FACTBOX-Book includes juicy anecdotes of U.S. campaign 2008

WASHINGTON Jan 11 (Reuters) - A new book on the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign details tensions between Democrat Barack Obama and his vice presidential running mate Joe Biden and many other juicy anecdotes.

The following are several of the top anecdotes from "Game Change" by political journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. As of yet, none has been denied by the parties concerned.

* Obama was annoyed at some of the things Biden was saying on the campaign trail but really hit the ceiling when his No. 2 declared that, within six months of taking office, Obama would be tested by an international crisis.

"How many times is Biden gonna say something stupid?" the normally cool Obama asked campaign aides. Biden had already been cut off from the campaign's nightly call.

* Elizabeth Edwards was a terror to aides on the campaign trail and it only got worse when allegations surfaced that her husband, Democratic candidate John Edwards, had an affair with Rielle Hunter.

At the Raleigh airport, Elizabeth Edwards' temper boiled over and, as the book relates, the couple fought in the passenger waiting area and outside in the parking lot.

"Elizabeth was sobbing, out of control, incoherent," the authors wrote. "As their aides tried to look away, she tore off her blouse, exposing herself. 'Look at me!' she wailed at John and then staggered, nearly falling to the ground."

* The late Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy resisted entreaties from former President Bill Clinton to endorse his wife Hillary over Obama.

The book says Clinton belittled Obama in a way that deeply offended Kennedy. "Recounting the conversation later to a friend, Teddy fumed that Clinton had said, A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee." (The comment is not in quotations in the book.)

When Kennedy later told Clinton he was endorsing Obama, Clinton said: "The only reason you're endorsing him is because he's black. Let's just be clear."

* As already has been reported, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid privately thought Obama would be a great candidate and that America was ready to embrace a black presidential contender, especially one such as Obama -- a "light-skinned" African-American "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."

Reid, in political trouble since the remark surfaced over the weekend, has apologized for saying it and Obama has accepted the apology.

* Sarah Palin was totally unruffled when she was offered the job as Republican John McCain's vice presidential running mate. When McCain aide Steve Schmidt told her, she seemed very calm. Palin nodded and replied, "It's God's plan." (Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by John O'Callaghan)