David Axelrod On 'Jon Stewart': Obama Adviser Knocks GOP, Acknowledges Key Regret (VIDEO)

David Axelrod, a senior adviser to President Obama, stopped by the "Daily Show" on Monday for a long conversation with Jon Stewart about the direction of the administration and the issues Obama has been grappling with since taking office.

To put things in perspective, Axelrod opened, "One of the things that I'm sure that we had no idea we were going to hear when we came to the White House is, 'Sir, the robots bumped into the riser and knocked the top hat off the well.' These are things you don't anticipate. And every day has something like that. 'The pirate has the captain. What do we do, sir?'"

Stewart shot back that the administration knew what they were walking into with the economy and wars, but Axelrod countered, "We didn't know the extent of the economic problems. The recession occupied us for the first several months in ways that nobody could have anticipated"

After the commercial break, Stewart pushed Axelrod about bringing back familiar faces (including Ben Bernanke and Tim Geithner) after Obama's campaign comments about not expecting different results with the same people. Axelrod insisted that the administration needed their experience, and mentioned that the team had some fresh blood.

Then came the sharpest barb of the evening. After comparing the GOP to politicians who throw a brick through their own campaign office window to point fingers at the opposition, Axelrod said, "I think the strategy of the Republican leadership there is to deprive the president of any bipartisan support and then say he's not being bipartisan. They're very committed to that."

Politics aside, Axelrod admitted at least one regret in how they handled the agency that oversaw both the Massey mining disaster and the Gulf oil spill. "There is no doubt that, in retrospect, we would have liked to have moved faster on the MMS situation," he said before trying to deflect some of the criticism. "But understand that we were also dealing with the economic crisis and the wars and a whole range of issues."

"I guess my point is ... don't we have to show a certain baseline level of competence?" Stewart asked. Axelrod insisted that it had been accomplished, but that the public only hears a story when problems arise and that there are many unheralded examples of when things work.

The interview carried on after the TV program ran out of time, with a 13-minute bonus segment posted exclusively on the internet.

WATCH PART ONE:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
David Axelrod Unedited Interview Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

WATCH PART TWO:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
David Axelrod Unedited Interview Pt. 2
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

WATCH PART THREE:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
David Axelrod Unedited Interview Pt. 3
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Comments

[misterknowitall]

02:08 PM on 06/30/2010

"Don't mention the war. I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it" :)

It seems like the war has become the go-to excuse for everything, doesn't it?

[Raul Garcia]

01:34 PM on 06/30/2010

Elizabeth Warren also said the Financial Reform bill left a lot to be desired and how could a Harvard educated presidential candidate not of known how bad the economic crisis was, when others did?

The health care bill was a pure sham.

[Carl Caroli]

08:52 AM on 06/30/2010

Apologist in chief? When you listen to "experienced" people, you really need to look at their track record to determine the value of their input. Most of Obama's would not have much to say in my administration. Summers, who left most recently left Harvard's trust funds in shambles? Ben "I didn't see it coming" Bernanke? Tim "I wasn't a regulator" Geithner? Come on David, you can do better than that. Or maybe you can't.

[AguynamedWayne]

06:22 AM on 06/30/2010

Lip service and excuses - So much for that "Change You Can Believe In"

[nice2blucky]

04:34 AM on 06/30/2010

Waste of time. Puff interview.

[trucker guy]

04:30 AM on 06/30/2010

Mr. President, You said if you got the $ 787 BD Stimulis Bill that was passed in Feb. 09 unemployment, would not go beyond 8 %. It topped out at 10.4 % and with the under unemployed and the people who just quit looking for work. You add all that up, the real unemployed number was 18 -19 %. After the Stimulis Bill, 10 - 13 days later you signed into law a $ 410. Billion Ominus Bill. With over $ 1 Trillion in not even 2 weeks and unemployment still climb 10.4 % and today it's in the high 9's. This past weekend at the G20 Summitt you pushed for more stimulus. Fortunately for the US, Germany's Angela Merkle told you it was time for to cut the budget. Hopefully you will heed her warning, because, your not hearing the American people. Now, with your fullish mooratoureum on deep water drilling, which a Federal Judge with common scence overturned your wrong dicision. Now our US Oil Jobs are moving overseas. With all the stimulis and you wanting more, our Oil Jobs are going away. Mr. President are you aware that with over a Trillion dollars in stimulis spending and you wanting more, your chasing very good paying jobs away. Mr. President are you aware or is anyone else in The White House aware, your job creating policies are contredicting each other. Someone needs to take control in The White House and tell you, what the hell

[jwredd]

08:50 AM on 06/30/2010

In all the teabagger rants I've never before heard one of you suggest we do something like the Europeans do. How open minded of you...

[schlicga]

10:51 AM on 06/30/2010

Chasing all the jobs away? I believe that has been going on for the last several administrations, where were you then?

[drec1500Madrid]

03:50 AM on 06/30/2010

Blah blah blah...I don't like this Axlerod guy.

It seems his political agenda is to go right down the middle and avoid any fights with the opposition. In this case a gang of knuckle dragging GOP loony toons.

Now the economy is tanking once again. Great strategy.

[ObamanextPresident]

01:22 AM on 06/30/2010

Like Rachel once said: I loves me some Jon Stewart.

However, I think he has a veeeerry simplified idea of what an administration can legally do, what congress must do and what the legislative process is. I would assign him one week of watching CSpan and CSpan2...Jon's questions and comments would have been alot different because he then could have answered what he did ask...himself...if he had been better informed. David Axelrod was very sweet and did not call him out except in comedic jest.

Jon kept using the childish gop response 2000 Pages!!! As if that has anything to do with anything. I have a sinking feeling the corporate powers that allow the DailyShow are getting their talking points from their bedfellows, the gobpcorporate top 2% machine and are forcing Jon to make unsubstantiated charges of the administration all of a sudden.

(I wish watching CSpan would be required for a month for all journalists, bloggers, oped writers, talk show hosts.) Their ignorance is appalling...

[Raul Garcia]

12:23 PM on 06/30/2010

More cop out reasoning from a Obamabot refusing to acknowledge their severe case of cognitive dissonance.

[Winston120]

12:38 AM on 06/30/2010

Axelrod has whatever access he wants. It might as well be G run cable news. It is waste of time listening to this spinmeister. All you will hear from him is "it's all good".

[USAFVET76]

11:48 PM on 06/29/2010

Can anyone actually look and listen to this guy Axelrod and not get a creepy slimey feeling on their skin? He is so.................................................................sleazy. He is the real life form of Quagmire.

[UncleMilo]

12:12 AM on 06/30/2010

I can.

[ObamanextPresident]

01:01 AM on 06/30/2010

I can.

The creeeepy feeling I get..... comes from the likes of RoveCheneyBushBoltonFleisherPerrinoRushHannity...shall I go on?

[flossophy]

11:38 PM on 06/29/2010

David Axoebbels

[justplainfedup]

01:06 AM on 06/30/2010

Hey. Look.

It's that idjit flossie.

Flossie thinks that because Hit er had a policy of building a national highway system, and so did Eisenhower, that makes Eisenhower a Na zi.

Yeah, it's a stup id idea, but it is flossie's and he's not letting go of it.

[ObnoxiousDBAG]

04:28 AM on 06/30/2010

ICWUTUDIDTHAR!

and it's tired and played out. So which is it socialism or facism? Because I really get confused when you "real 'mericans" change it on a daily basis.

[dougscott]

10:00 PM on 06/29/2010

Reality to Axelrod:
1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I0QN-FYkpw
2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QpD64GUoXw
3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxMInSfanqg
4 http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2003/cr091003.htm
"THE HOUSE FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE September 10, 2003:
The connection between the GSEs and the government helps isolate the GSE management from market discipline. This isolation from market discipline is the root cause of the recent reports of mismanagement occurring at Fannie and Freddie. After all, if Fannie and Freddie were not underwritten by the federal government, investors would demand Fannie and Freddie provide assurance that they follow accepted management and accounting practices.

Ironically, by transferring the risk of a widespread mortgage default, the government increases the likelihood of a painful crash in the housing market. This is because the special privileges granted to Fannie and Freddie have distorted the housing market by allowing them to attract capital they could not attract under pure market conditions. As a result, capital is diverted from its most productive use into housing. This reduces the efficacy of the entire market and thus reduces the standard of living of all Americans."

[dougscott]

10:21 PM on 06/29/2010

Reality times 2, Axelrod:
http://www.financialsensenewshour.com/broadcast/fsn2010-0605-2.mp3

United States Joint Forces Command:
U.S. JOINT OPERATING ENVIRONMENT REPORT 2010
http://oildepletiondebate.blogspot.com/2010/04/united-states-joint-forces-command-us.html

[dougscott]

10:57 PM on 06/29/2010

Times 3:
Economic price/Supply/Demand model
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7vGDwGLU7

Deja Vu
John Williams Hyperinflationary Depression 2010, April 2008
At that time Bear Sterans bailout of $80B had just taken place and Paulson was saying we were over the worst of the financial crisis.
http://www.financialsense.com/Experts/2008/Williams.html
http://www.netcastdaily.com/broadcast/fsn2008-0412-2.mp3

Williams was quite accurate in his pridiction of how the Treasury and Fed were going to attempt to "salvage the system"

[dougscott]

11:07 PM on 06/29/2010

So, David, don't you just hate Youtube? Maybe you should get it banded so common folk can't effectively exercise their free speech voice using video evidence to expose DC spin.

[justplainfedup]

01:10 AM on 06/30/2010

"Banded"?

What are you blathering about?

I do, however, like youtube. I like seeing Michelle Bachmann take two utterly divergent positions in one week.

Lots of laughs.

[SuperMoncho]

09:38 PM on 06/29/2010

Great interview. Both Stewart & Axelrod raise some fine points.

[MissWooster]

09:12 PM on 06/29/2010

I really think a leader/government should always be elected depending on it's capacity to multitask...

[JayDDrew]

08:15 PM on 06/29/2010

Note the followup questions, thinking as you go. Stewart isn't just asking rote questions. And Axelrod kept his cool despite some critical interrogations. Yet Stewart asked them in a non-threatening way.
Best question and answer session I can remember since the days of MTP with Tim Russert.

[CTDFalconer]

10:32 PM on 06/29/2010

I miss Bill Moyers.

[JumpDownTurnAround]

10:51 PM on 06/29/2010

JayD I completely agree with you. I've shared those 13 minutes and I hope a lot of people will take just 13 minutes of their time to watch it. I think it was an excellent interview....