Barack Obama and Joe Biden didn’t get along too well during the 2008 campaign, according to political journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann in their new book Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime.

Politico hits the book’s highlights. The most obvious one for North Carolinians, of course, is the John Edwards’ implosion. But the authors’ portrayal of spats between Obama and Biden is also note-worthy, showing that all was not (is not?) well in utopia:

Obama himself was growing increasingly frustrated with his running mate after Biden let loose with a string of gaffes, including a statement that paying higher taxes amounted to patriotism and criticism of one of the campaign?s own ads poking fun at John McCain.

But when Biden, at an October fund-raiser in Seattle, famously predicted that Obama would be tested with an international crisis, the then-Illinois senator had had enough.

?How many times is Biden gonna say something stupid?? he demanded of his advisers on a conference call, a moment at which most people on the call said the candidate was as angry as they had ever heard him.

For his part, the authors write, Biden wasn?t pleased with the campaign?s direction.

After a prep session for a ?Meet the Press? appearance following the Democratic convention, Biden was incredulous when he was briefed by campaign aides about the ticket?s tax policy. He told them: ?Well, it?s your campaign. I?ll say what you want me to say. But after Election Day, all bets are off.?

Following his campaign plane braggadocio about being more qualified than the man who put him on the ticket, Biden?s access to the press was limited and he grilled new staffers that were assigned to him to try and determine if they were part of his team or loyal to Chicago.

Wow. Just wow.