My heart actually went out to David Axelrod after this bit from Jeff Zeleny's profile:
Mr. Axelrod took a seat in his living room, with the Washington Monument visible in the distance, and asked how the president's proposals were being received in the country. He went around the room, calling on a cluster of strategists who were on hand to discuss the latest batch of polls and focus groups conducted for the White House.It is known as the Wednesday Night Meeting, an invitation-only session for a handful of advisers, nearly all of whom played a key role in paving Mr. Obama's path to the Oval Office. The location varies, but on a recent evening Mr. Axelrod, a senior adviser to the president, was feeling under the weather, so a group that he says is “like family to me” met at his place.“It helps clarify my thinking to talk to people who I have faith in,” Mr. Axelrod said, reluctantly describing the weekly meetings he had hoped to keep under wraps so he would not suddenly be overrun by requests from people hoping to dispense advice.
That meeting is, as of this morning, officially screwed. And Axelrod is going to have a lot of awkward encounters with strategists and associates who now wonder whether he really respects their talents and trusts their counsel.
