Game Change Trailer Stars Terrifying Sarah Palin

And Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin is still pretty scary: reactions

(NEWSER) - If you thought Julianne Moore's Sarah Palin was terrifying in the first Game Change teaser , wait until you see her in the full trailer, where she utters lines such as, "We have to win this thing. I so don’t want to go back to Alaska." Watch below, then read on for some reactions:

• This will clearly be "a Frankenstein-esque story about McCain’s staffers coming to regret the choice they made in bringing a little-known governor into the limelight," writes Jon Bershad at Mediaite . "The full trailer ... gives us even more famous actors getting their turn to stare in horror at the 'monster' they’ve created."

Heilemann and Halperin drop plenty of 'spicy' bombshells

(NEWSER) - From Bill Clinton’s rumored affair to Harry Reid’s “negro voice” quote, John Heilemann and Mark Halperin’s Game Change is already making headlines. The book delivers a “spicy smorgasbord of observations, revelations, and allegations,” writes Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times . Some parts of it reveal “impressive legwork and access,” while others are essentially gossip or spin from particularly cooperative sources, many of whom are unnamed. More»

Bill Clinton enraged Kennedy, lost endorsement for Hillary

(NEWSER) - John McCain and Sarah Palin had their well-publicized differences on the campaign trail, but things were no better over in Camp Obama-Biden, reports Politico in a look at further details emerging from Mark Halperin and John Heilemann's new book. Game Change reports that the prez and his veep were barely speaking, and that Obama aides hid conference calls from Biden, while others "kept a tight rein on him." Elsewhere in political gossip emanating from the book: More»

An average of 2.1M viewers watched premiere

(NEWSER) - Love it or hate it , you can't argue that Game Change was a good move for HBO: The movie debuted Saturday to an average of 2.1 million viewers, the largest audience for an original-film premiere on the channel in nearly eight years. A total of 3.6 million viewers watched its four showings over the weekend, BusinessWeek reports. The film, which charted Sarah Palin's rise, was based on portions of Mark Halperin and John Heilemann's book of the same name. More»

Former McCain strategist calls 'Game Change' 'very accurate'

(NEWSER) - Steve Schmidt, the former John McCain campaign strategist portrayed by Woody Harrelson in HBO's Game Change, pulled no punches when describing his reaction to the book on MSNBC this morning. "I think it was very accurate. For all of us in the campaign, it really rang true. It gave you a little bit of PTSD at times," he said, before going on to add that Sarah Palin was "not prepared" to potentially assume the presidency when the campaign chose her as the VP candidate, and that the very "notion of Sarah Palin being president of the United States is something that frightens me, frankly." More»