Axelrod: "Everything About The Politics Of Washington Works Against Hope And Optimism And Unity"

New York Times:

In the White House, the wistfulness for the simpler days is palpable. "The day was just suffused with emotion and hope and warmth," David Axelrod, Mr. Obama's senior adviser, recalled about Election Day last year. "But it is an emotional peak that you can't maintain day to day as you do the business of government. The challenge is to maintain that degree of idealism and optimism as you work through the meat grinder.

"Everything about the politics of Washington works against hope and optimism and unity. So you have to push against that every day, understanding that it's going to be an imperfect end result." He added: "That night was sublime. And much of what goes on in Washington is prosaic. Or profane."

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[catro51]

If all of the whiners and mourners who profess to be progressives are so concerned about Pres. Obama and his lack of satisfying their agenda would stick with him and continue the enthusiasm that they had a year ago , he could accomplish a lot more. Instead of complaining why aren't the progressives sticking together to get out the votes to elect more Democrtats so that there would be a real majority in Congress to make the obstuctionists voices mute. As it stands now, there isn't enough Dems support to be aggressive on his agenda because the support just isn't there. When the Prez has to fight his own Blue Dog members as well as the Repubs he is forced to operate more to the center in order to accomplish anything.
If we really want to see change then we need to really support the President ...not pretend to support him only when it's convenient and only on the things that satisfies our selfish wants.

[hapiday]

I sent the president an encouraging note. He, his family and administration needs some encouragement. We are all going to get through this together. Part of the negativism that takes place on this website is because some people are just mean spirited by nature. If President Obama made all their dreams come true they would still be angry, because a black man came in and took over their sport again. Only this time the sport is the presidency.

[WisconsinAve]

Axelrod...no integrity, no loyalty and no class.

Perfect Obamacon.

Keep the change.

[kiwiman122]

Axelrod's quote is ridiculous. The party of "Hope and Change" has complete power. Why don't they do something already.

[Manx]

Axelrod: "Everything about the politics of Washington works against hope, optimism and unity."

Sounds as if Axelrod is ready to throw in the towel. Whatever happened to the audacity of hope?

[lvdragonlady]

Axelrod is exactly right . AS long as a few(GOP) can keep the majority believing lies and fighting a among themselves, we will not be strong enough to go up against them.
IT IS TIME America, we can not continue to let to corporations and banks control our lives.
Is THIS what you want for your kids?

[nbanflfan]

This is for all of you critics of President Obama:

Many of you said that we would have a Black POTUS when pigs fly.

Guess What?

SWINE FLU!!!

Thank you Mr. President for all of your hard work on ALL of our behalf. I wish you and your family good health and nothing but the best.

[StellaRay]

'm so freaking sick of the whining about Obama by way too many progressives.

DIsagree with him where you do, but for God's sake quit threatening to sit out in 2010, quit threatening your big fat apathy if you don't get your way, quit gloating that a few local elections are sure going to show him what a lousy job he's doing.

Because if you don't get it that you are so much better off, dispite your dissappointments, under this president and this party, in this time, than you would be under the republicans, than we are indeed lost. Uber ideological progressives scare me as much as uber ideological republicans because they don't understand most of this country lives in the center.

Yes, we are going to have to compromise, more than we dreamed we'd have to. But we can't let our dissappointments rob us of our fight. We really have absolutely no choice but to put some action behind our disappointments, chop wood, carry water and be more patient.

Stop thinking about what should be, and put your shoulder into what it is, deal with it, and help change it.

[javajava]

i hope more reasoned folks take a longer view, realize that we need to keep electing folks to push against entrenched attitudes in D.C. Many of those dinosaurs that make policy and enrich themselves and thier cronies will be slinking off to the tar pits with or without the voters help, at some point. If the fight was just to elect the titular head of a party it's unrealistic to expect a new direction. We blew the mid-term by nor showing up to vote. 2010 what will it be? Sit back and let someone else call shots?

[StevieRae]

Ax has come to experience the reality of how biz is done/not done in Washington.

A major contributor to this paralysis is the MAIN STREAM MEDIA. They set the rules; everything reported inside the beltway is about conflict and division, not dissimilar to 'back home local TV's news policy of always lead with blood.

As a consequence, all political discussion in the governing process, WH, Congress is ALWAYS geared to how will it play in the media and/or making sure one preserves their "public imagine" and the opposition is portrayed as the enemy to "progress. True law making or governing is secondary.

Sick!!!!!

[satyriasis]

Call it the KKKorporate media.

[EducatedObserver]

This statement is rich, coming as it does from Axelrod, the ultimate Chicago insider.

And as for the NY Times analysis, I am afraid that no amount of hand-wringing now can obfuscate the fact that Mr Obama was demonstrably unprepared to be president.

It is much too late now to cry over spilt milk.

[DinSea]

Is anybody ever really "prepared to be president", especially facing an avalanche of unprecedented crises, social bigotry and partisan obstructionism? come on ....

[yweston]

Nobody is prepared until they get the job. The trick is to learn how Washington works to get things done.

[wijg]

"Everything about the politics of Washington works against hope and optimism and unity. So you have to push against that every day, understanding that it's going to be an imperfect end result."

Do what's right, and stop with the bs.

[lthuedk 1]

Corruption and D.C. go together, but there are other problems associated with it's character.

http://www.light-to-dark.com/The_Family.html

http://www.light-to-dark.com/Waterboarding_Lincoln.html

[LoadedDice]

What we're up against, David, ...et al, is an eerie cabal of carnival barkers, on the one hand, whose mandate is "infotainment" and flatulent, pinheaded right-wing pols, on the other, whose stupidity and sycophantic soundbites the Fourth Estate is too afraid to call out. As long as the media mindlessly pretend that there are "two sides to every question" and that they are presuimably "equal", the Reactionaries (who stopped being "conservative" decades ago), with their Morlocks minions in lock-step (or, more accurately, goose-step), will continue to treated like Holocaust-deniers in Iran, i.e., as though they have something coherent and ostensibly substantive to say. Unfortunately, if democracy depends on the integrity of an uncowed and honest Fourth Estate (which, no doubt, it does), then our "dumbed-down" future will continue to look bleak.

[PaxEterna]

The WH and Administration would be part of that, it seems to me . . . or is Mr. Axlerod once again using language to obfuscate the obvious - one more time?

[yweston]

You must mean Palin.