David Axelrod Visits Bloomberg View: The Ticker
President Barack Obama's strategist David Axelrod stopped by Bloomberg View today, where he chatted with editors and invited guests.
A few quick hits:
Axelrod said he was anticipating a long Republican primary campaign. When asked whether he thought that would benefit the eventual nominee in the way Obama benefited from his long primary against Hillary Clinton, he said no: "In 2008, we were not moving farther and farther to the left."
He called Newt Gingrich the "Godfather of Gridlock." When asked whether the Obama team had sketched out what a Gingrich candidacy would entail in a general election, Axelrod said, "I don't even think Gingrich has the Gingrich campaign sketched out. I don't see why we should be out in front of him on that."
Axelrod said the 2008 campaign "ripped the band aid" from a sore -- declining living standards, middle class economic hardship -- that was long festering.
On the 2010 elections, he maintained that voters have "buyers' remorse" over entrusting the House and numerous governors' seats to Republicans.
On the GOP's Tea-Party-inspired move to the right, "I think what we have to do is break the fever."
On Republican resistance to extending the payroll tax deduction: "I would rather have the tax cut than the issue."
(Francis Wilkinson is a member of the Bloomberg View editorial board.)
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