David Axelrod, President Obama’s campaign strategist, expressed some irritation today with Joe Scarborough of Morning Joe because Scarborough had talked about Obama’s political inexperience in yesterday’s show – commentary that “spoiled my Starbucks,” Axelrod said.
Axelrod, a little light-heartedly, said Scarborough frustrated him through “three minutes of unalloyed carpet bombing of my guy, comparing him to Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann” by calling Obama an “inexperienced president.” He got a little more forceful, though, when Scarborough interjected, demanding, “Let me finish; you’ve got a whole show [but] I’ve only got a few minutes.”
Obama made a series of “courageous decisions,” as when “he intervened, saved the financial system from collapsing. This is controversial with some people but it was absolutely necessary,” Axelrod said. Similarly, Obama “intervened [and] saved the auto industry from collapsing. There are a million people working today who wouldnt be working today had he not done that,” he argued, saying “it wasnt popular, it was the right thing to do.”
Axelrod also said the nation needs “an economy in which the middle class is growing, work pays, responsibility is rewarded, irresponsibility is held accountable.” That ideal sounds incongruous with his praise of the bailouts, which tried to rescue banks and ameliorate the mismanagement of union pensions, rather than allow the parties to be “held accountable” for their “irresponsibility.”
Axelrod did have a good comeback on the foreign policy front. “You say [Obama] wasn’t prepared, maybe you should go ask Osama Bin Laden about whether he thought [Obama] was prepared,” he fired at Scarborough.
“So when I hear you say that [Obama was inexperienced], it spoils my Starbucks,” Axelrod quipped.
“I think the deficit, his lack of experience in Washington, showed the most in dealing not just with Republicans but with the legislative branch,” Scarborough maintained.
You can see Axelrod talking about these issues in the video below.
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