Axelrod to exit White House in 2011 to work on Obama reelection

David Axelrod, a top advisor to the president, will remain in his current post 'well into 2011.' He's long made it clear he misses his hometown of Chicago.

Peter Nicholas, Tribune Washington Bureau

September 23, 2010|3:54 p.m.

Reporting from Washington —

David Axelrod, a top advisor to President Obama and the main architect of his election victory in 2008, will be leaving the White House next year and returning to Chicago to work on the president's reelection campaign, a White House aide said Thursday.

Axelrod has not specified a departure date, but he plans to remain in his current position "well into 2011,'' the aide said.

Axelrod, who calls himself a "Chicagoan on assignment,'' has long made clear he missed his hometown and would return before the end of the four-year term. His wife still lives in the city.

One of Obama's most trusted aides, Axelrod occupies a small office just steps from the Oval Office. On a wall in Axelrod's office hangs a picture of the White House drawn by his daughter. The Chicago skyline is shown in the reflecting pool.

His portfolio is a broad one. He shapes the president's message, oversees the speechwriting team, plots political strategy and advises on policy. A longtime campaign strategist, he is aware of his limitations when it comes to complex policy matters. He once made a self-deprecating reference to himself as "a duffer'' when it comes to policy.

Other White House aides said part of Axelrod's role was reminding the staff of the president's campaign commitments and making sure that the White House agenda stayed true to Obama's promises.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, a pragmatist when it comes to policy matters, once described the difference between himself and Axelrod as "prose" versus "poetry."

Obama's political viability, though, is one of Axelrod's preoccupations. Steven Rattner, the former "car czar" and author of a new book about the auto-industry bailout, described Axelrod as sitting in meetings discussing poll results showing the public's disdain for bailouts.

Mustached, rumpled and paunchy, Axelrod is a popular figure in the White House. He plays basketball, and after a game, he occasionally shows up, sweaty and winded, at a local bar frequented by reporters. Axelrod is a former political reporter for the Chicago Tribune.

The seven-member White House speechwriting team has described their daily conferences with Axelrod as a loose, creative exercise that is a high point in the day. But others administration figures are not so taken with Axelrod, often called "Axe'' for short.

In the new book "Obama Wars,'' author Bob Woodward wrote that Gen. David Petraeus, who is leading the war in Afghanistan, once called Axelrod "a complete spin doctor.''

Though some White House aides tend to become part of the Washington culture, Axelrod is a holdout. He rented an apartment rather than buy a house, so as not to put down roots.

On a snowy morning in Washington last year, he appeared on a TV talk show and was asked about the weather.

"We call this a dusting in Chicago," he said, "I just want you to know."