Reid Apologizes Again for 'Choice of Words'

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»

He gave an unfortunate appraisal of candidate Obama

(NEWSER) - Harry Reid apologized today for his "poor choice of words" in 2008 when he said candidate Barack Obama had a chance to win because he was "light-skinned" and had "no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one." Reid made the comments privately, but they're coming out in a new political book. "I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African Americans," said Reid. Obama quickly accepted the apology and said, "As far as I am concerned, the book is closed." More»

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»

Says, 'It was negroes that brought Ted Kennedy his booze'

(NEWSER) - The word negro hasn't seen this much action in years, but Rush Limbaugh last night joined Harry Reid in resuscitating the term—with a little speaking ill of the dead thrown in for good measure. Discussing the 2008 presidential campaign on his radio show last night, Limbaugh jumped into the fray by saying, rather gratuitously, "It was negroes that brought Ted Kennedy his booze," the Huffington Post reports. More»