Powell Hall

Towards the end of the interminable 2008 Democratic primary campaign, as Barack Obama was securing his party’s nomination, Hillary Clinton is reported to have said of Obama, “God wants him to win.” During the 2012 campaign, Bill Clinton repeatedly joked about President Obama, “He’s luckier than a dog with two dicks”, to describe his comeback in that year’s presidential election. Mark Halperin and John Heilemann are both journalists and co-authors. In 2008 they teamed up to write the book “Game Change”, about the 2008 presidential campaign. They recently released their 2012 sequel, “Double Down: Game Change 2012”. Halperin is a senior political analyst for Time magazine, and Heilemann covers US politics for New York magazine; both are political analysts for MSNBC. We heard them both speak at the Saint Louis Speakers Series, which is held last night at Powell Hall. Anne and I were treated to tickets by Joanie and attended the speaker series with her and her friend Lynn. While the two author’s two books look at US politics in retrospect, their two talks looked forward over the political landscape. Halperin spoke first, followed by Heilemann and then they handled Q&A together. They predicted divided government to continue for some time to come. The Republicans will control the House at least until after the 2020 census and likely much longer. The Senate will flip-flop back-and-forth, while the Whitehouse will remain in Democratic hands. First, with the remainder of Obama’s term, but then with the election of Hillary Clinton. They were both very matter-of-fact about this prescription for government gridlock and also emphatic about its likelihood.