What Obama's Political Guru Says About Elizabeth Warren
David Axelrod, Obama Campaign Senior Political Strategist, speaks to reporters after the Presidential Debate between Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at the University of Denver on October 3, 2012 in Denver, Colorado.
Photographer: Doug Pensinger/Getty ImagesMassachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is trying to shape the Democratic Party's message, but isn't aiming to lead it. That's according to President Barack Obama's longtime political strategist David Axelrod, who offered his views on this season's Washington riddle: What does Warren want?
"She sees her role as trying to define where the candidate goes," Axelrod said in remarks Thursday night at the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics, where he is the founding director. "She understands that there's tremendous leverage in the possibility that she could be a candidate. That's how you move the parties. That's how you move the candidates."