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    Sarah Palin's Allies Take Pre-Emptive Strike At 'Game Change' Movie

    ABC News' Michael Falcone reports:

    Seven of Sarah Palin's closest confidantes have yet to watch the HBO film "Game Change," which portrays her 2008 vice presidential bid, but they said they have already seen enough.

    On a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, these current and former advisers to Palin, unleashed a torrent of criticism at the movie, which will premiere on Mar. 10.

    Palin's former aide Jason Recher dismissed it as a "false narrative cobbled together by a group of people who simply weren't there."

    Randy Scheunemann, who tutored Palin on foreign policy matters during the campaign, said: "To call this movie fiction gives fiction a bad name."

    "Looking at the trailers alone, get's my blood boiling," Palin's former spokeswoman Meg Stapleton noted.

    The three were joined by the treasurer of Palin's political action committee, Tim Crawford, Palin's former lawyer Tom Van Flein and aides, Doug McMarlin and Andy Davis. Crawford, Recher, McMarlin and Davis all currently have paid consulting contracts with Sarah PAC.

    None of the seven have screened the film, but based on what they have seen in a two-minute trailer and what they know of the book, "Game Change," authored by journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, each said the movie presents an inaccurate portrait of Palin.

    They took particular umbrage with Steve Schmidt, an adviser to Sen. John McCain who served as one of Palin's top handlers during the 2008 race and who has emerged as a public critic of the former Alaska governor since then.

    "He is abusive, he is abrasive, he is nothing short of a world class bully," Stapleton said, adding that he is "infamous for lining up and destroying."

    Pointing the finger of blame, Stapleton said the news media has an "insatiable desire to beat and beat and beat her" and added that a lesser person "would have hanged himself by now."

    Schmidt is played in the movie by actor Woody Harrleson, Palin by Julianne Moore and McCain by Ed Harris.

    Stapleton savaged a clip in the movie trailer depicting Palin lying in a bathrobe in the fetal position surrounded by note cards. "That's sinful," she said.

    Along with Schmidt, the seven supporters also aimed their fire at Nicolle Wallace, who served as a senior adviser to Palin in 2008, but has since turned on her.

    "Steve and Nicolle are gifted communicators, but in the game of spin they'll say anything," said Davis, the political director for Sarah PAC.

    Palin did not participate in the conference call, but in a recent Fox News Sunday interview she said she was "not concerned about an HBO movie based on a false narrative when there are so many other things to be concerned about."

    Most of the aides said they had not been contacted by the filmmakers or the authors of the book on which it is based.

    "If the book was very misleading," Scheunemann said, "the movie is going to be far worse."

    Also Read
     
    • Cindi  •  Norwalk, Connecticut  •  2 mths ago
      I'm sorry folks who like Palin... but she does not have the intellect or emotional capacity to be in public office. Now she's a puppet for Fox News...unfortunately, but is still uninformed and misinformed about the issues and what is really going on in politics and the world. Yes, the media is hard on her like everyone in the public eye, but she stepped her foot in it when she came onto the public stage.
    • Joey JoJo Shabadoo  •  Chicago, Illinois  •  3 mths ago
      The bigger stink they make, the more popular the movie will be. Don't they get that?
      • Required my ass 3 mths ago
        Yep, it's called the Streisand Effect, but knowing that requires knowledge, something that Parah Salin's allies know nothing about.
      • A Yahoo! User 3 mths ago
        It will never be so popular that I feel the slightest need to see it.
      • Loki 3 mths ago
        if they were smart, they wouldn't be Palin supporters
    • ractols  •  3 mths ago
      That's real smart - give the movie more publicity.
      • anno 3 mths ago
        Will need all it can get, at these prices for commercials/tickets are you going to
        watch it maybe it's a comedy.
      • Basil 3 mths ago
        I honestly had not heard of it until today, and probably will be a bit disappointed in it once I do, but I CAN"T WAIT TO SEE IT NOW!!1! My Mum always said "If you don't like something, don't pay attention to it, and it will go away." Sarah should have listened to her Mum as well, because coming out to bring us the news of the show was probably one of the most ignorant moves I have see from her yet. This is including her costing Mr. McCain his credibility (bad decisions all 'round), and just quitting her Governorship mid-term to take up acting in porn movies. Although, she does have nice legs and boobs... wait, where was I? Oh yes, big boobs for a big boob, but a pretty good porn actress. She should stick with what works for her; the porn!
      • Soy Bomb 3 mths ago
        Yes, she is a stereotypical, Hollywood liberal, acting hack; but, Julianne Moore is a hot redhead and plays a hot Palin.
    • David  •  3 mths ago
      "In the game of spin, they will say anything."
      Pot meet kettle.
    • Phil  •  Dover, Delaware  •  3 mths ago
      I don't know much about the movie but I read the book and Palin was not portrayed in a horrible light. Some of it actually humanized her. The biggest negative that you get from the book is that she was not ready for such a big stage and all the pressure that comes with it.
      • Roman 3 mths ago
        The only stage Palin was- is ready for, is the Pole Dancing stage in a low life Vegas strip joint.
      • Phil 3 mths ago
        I don't like Palin much but you don't have to be so nasty.
    • Marke  •  Lafayette, Indiana  •  3 mths ago
      Remember this one? "But obviously, we've got to stand with our North Korean allies." --Sarah Palin, after being asked how she would handle the current hostilities between the two Koreas, interview on Glenn Beck's radio show, Nov. 24, 2010
      • Will 3 mths ago
        Well she didn't think Glenn would try a "gotcha" question on her.
      • carlie 3 mths ago
        That's a stand out comment, and one of the best for everyone to remember, if she can extort someone to putting her on the ticket. Can't see even the GOP being that stupid.
      • Conservative By Nature 3 mths ago
        Remember this one "I've been in 57 states so far. Only one more to go." Everyone makes a stupid slip of the tongue now and then. I give him the benefit of the doubt and believe he meant he'd visited 47 lower states, and that he does know we only have a total of 50. I also give her the benefit of the doubt and believe she meant south, not north. The media coverage is where the difference lies. With Palin, every slip was covered and covered and covered ad nausium. But with Obama, covered up and covered up and covered up ad nausium.
    • john  •  3 mths ago
      Bill Maher anounced that if Sarah Palin runs for president, he'll go back to church. LMAO
      • RayRay 3 mths ago
        Bill Maher is an #$%$ so who cares!
      • BENNY HILL 3 mths ago
        Bil Maher is a typical liberal elitist fool. He talks down his nose at people with an undeserved air of arrogance. He sucks.
      • sam 3 mths ago
        oh ray ray.........where's your sense of humor......must be republican.
    • GrayMatter  •  3 mths ago
      Just like the history books they never read, or the constitution they worship but cannot understand, these people are livid about a movie they haven't even seen yet. How friggin stupid is that?
    • Michael F  •  3 mths ago
      WHY is she still in the news ??????
    • Go Steelers  •  3 mths ago
      Palin still has aides?
    • Betty  •  2 mths ago
      Stupid is as stupid does. Palins just don't ever learn. They must figure that negative attention is better than no attention! Sarah Palin was so dumb that she thought she could still be electable if she quit the office of Governor of Alaska mid-term. Political suicide--gave her a reputation of being a loser and a quitter. So she chooses UNDEFEATED for the name of her movie, assuming that nobody will remember that she has lost two political elections and hasn't really had any success in any political office. Now she is whining about a movie that pictures her as a loser and a quitter and unbalanced. Bristol is just like her mommy--she whines about how harsh the Hollywood crowd has treated her and then she calls the magazines begging them to write stories about her and her illegitimate son. And Sarah brags that she represents the Party with all the family values.....not sure how Ms. Tripp, the Anchorage masseuse, fits into this big, happy family but more power to her for getting Bristol to name her son after her. Levi's family is still rolling in the aisles and laughing about this! The Palins were quick to get a lot of press releases out about Bristol's son getting a reality show--but they didn't mention that Levi is still thinking about their offer than he is included in the reality show to balance out what Bristol says about him. Only would the chillbillies from Alaska think that they should air their dirty laundry on a reality show. Call this more of the Republican theme of family values......
    • Commander.  •  3 mths ago
      She can see irrelevance from her porch.
    • Jay  •  Houston, Texas  •  3 mths ago
      How is it that the majority of you can vote for people like these and still be permitted to walk around unsupervised?
    • sg  •  3 mths ago
      It's funny how her "supporters" are promoting this movie. HBO loves free publicity.
    • Stenton23  •  3 mths ago
      "None of the seven have screened the film, but based on what they have seen in a two-minute trailer..." LOL! Perfect allies for Quitter Palin!
    • Kevin  •  3 mths ago
      How is it the evil liberal media has smeared this woman?

      Was it with such gotcha journalism as "What books do you read"?

      SHE quit her elected position to be on a reality show. She left her SWORN office of public service and abandoned the people who believed in her. Her excuse is that the media attention and smears was too much for her and her family, and she just couldn't take it? THEN takes a job on Fox News in front of a camera and has cameras on her and her family for weeks on end in a reality show, and parades around the country on a bus with media hounds on her tail?

      She abandoned her SWORN office for money and fame. There is no evil liberal media spin to that. Absolutely none.

      I am not a liberal, to all those who simply respond with an ad hominem attack.
    • Troy Williams the third  •  Bloomington, Indiana  •  3 mths ago
      As dysfunctional as the GOP candidates seem at times especially in the debates can you imagine how they would trounce Sarah in a debate. Why little Katie Couric stumped her with what newspapers do you read. She begs for a busted convention because she is smart enough to understand she couldn't debate a child and win.
    • Dick  •  3 mths ago
      I love watching Republicans trash each other.
    • PeterH  •  Elmhurst, Illinois  •  3 mths ago
      Today she was defending Santorums speech that the protestant church is under the control of satan.
      Here's an old idiom they both should follow "engage brain before accelerating mouth" and the chinese proverb "better to shut ones mouth and be thought a fool rather than speak and remove all doubt"
    • 1America  •  3 mths ago
      I say we all watch the movie and take a shot every time she says "you betcha", "lamestream", or "socialism".
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