The election is eight days away, but Sen. Barack Obama's steady lead in the polls already has produced lively speculation over whom he will choose to lead his administration, in the event he wins the presidency.
And no subject is more avidly considered in the corridors of Democratic power than the future role of his chief adviser, political consultant David Axelrod. Democrats who know the Chicago-based political consultant, the key architect of Obama's campaign and of his public image, say Axelrod has signaled that he'll seriously consider taking on a job in the administration. That decision would be a central choice in shaping an Obama White House, and determining the relationship between his style of governance and political strategy.
"I think he'll do it," said James Carville, Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign manager, who never joined that administration.