John McCain Stands By Sarah Palin; Won't Watch HBO's 'Game Change'

3:56 PM PST 2/27/2012 by Jethro Nededog

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"It'll be a cold day in Gila Bend, Arizona" before the politician watches the TV movie depicting the Republican party during the 2008 presidential election.

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When it comes to HBO’s upcoming television movie, Game Change, John McCain is sticking to his guns and standing by his 2008 Vice-Presidential running mate Sarah Palin.

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"This new movie that comes out, (people) ask me if I'm gonna watch it," the Arizona Senator says according to the L.A. Times. "I tell them it'll be a cold day in Gila Bend, Arizona."

Game Change is based on the book of the same name about the 2008 presidential election by journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. It also focuses largely on Palin’s candidacy for Vice President.

According to HBO, the film directed by Jay Roach (Little Fockers, Dinner for Schmucks) “offers a searing behind-the-scenes look” at McCain’s campaign, including “the selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin” and “their defeat in the general election.”

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Told primarily from the point of view of McCain's senior campaign strategist, Steve Schmidt (played by Woody Harrelson), who discovered Palin, THR's chief TV critic Tim Goodman says that despite the film's great performances, it probably won't bridge the partisan divide.

"It would be hard to call the portrayal sympathetic, however," Goodman writes in his review. "The movie is told mostly through the eyes of Schmidt, whose gamble backfired, and his disdain for Palin grows exponentially as the story progresses."

McCain’s vow not to watch Game Change follows a press conference held last week by Palin staffers in which they said the film was packed with inaccuracies and depicts events that didn’t happen.

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His daughter, Meghan McCain, also made her disapproval of the film public last week on MSNBC when she said, “I didn’t like this book, I didn’t like this movie.” And pronounced, “Oh, Republican voters don’t watch HBO.”

Game Change stars Harrelson, Julianne Moore, and Ed Harris. It premieres Saturday, March 10 at 9 p.m.

Email: Jethro.Nededog@thr.com; Twitter: @TheRealJethro