David Axelrod's Reflections on the White House Submarine

When the Obama administration arrived at the White House, they arrived as a triage team, said Axelrod. Obama, very busy trying to rescue a collapsing economy, couldn't forge all the relationships with the republicans that he wanted. Meanwhile, republicans made the decision to sit on the sidelines and oppose Obama at every turn.

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Outgoing Axelrod Reflects

David Axelrod's last day at the White House was Jan. 29. He goes back to his wife and daughter Lauren:

Axelrod on Meet the Press on Tax Cuts Nov. 14

In my mind, John McCain now has zero credibility. He also lives in another time. He should've retired. So much for NOH8, Cindy McCain stands by her husband's stance on DADT.

Alan Greenspan says Congress is going to have to adopt a plan to cut our debt and balance our budget. He warns of a bond market crisis. I think for the next two years, we'll see Obama leading on getting Americans up to speed on our debt situation. The fact is: we can't get our financial house in order unless we BOTH raise taxes and decrease spending.

Chuck Todd's Interview with David Axelrod Oct. 26

David Axelrod says Obama didn't endorse anyone in Rhode Island out of respect for Lincoln Chafee.

In response to a NYT story that said a republican-controlled Congress would make a good foil for Obama, Axelrod says Obama doesn't need a foil.

Axelrod also answers David Brooks' recent column in which Brooks said the Obama administration spends too much time blaming the republicans. I don't think Obama would be pointing out the republicans if he wasn't always being blamed for their mess. Ironically, the people that created the recession are going to be put back in power because people lack a basic understanding of what happened to the economy.

Tuesday Talks With David Axelrod Oct. 26

Axelrod on Letterman Oct. 6 Video

Axelrod addresses the birther lie, which was pushed when Obama first started running for president. Republicans let the lie fester because they thought it was good for them.

Axelrod on This Week Sept. 26 Video

Republicans have pledged to cut education, but Axelrod says education is the new defense budget of the 21st century. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Interestingly, only 58% of people are pessimistic about public schools. While that's a lot, that number should be higher.
Axelrod also addresses the "exhausted" Velma Hart clip, which the media glommed onto this week.

Velma Hart explains her comment at the CNBC town hall Fox News. As someone who doesn't watch Fox News, it's really surprising how clear the bias is:

Axelrod on Meet the Press Sept. 12

I used to love the Sunday morning shows but now, the theme is repeated week after week--why hasn't Obama fixed the economy? As if he could.

There is only one media narrative, whether its David Gregory and his hysterical manner of asking questions, or This Week's new host (a disappointment) Christiane Amanpour, and that is, the Obama administration has failed. End of story. Pretty boring. National media has become a tool for hucksters on the left and the right.

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Obama Catches the Sox Game

President Barack Obama ventured from the White House for some Friday night baseball as his hometown Chicago White Sox took on the Washington Nationals and their new star pitcher, Stephen Strasburg.

Obama made a surprise trip to the Nationals' stadium in Southeast D.C. to kick off Father's Day weekend and watch Strasburg, a sensation in Washington and the world of sports, make his third career start.

Obama, accompanied by daughters Sasha and Malia and brother-in-law Konrad Ng, arrived at the stadium with an entourage that included White House senior adviser David Axelrod. Read more at AP

Axelrod on Meet the Press June 13

The media continues its hammering of Obama. It's sort of a mob mentality now.
I think Obama's criticism of the media has gotten under the medias' skin. Chuck Todd seems especially annoyed. Obama will never win in a battle with the media.

Obama will speak to the nation on Tuesday night, 8 pm eastern, on the BP oil spill. Some sort of escrow fund is being set up to pay claims.
Here's the full show:

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Obama Speaks at White House Correspondents Dinner 2010

Update: Obama's speech is over. He seemed mighty preoccupied--and it's no wonder. He was short on the funny and then turned serious--to the gulf. Then he talked briefly about the importance of real journalism. Jon Favreau (Obama's speechwriter, not the actor) and David Axelrod worked on Obama's speech. Full video:

This is a live audio stream that begins at 8 pm eastern. Watch a live video stream at c-span here. C-span also has the red carpet arrival coverage of the journalists, media moguls, celebs, and politicians. Goodness, even Justin Bieber is there.

Obama will speak first, followed by Jay Leno. Note that the speech that Obama gives is supposed to be humorous. Read more about the annual correspondents' dinner here.

Obama is sitting between Bloomberg journalists, Matt Winkler and Ed Chen, according to c-span. Michelle Obama will announce scholarships prior to Obama's speech.

The Washington Post will have live coverage at 8:30 pm eastern here.

Obama Administration Says No New Offshore Drilling Until After Investigation

The media is asking if this is "Obama's Katrina." Ugh. I'm not sure who thought up that analogy, but whoever did was someone who didn't understand what made Katrina so devastating.

A senior adviser to President Obama said the government would not allow any new offshore drilling until an investigation was conducted into the spill and whether it could have been prevented. The deadly explosion on an offshore oil rig last week and the resulting spill have complicated Mr. Obama’s recently announced plans to expand offshore oil and gas drilling, with some politicians and environmental advocates calling on the president to halt any planned expansions until more safeguards are put into place against future disasters. NYT

Watch David Axelrod, who says the Obama administration hasn't authorized any addition oil drilling and it won't until after a review of what happened. Axelrod also talks about immigration reform and Charlie Crist being run out of the republican party.

Axelrod on Leno April 23 Video

Axelrod was from NYC. He said he was sold on politics at five when his babysitter took him to see JFK. He's known Obama for 18 years. Axelrod says Obama loves cheeseburgers and has a weakness for pie. Full video

Axelrod calls Obama

Axelrod on the investigation that broke yesterday that as the economy tanked, SEC employees watched porn. The SEC punished 33 employees, including 17 senior staffers making $100,000 to $200,000 a year. I wonder how they were punished. I hope that means fired.

Joe's weakness is his strength

Gibbs Aspires to Strategic Role at White House

Obama, Axelrod and Gibbs. Below, Gibbs and his son Ethan at WH Halloween party

Robert Gibbs may some day replace David Axelrod, who is expected to leave in a couple of years or so:

Robert Gibbs does not seem particularly attached to his office.

There is a dormant fireplace ("a problem with the flue," Gibbs said), a cluttered desk, a flat-screen television and a smaller monitor simultaneously displaying C-SPAN, MSNBC, the networks. But all of that came with the place. He has done little decorating. The built-in bookshelves are half-filled with uncracked hardcovers, including a tamale cookbook, and there are cream-colored gaps of wall space between a poster of Bobby Kennedy, a blown-up photo of Gibbs's young son on Air Force One and a framed picture of President Obama watching his press secretary's inaugural briefing.

The office doesn't look lived-in because the occupant is only half-occupied these days with his official duties. Gibbs serves two roles in the White House. He is the public face and mouthpiece of the administration, but he is also the consummate presidential confidant -- the Obama traveling buddy during the campaign and ever-trusted Oval Office adviser. The Alabama native, who has been shaped by the Capitol Hill fray and campaign knife fights, is considered, along with Obama's presidential campaign manager, David Plouffe, a top candidate to take the place of senior strategist David Axelrod when the Washington-weary keeper of the Obama message leaves to focus on the 2012 reelection. That isn't happening anytime soon, which means Gibbs is stuck on double duty.

Gibbs is too discreet to say which job he prefers, but it's not hard to figure out. Listen to the press secretary talk about the media as a predictable, hyperventilating rabble obsessed with access and covering "everything as make or break," or observe his frustration percolating in the briefing room. Then ask him whether he has improved as a big-picture strategist, and the administration's leading purveyor of evasive, circuitous sentences suddenly speaks to the point.

"Oh, absolutely!" Gibbs said.

Axelrod: Republicans Chose Sideline in National Crisis

Axelrod says people in Washington are obsessed with polls, but the administration is intent on taking a long run view. He also says that the republicans made a strategic, political decision to sit on the sidelines and root for failure at a time of national crisis. Because they've chosen the sidelines, they should lose their right to criticize, he said.

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David Axelrod's Interview With Chuck Todd

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Kirk Says He'll Lead Healthcare Repeal Over Corned Beef and Cabbage

Republicans sure are good at what they do. Healthcare's not even passed and they have a plan to repeal. You got to hand it to them. They've earned the giant troll. David Axelrod fires back:

GOP Senate nominee Rep. Mark Steven Kirk (R-Ill.) said if President Obama signs a health insurance reform bill into law--and if he is elected to the Senate--he would "lead the effort" for its repeal.

"As your senator I would lead the effort to repeal this bill," Kirk said.

The Obama White House roared back at Kirk on Wednesday. White House Senior advisor David Axelrod told the Chicago Sun-Times, "Given the great challenges America, and families across Illinois face today, the last thing we need is another Republican Senator in Washington who is more focused on tearing down the President than he is on solving problems."

Kirk's comments were made March 12 to the New Trier Republicans corn beef and cabbage dinner. Kirk's campaign refuses to release Kirk's campaign or governmental schedules in order to discourage routine press coverage, so remarks Kirk makes on the stump are rare. Sweet

Axelrod: Obama is a Person Not a Product

Turns out that David Axelrod was one of those who didn't much like Desiree Rogers. She had a little too much fancy flair for Axelrod, who didn't like when she talked about the "Obama brand."

Ms. Rogers had appeared in another glossy magazine, posing in a White House garden in a borrowed $3,495 silk pleated dress and $110,000 diamond earrings. But if the image was jarring in a time of recession, Mr. Axelrod was as bothered by the words and her discussion of “the Obama brand” and her role in promoting it, according to people informed about the conversation.

“The president is a person, not a product,” he was said to tell her. “We shouldn’t be referring to him as a brand.” NYT

Scarborough Pushing For Ouster of White House Officials

This is how rumors get started. Joe Scarborough, who is apparently discontent that liberals are hammering him on Twitter (he complains regularly), is using his platform to push the notion that White House officials are incompetent. He pushes the narrative by saying everyone believes that Obama's team is incompetent, but I really haven't heard a lot of people, other than the republicans, saying that David Axelrod or Robert Gibbs are a liability. People complain a lot about Rahm Emanuel, but he seems to be one of the few people who gets stuff done.

We know that the republicans will do just about anything to avoid doing actual work. They'd rather play the games.

Scarborough digs up Les Gelb to talk about firing White House staff:

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Axelrod on C-SPAN Newsmakers Feb. 6

Watch the full video here.

He discusses Al Franken, the riff between Rahm Emanuel and Eric Holder, Richard Shelby, the troll, and the tea party movement.

He says Congress should move rapidly on the jobs bill and quickly move to healthcare, which means the republicans will probably stall the jobs bill.

Axelrod said Obama will call a bipartisan meeting on jobs next week.