David Axelrod
David Axelrod
David M. Axelrodis an American political operative and analyst, best known as the Chief Strategist for Barack Obama's presidential campaigns. After Obama's election, Axelrod was appointed as Senior Advisor to the President. Axelrod left the White House position in early 2011 and became the Senior Strategist for Obama's successful re-election campaign in 2012. He currently serves as the director of the non-partisan Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago and is a Senior Political Commentator for CNN...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth22 February 1955
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
I have never believed in the Wizard of Oz theory of consulting, that I am all-knowing and all-seeing, and that everyone around me is kind of a backbencher
I think President Obama is a committed, practicing nonideologue. He's consumed by neither tactics nor ideology. He is more concerned about outcomes than he is about process and categorizations
We don't want to go back to the same policies and practicies that drove our economy into a ditch, that punished the middle class, and that led to this catastrophe. We keep moving forward.
The truth is that as we move forward, if one side says we can't raise any taxes on anybody or any interest, and the other side says we can't cut anything, we're obviously not going to make progress on this. And our interest is in making progress on this.
But obviously, we're looking for all good ideas to help deal with our long-term debt problem. This is something that is going to affect our economy. It affects our kids. And we need to deal with it.
This marketplace where people can buy insurance who don't have it today - a competitive marketplace: That's an idea that both sides embrace.
Two years before the last election you nor anyone else would have predicted that Barack Obama was going to get elected president of the United States.
I think those autoworkers whose industry would have collapsed if the president hadn't intervened are certainly better off.
I think the millions of people who had been able to renegotiate their mortgages so they are paying lower interest rates are better off.
I think the average American recognizes that it took years to create the crisis that erupted in 2008 and peaked in January of 2009. And it's going to take some time to work through it.
I think that the millions and millions of young Americans, young Americans, who have health care today, who wouldn't have had it if the president hadn't acted are better off.
I'm a kibitzer with a broad portfolio.
Any time you have loose ballots, you have to worry about shenanigans. It's a shame such a hard-fought election has to come down to something like this.
But we are not going to stand by and go back to allowing people with preexisting conditions to be discriminated against, go back to the situation where people can be thrown off their insurance simply because they become seriously ill or you can't get on your parents' insurance after the age of 20.