-ones.
Steve Schmidt: How bad?
Nicolle Wallace: I'm not sure how much she knows about foreign policy. She didn't know why North and South Korea were different countries.
Steve Schmidt: Let's start with something simple: how do you plan on maintaining our alliance with Great Britain on Iraq even though support for the war there is at an all-time low?
Sarah Palin: I think the United States has always maintained a great relationship with the Queen, and John McCain will continue to have an open dialogue with her.
Steve Schmidt: Um, Governor, the Queen is not the head of government in England, she's the head of state.
Sarah Palin: Well, then who's the head of government?
Steve Schmidt: ...The Prime Minister.
[He takes a sip of tea, hiding his nervous look behind his mug.]
Steve Schmidt: Governor, do you know why we're in Iraq?
Sarah Palin: Because Saddam Hussein attacked us on 9/11.
Steve Schmidt: No, no, al-Qaeda attacked us on 9/11.
Sarah Palin: Not Saddam Hussein?
Steve Schmidt: No, it was al-Qaeda. That's why we're in Afghanistan.
Nicolle Wallace: Do you know the primary differences between the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq?
[Palin is silent.]
[Palin has just given a disastrous interview with Katie Couric.]
Sarah Palin: Why'd you make me do Katie Couric? Did you see the coverage? Did you? ARE YOU THERE? ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?
Nicolle Wallace: Yes, Governor, I'm here. Katie was a logical choice; she's been very fair to us this entire campaign.
Sarah Palin: You call that interview fair?
Nicolle Wallace: Yes, Governor, I do.
Sarah Palin: I certainly don't, she was out to get me from the get-go!
Nicolle Wallace: No, she wasn't! The interview sucked because you didn't try!
Sarah Palin: What, what do you mean I didn't try?
Nicolle Wallace: You didn't fight back, like you did in the Charlie Gibson interview - when you didn't know the answers, you clawed your way back and it went fine! You just gave up!
Sarah Palin: [through gritted teeth] Nicole, it wasn't my fault; I wasn't... properly... prepped!
Nicolle Wallace: [angrily] You weren't properly prepped because you wouldn't LISTEN to us! You never LISTEN to your advisers!
Sarah Palin: [heatedly] Because you're overwhelming me with TOO MUCH INFORMATION! You know, I-I don't, I don't wanna do these interviews! I want to do what I want to do!
Nicolle Wallace: [sighs] We're just trying to help you get through this, Governor. All we want is for you to succeed.
Sarah Palin: Yeah, you're NOT helping! You're just screwing me up! You're telling me what to say, what to wear, how to talk... I AM NOT YOUR PUPPET! NOW I understand what Hillary meant when she said she had to find her own voice!
Nicolle Wallace: [sarcastic] Yeah... cause you're just like Hillary.
Sarah Palin: You have ruined me! You have ruined my reputation! I AM RUINED IN ALASKA!
[She throws her phone against the wall. On Wallace's end, the line goes dead, and she calmly dials another number.]
Steve Schmidt: Hi, this is Steve Schmidt. Leave a message.
Nicolle Wallace: Steve, it's Nicolle. I will gladly resign if you want to blame me for Couric, but if you want me to stay, I'm back on McCain's bus tomorrow, as I never want to deal with that woman ever again!
Steve Schmidt: How many questions does Sarah Palin have to answer in the debate?
Mark Wallace: Uh... twenty-two to twenty-five.
Steve Schmidt: And how long is each answer?
Mark Wallace: Two minutes with pivots.
Steve Schmidt: So if all we have to do is get the best actress in American politics to memorize forty-five minutes' worth of answers, then why did we waste five days trying to get her to understand what any of this shit means?
Rick Davis: Most of these polls have us trailing five to eight points.
John McCain: So what now?
Rick Davis: John... I mean, these numbers do show it. We've gotta make this about Obama. We've gotta get tough, and we've gotta get negative.
Fred Davis: If we go this way, Reverend Wright is still the best play we have.
John McCain: Any of you ever been accused of having a Negro child out of wedlock because your adopted daughter was born in Bangladesh? And then when she was 16 and Googled her name, I had to explain to her why President Bush's henchmen called her a bastard when she was 10 years old.
[uncomfortable pause]
Rick Davis: Yeah, South Carolina... that was an ugly primary. But this isn't the same thing. Reverend Wright really did say those things.
John McCain: That may be true. But there is a dark side to American populism. Some people win elections tapping into it. I'm not one of those people.
Woman: I can't trust Obama. I've read about him, and he's not a... he's a... he's a Arab! He's not an Amer-!
John McCain: [taking her microphone] No, ma'am. No, ma'am. He's a decent family-man citizen who I just happen to have disagreements with on certain fundamental issues. And that's what this campaign is all about.
Mark Salter: You know what Dick Cheney said when he found out we picked her?
Rick Davis: What?
Mark Salter: He said we made a reckless choice. When you lose the moral high ground to Dick Cheney... it's time to rethink your entire life.
Steve Schmidt: Enough Cheney cracks, okay? I mean, he's very misunderstood.
Mark Salter: [laughing] How does he eat when he's wearing Darth Vader's helmet, anyway?
Chris Edwards: Steve, I'm getting a bunch of mixed messages here. Is the governor giving a concession speech or not? Because she just told me...
Steve Schmidt: I've already said this five times already. She is not giving a speech.
Chris Edwards: Well, she seems to think otherwise.
Steve Schmidt: Well, she's not.
Chris Edwards: What do you want me to tell her?
Steve Schmidt: Tell her she's not fucking speaking!
Chris Edwards: Okay, well, you both seem pretty certain...
Steve Schmidt: Well, let my certainty supersede her certainty! God damn it!
Steve Schmidt: Still think she's fit for office?
Rick Davis: Aw, who cares. In 48 hours no-one will even remember who she is.
Anderson Cooper: If you had to do it over again, would you have her on the ticket?
Steve Schmidt: You don't get to go back in time, Anderson, and have do-overs in life.

Cast

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