McCain's Lies Cross the Line

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."

HBO debuts first teaser

(NEWSER) - For all of you who have spent the past nine months wondering how Julianne Moore’s Sarah Palin impersonation will stack up against Tina Fey’s , you finally have your answer. HBO debuted its first teaser trailer for Game Change, the film due in March that's based on the Mark Halperin-John Heilemann book about the 2008 presidential election. Neither Ed Harris as John McCain nor Woody Harrelson as top adviser Steve Schmidt sound much like their real-life counterparts, notes David Jackson in USA Today , but Moore’s Palin is spot-on: Numerous publications including People , New York , the Huffington Post , and Jezebel are fairly impressed. More»

Mitt says he can't control 'independent' group

(NEWSER) - Mitt Romney was confronted yesterday over the anti-Gingrich attack ads that a pro-Romney super PAC has been pumping out, prompting him to label the whole concept of super PACs “a disaster”—and insist he couldn’t lawfully intervene. “My goodness, if we coordinate in any way whatsoever, we go to the big house,” he said. Newt Gingrich read those remarks at a press conference later. “Baloney,” he declared, observing that the PAC was founded by ex-Romney staffers and funded by “his personal friends,” the AP reports. More»

Ex-Treasury sec says Mac risked putting US economy in freefall for 'political gambit'

(NEWSER) - With the US economy in utter freefall, John McCain suspended his presidential campaign, jetted to Washington, called a meeting to fix the crisis—then did nothing, according the Henry Paulson's new book, On the Brink . In an excerpt in the Wall Street Journal, the former Treasury secretary recounts McCain's odd refusal to speak at the emergency meeting he called, and how the Democrats and Barack Obama pounced. More»

Campaign gets aggressive early against conservative challenger

(NEWSER) - John McCain is pulling no punches in an offensive against primary challenger JD Hayworth, whom he hopes to shut down before Hayworth's campaign even begins. McCain has rallied his troops to file complaints with the FEC about Hayworth’s radio program, which they allege he was using to campaign in violation of federal rules. And for good measure, McCain took out an ad against Hayworth on his own station. More»