I can’t wait till the new film “Game Change” comes out. It’s a history of John McCain’s campaign for the Presidency against Barack Obama, and stars a dynamite cast–Ed Harris as McCain, Julianne Moore as Palin, and Woody Harrelson as McCain cmapaign manager Steve Schmidt.

I am particularly interested in the portrayal of Schmidt, a man who is now a political news analyst for MSNBC. I really respect the guy, he has solid conservative principles, but a fine mind, a gentle and reasonable demeanor, and manages to avoid the toxic ideological excesses that now seem to be expected from frontline conservatives. Still, he remains an articulate and persuasive spokesman for his side. But of course, he’s a loser. The GOP will always remember him as the man responsible for Obama’s victory. And they will never forgive

No one should expect historical accuracy from this movie, Hollywood is not particularly noted for its fidelity to the facts, even on non-partisan topics, so I don’t expect this film will be a source of footnotes for future historians.

But what will be fun to watch is how the film is received by the Right Wing in general, and Palin and McCain in particular. The Left, of course, will chortle with glee if the representation of the characters is a negative one. There is a historical subtext here, you will recall. McCain was a moderate Republican, ready to call Democrats on their foolishness when they deserved it, but not afraid to point out the lunacies in his own party. I was really proud of him when he defended Obama at that Q&A session against the wacky birther Muslim accusations from an audience member. Man, that seems like ages ago, doesn’t it? Not much of that going on any more, is there?

Of course, McCain was also hated because he wasn’t conservative enough for the wackofundos and Tea Partiers on the Right, and no amount of subsequent pandering to them ever rehabilitated him with that crowd.

The movie may not be good history, but promises to be great theater, but you could say that about Shakespeare, too. It will rightly or wrongly, regardless of how it portrays the principle characters, become part of the nation’s unconscious folklore of one of the most important elections in American history. And the critical reaction to it, on both sides of the aisle, will be a snapshot of our own time, and another election.