When John Edwards finally admitted paternity of his daughter by mistress Rielle Hunter — in the wake of not one, but two damning books — many disappointed Democrats breathed a sigh of relief that the man’s career was dead and gone. Time, on the other hand, started crafting an article about Edwards’ comeback entitled “Rehabilitating John Edwards: Difficult but not Impossible.”

When Game Change authors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann joined Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough in discussing their best-selling and oft blogged about book, Halperin mentioned that the authors are in discussions with HBO about making a film version. Their dreamcast? Meryl Streep playing Hillary Clinton and Will Smith playing Barack Obama. Mediaite’s ideal cast is after the jump!

Game Change, the dishy, exhaustively researched, and occasionally overwritten new book on the 2008 election by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, has dominated both political gossip and book publicity for the past week. It’s produced a small political scandal, a New York magazine cover story, and innumerable blog chatter. The book has been number one on Amazon since the day before its release, and the print run has reportedly already been increased twice. But it’s long — so if you’re busy, here’s the good stuff to tide you over.

Today, Mediaite Office Hours goes rogue.

Because of some tech issues our friends at Livestream are having, we’re going to go old school with a conference room mini-show. Conan, Leno, Game Change and more – at 3:30pmET.

Now that the dust has settled over the initial and headline-making revelations of the new campaign book Game Change, a number of people are beginning to question how authors John Heilemann and Mark Halperin managed to get all the frequently anonymous juicy quotes they included in the book. Did the authors, in fact, follow their own attribution guidelines?

Sarah Palin made her Fox News debut “The O’Reilly Factor,” taking questions on today’s top political news and issues. Host Bill O’Reilly was friendly and supportive, but did push Palin on the rumors of her poor intellect presented in the context of her media coverage. Nancy Pelosi, Iran, Harry Reid and of course, Barack Obama were all discussed, and as expected, Palin eloquently hit all talking points consistent with the conservative agenda. Video after the jump.

Guess who’s tired of talking about Sarah Palin and some of the stunning revelations in Game Change, the new book chronicling the 2008 presidential campaign? Why its our old pal John McCain, who you may remember as Palin’s running mate from yesteryear. While appearing on Today, McCain was pressed on allegations that the vetting process for Governor Palin was “wholly inadequate,’ which appeared to irk Sen. McCain, who exasperated “I wouldn’t know” if the vetting was appropriate.

Will Sarah Palin’s move to Fox News force her to address (nasty) revelations made in the just-released campaign book Game Change? The book’s authors think it’s possible. However, even more possible is that Palin signed on to Fox News in order to secure a safe haven while also maintaining a huge public platform.

Even though the release of Game Change has made it seem like a relic, it was only Friday when former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani stated that there had been “no domestic attacks under Bush. Robert Gibbs responded with a dose of reality, but he hadn’t had a chance to react to Rudy’s later clarification (through a spokesman). I asked Gibbs about it today, and he just seemed glad that Giuliani had cleared up the most glaring omission.

The story of Harry Reid referencing a negro dialect in describing Candidate Obama has been a promotional gold mine for the publisher’s of Game Change, the new book by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann chronicling the 2008 presidential campaign. The salacious splendor of the book is sure to be a hot topic for the next week, but some of the details are giving the media fits – best evidenced by CNN’s Rick Sanchez asking guest Tony Blakely about President Obama’s alleged use of ‘jive’

What happens when a planned leak of a salacious detail (Sarah Palin couldn’t remember Biden’s name!) gets shadowed by a more salacious tidbit (Harry Reid referring to Obama’s non-negro dialect)? Viewers question your reasoning behind the piece. FNC’s Eric Shawn noticed that 60 Minutes aired an exclusive interview with Game Change authors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann last night, and Palin was effectively the focus of the piece, with no mention of the Reid comment.

Washington is still reeling today from revelations made in the uber-gossipy yet-to-be-released Game Change penned by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. Thus far the sometimes shocking it has generated sound at bit like D.C.’s version of the behind the high school gymnasium gossip mill. And who could resist that. Answer: no one.

Hey, have you heard? Back in 2008 Senator Harry Reid lauded then-candidate Barack Obama for being a “light-skinned African-American with no negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” This is one of many interesting bits of information coming from Game Change, a new book that chronicles the 2008 presidential campaign, by John Heileman and Mark Halperin released today. Given the vast amount of coverage, one would think this is the story of the year thus far, at least evidenced by the following video montage:

Game Change, the upcoming (tomorrow) book by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, is already making waves in DC with its sensational revelations about the 2008 presidential campaign. One of those excerpts, posted by The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder, struck me as just a bit hypocritical. It concerns Cindy McCain and a previously discredited rumor, resurrected in Halperin’s book.

Late last night, the White House announced that there would be no pool coverage for Sunday, January 10. While the President had no scheduled events this weekend, there was pool coverage yesterday. It could be a mere coincidence, or it could be that the White House is trying to catch its breath before responding to bombshell revelations in the upcoming book Game Change, excerpts of which poured out all day yesterday. President Obama already issued a statement about Harry Reid’s “negro dialect” quote, but even more explosive passages have emerged since.

Just in time for the 2010 mid-term election bonanza comes the much-anticipated Game Change, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. So anticipated in fact that what is billed as a “sweeping, novelistic portrait of this historic and unusual race” is under embargo until Monday. 60 Minutes, however, got some advance tidbits. O’Biden!