I don’t know if he’s I don't know if he's Barack Obama's or, more generally, the Democrats’ “Karl Rove”--a title which can be taken as a plaudit or insult, depending on its intent--but an interesting new piece in Business Week about the non-political, corporate side of Obama strategist David Axelrod's business is worth adding to the growing catalogue of Axelrodian mythology.
It is as this moment that the obligatory mention of Bob Shrum must be made. Shrum is a bit unfairly maligned for having been the consultant to so many Democratic presidential nominees—for example, Shrum and cohorts deserve criticism for inanely insisting that John Kerry not go negative at the 2004 Boston convention, but he also gets blamed unfairly for managing Al Gore in 2000. But watch, if Obama is the nominee, for there to be a lot of pressure on Axelrod to solve the Democrats’ consultancy issues. We’ll have to wait and see how Axelrod holds up under the pressure, but my hunch is that Democrats will find him an adversary worthy of anyone from the McCain camp--including its shadow adviser with the mad hip hop skillz.
--Tom Schaller
