The man behind Obama
The man behind Obama
BY CAROL MARIN
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times
August 1, 2007
When Obama political guru David Axelrod and I met for lunch Tuesday in Chicago, I confess, I had cosmetics on my mind.
With fresh memories of CNN's Wolf Blitzer delving into Hillary Clinton's cleavage, photos of a buff Barack Obama splashing in the Hawaiian surf, and reminders of John Edwards' $400 haircut, the first thing I felt compelled to do was inspect Axelrod's outfit.
He did not disappoint.
Khaki-colored, somewhat wrinkled short sleeve shirt. Blue jeans. The kind of hair unaccustomed to a blow-dry.
For those of us who have known David Axelrod over the years, we remember him first as a star Chicago Tribune reporter and political columnist and only later as the go-to media man and consultant to a long list of formidable local, state and national politicians, people with last names like Daley, Simon, Vilsack, Clinton, Edwards, and now of course, Obama.
This is the highest altitude of a very high-flying career for a guy who is only 52. No longer living paycheck to paycheck, Axelrod makes millions as a master of the political message. And his name is routinely invoked, as it was at least twice last Sunday, on NBC's "Meet the Press." Profiles of him have filled the pages of the Washington Post and the New York Times.
I suppose, if nothing else Tuesday, I wanted to see how living inside the longest, most harrowing presidential campaign season of all time was affecting him. I can't say I came away with a full answer to that. A lot of what we talked about was off the record as these kind of conversations often are. And yet, what's hard to miss in Axelrod's face and manner is both the inexorable responsibility and fatigue of this 24/7 kind of endeavor countered on a daily basis by the exhilaration of conviction and adrenaline that fuels it.
Today, as you read this, Axelrod is hitting the road again, hopscotching with Obama across primary and caucas landscapes while preparing for three debates this month, two of which will be staged here in Chicago. One of them, the YearlyKos Convention, will be at McCormick Place on Saturday, the other the AFL-CIO Democratic Forum to be held next Tuesday in Soldier Field.
Traveling with Obama, Axelrod will have a chance to assess how the campaign is evolving. He and his candidate will squeeze preparation time -- in between appearances, speeches and fund-raising -- for the grinding demands of a mushrooming number of debates.
The most recent matchup in South Carolina, you will recall, revealed a certain disconnect between Washington political pundits who considered Hillary Clinton the high scorer for saying she would not automatically meet with leaders of the enemy nations of Iran or Syria when Obama said he would. Post-debate citizen focus groups, however, declared Obama the winner.
Axelrod likes to remind observers of what Sen. Gary Hart said in Chicago back in 1987 when Hart was ramping up to run for what would become his own doomed '88 presidential bid. "Washington is the last to get the news," quoted Axelrod.
Ask him if he is, in fact, the single most influential or significant voice in the Obama effort, and Axelrod not only looks pained, he takes great pains to point out that a 400-member team propels the campaign and that he's just one of many voices in the candidate's choir.
Don't you believe it.
BY CAROL MARIN
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times
August 1, 2007
When Obama political guru David Axelrod and I met for lunch Tuesday in Chicago, I confess, I had cosmetics on my mind.
With fresh memories of CNN's Wolf Blitzer delving into Hillary Clinton's cleavage, photos of a buff Barack Obama splashing in the Hawaiian surf, and reminders of John Edwards' $400 haircut, the first thing I felt compelled to do was inspect Axelrod's outfit.
He did not disappoint.
Khaki-colored, somewhat wrinkled short sleeve shirt. Blue jeans. The kind of hair unaccustomed to a blow-dry.
For those of us who have known David Axelrod over the years, we remember him first as a star Chicago Tribune reporter and political columnist and only later as the go-to media man and consultant to a long list of formidable local, state and national politicians, people with last names like Daley, Simon, Vilsack, Clinton, Edwards, and now of course, Obama.
This is the highest altitude of a very high-flying career for a guy who is only 52. No longer living paycheck to paycheck, Axelrod makes millions as a master of the political message. And his name is routinely invoked, as it was at least twice last Sunday, on NBC's "Meet the Press." Profiles of him have filled the pages of the Washington Post and the New York Times.
I suppose, if nothing else Tuesday, I wanted to see how living inside the longest, most harrowing presidential campaign season of all time was affecting him. I can't say I came away with a full answer to that. A lot of what we talked about was off the record as these kind of conversations often are. And yet, what's hard to miss in Axelrod's face and manner is both the inexorable responsibility and fatigue of this 24/7 kind of endeavor countered on a daily basis by the exhilaration of conviction and adrenaline that fuels it.
Today, as you read this, Axelrod is hitting the road again, hopscotching with Obama across primary and caucas landscapes while preparing for three debates this month, two of which will be staged here in Chicago. One of them, the YearlyKos Convention, will be at McCormick Place on Saturday, the other the AFL-CIO Democratic Forum to be held next Tuesday in Soldier Field.
Traveling with Obama, Axelrod will have a chance to assess how the campaign is evolving. He and his candidate will squeeze preparation time -- in between appearances, speeches and fund-raising -- for the grinding demands of a mushrooming number of debates.
The most recent matchup in South Carolina, you will recall, revealed a certain disconnect between Washington political pundits who considered Hillary Clinton the high scorer for saying she would not automatically meet with leaders of the enemy nations of Iran or Syria when Obama said he would. Post-debate citizen focus groups, however, declared Obama the winner.
Axelrod likes to remind observers of what Sen. Gary Hart said in Chicago back in 1987 when Hart was ramping up to run for what would become his own doomed '88 presidential bid. "Washington is the last to get the news," quoted Axelrod.
Ask him if he is, in fact, the single most influential or significant voice in the Obama effort, and Axelrod not only looks pained, he takes great pains to point out that a 400-member team propels the campaign and that he's just one of many voices in the candidate's choir.
Don't you believe it.
posted by Carlos T Mock @ 8:11 AM
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