Nov 20, 2008 5:36 pm US/Central
Obama Insider David Axelrod On Next Steps
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Obama senior adviser David Axelrod said his move to Washington to be a senior adviser to Barack Obama is as a "Chicagoan on assignment."
CBS
David Axelrod, a longtime Chicago political consultant and newly named senior adviser to Barack Obama, just spent a week on a sunny beach in Mexico. And his wife, Susan, is in Washington Thursday looking at potential new homes. Still, Axelrod told CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery he plans to stay rooted right here in the Windy City, and won't fall victim to Potomac Fever.
"I'm immune," Axelrod said Thursday. "I've spent a lifetime staying away. I respect what people do there. I love the history."
"I'm a Chicagoan on assignment," he added.
Axelrod said that, as president, Obama plans to use the Internet and new technology to stay in touch with the millions of Americans who contacted, contributed cash to, or volunteered for his campaign.
"We'll continue to have a conversation with them, giving them info," Axelrod said.
Staying in touch with those core supporters is going to be important, Axelrod believes, when the going gets tough – because inevitably, it will.
So, what exactly does a senior adviser at the White House do? The current President had a man named Karl Rove in that role, whom reporters dubbed "George Bush's Brain."
"Barack Obama's brain is enough for many, many people – he doesn't need a modular unit, and secondly, just as we had a great team in the campaign, we have a great team going in there and each of us will contribute to his success, it's not going to be on one person."
Axelrod, who is the ultimate loyalist for Obama said he expects when the president-elect gets into place, there will be so many challenges and problems he will have to face, that the difficult first task will be prioritizing them.
The pile of papers in front of Axelrod these days include some of the hundreds of resumes he's received since Obama became president-elect. The AP reports as many as 70,000 are seeking jobs with the new administration. But, hey, Axelrod says he's not in charge of personnel.
"As George W. Bush would say, 'I'm not The Decider,'" he said.
Axelrod is advising on Obama's biggest job decisions, including negotiations with Hillary Clinton to become secretary of state. He dismissed as nonsense reports of trouble out of Washington and New York.
"This is a great example of when there's a vacuum, the vacuum gets filled with a lot of speculation and hyperbole," Axelrod said. "No one is frustrated. No one is anguished. She's obviously a talented public servant and someone who'd enhance any team."
There is frustration that the "No-Drama Obama" Team -- which usually made decisions in almost total secrecy -- has, in the process of transitioning to Washington, sprung some leaks.
"Anytime you involve large numbers of people with something like this there's going to be leaks," Axelrod said. "And there's, you know, a fanaticism almost among the news media to break the big story."
Axelrod and his wife are just back from a week in Mexico, where he emulated his boss, getting to the gym for exercise. He's hoping to keep it up, but complains that phone calls and e-mails keep interrupting.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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