Axelrod is key word for Obama, Patrick

[Teri B.]

Axelrod is key word for Obama, Patrick
chicagotribune.com
Campaign 2008

By John McCormick and Christi Parsons, TRIBUNE CORRESPONDENTS Tribune reporter Rick Pearson contributed to this report

February 20, 2008

SAN ANTONIO

Barack Obama and Deval Patrick share more than common ideas about politics and a similar way of phrasing their thoughts from time to time.

They also share an important friend, Democratic consultant David Axelrod, a political wordsmith and admaker who helped Patrick become governor of Massachusetts and who is now a key player in the run for president by Obama, a senator from Illinois.

Obama rival Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York thinks Axelrod is "putting words in both of their mouths," noting similarities in some of Obama's and Patrick's comments in speeches.

But Axelrod, a Chicagoan, said Tuesday he had "nothing to do with" the similarities and they simply show that the two politicians share a similar outlook.

"One thing I emphatically deny is authorship of those lines or any of the great lines that Barack and Deval Patrick use," Axelrod said in an interview. "I had to come to grips early on in my relationship with Barack Obama that he was a far better writer than me, and the same is true with Deval Patrick."

The issue arose Monday when the Clinton campaign pointed out that words in an Obama speech Saturday recalled remarks by Patrick during his campaign for governor in 2006.

On Tuesday, a second example arose. A pair of videos cropped up on YouTube showing Patrick and Obama uttering almost the same line.

"I am not asking anybody to take a chance on me," Patrick says in the latest posting, a speech from 2006. "I'm asking you to take a chance on your own aspirations."

In the clip from a 2007 speech, Obama says, "I'm not just asking you to take a chance on me. I'm also asking you to take a chance on your own aspirations."

Patrick has said he suggested that Obama use the lines that he borrowed over the weekend. And Obama frequently jokes about "trading lines" with Patrick, according to friends. In a December appearance in New Hampshire, ABC News quoted him attributing a line to the governor.

"I'm stealing this line from my buddy Deval Patrick, who stole a whole bunch of lines from me when he ran for the governorship," Obama reportedly said.

An aide to Obama said Tuesday that quote makes the senator's point.

"It is not a secret that Obama and Patrick trade lines all the time," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. "They talk about just that fact all the time."

The Obama campaign is less sanguine about Clinton's use of words similar to Obama's. But asked by a reporter if she should face criticism for using Obama's phrase, "Fired up and ready to go," Clinton said, "Oh, that's kind of a silly comparison. That's a line that's been around a long time."

Obama and Patrick sometimes say similar things, Axelrod said, because "both of them are running -- and have run in the past -- challenges to the established political order."

"They are very good friends," he said. "I know that they talk about language all the time because, frankly, they're the two best writers in politics that I've ever known."

He said he works with both men because "they represent the kind of politics I believe in. I plead guilty to good taste."

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It seems Obama not only copied off Clinton's and Edwards' papers to come up with is policy platforms, but he also copied off of Patrick's paper for his message of hope, and his inspirational shtick. It's disappointing, but I always did have this icky feeling about him, like he was trying to sell me something, similar to a late night TV commercial, that would make me happier, smarter, and shine my shoes. Those products rarely, if ever, live up to their sales pitch. Sadly, the only one in the race who, IMO, was genuine, who didn't take any of their dirty money and wasn't beholden to anyone, who told the truth was Edwards, but he wasn't exciting and shiny enough for this American Idol competition of an election.

 

[jillian]

Yep... was impossible for him to run against the two "rock stars" of the Dem party. Pity, too. I liked Biden, as well, but again, no way for him to compete with the media barrage that the big two got.

 

[OohRah Mama]

And...?

 

[HoleInTheVoid]

Astroturf Axelrod? You've probably never heard of ASK Public Strategies. It is the highly secretive, private sector-focused twin to David Alexrod's political consulting firm AKP&D Message & Media. Axelrod, of course, is Barack Obama's chief strategist. Through ASK, Axelrod "discreetly plots strategy and advertising campaigns for corporate clients to tilt public opinion their way," according to a new BusinessWeek investigation.

Lots of political consultants do private sector work. Hillary Clinton's top strategist, Mark Penn, is worldwide CEO of a massive PR firm called Burson-Marsteller which is infamous for working with nasty corporate clients (Blackwater, for example) and for pioneering the use of "pseudo-grassroots front groups, known as "astroturfing," according to a 2007 Nation article.

Looks like astroturfing is Axelrod's stock-in-trade, too. According to BusinessWeek, here's a description of the work his company has done for electrical company ComEd:

The Chicago-based utility says ASK has been an adviser since at least 2002. ASK's workload picked up in 2005, as the Exelon subsidiary was nearing the end of a 10-year rate freeze and preparing to ask state regulators for higher electricity prices. Based on ASK's advice, ComEd formed Consumers Organized for Reliable Electricity (CORE) to win support.

One TV commercial, penned by ASK, warned of a ComEd bankruptcy and blackouts without a rate hike: "A few years ago, California politicians seized control of electric rates. They held rates down, but the true cost of energy kept rising. Soon the electric company went bust; the lights went out. Consumers had to pay for the mess. Now, some people in Illinois are playing the same game." CORE, which describes itself on its Web site as "a coalition of individuals, businesses and organizations," was identified as the ad's sponsor. After a complaint was filed with state regulators, ComEd acknowledged that it had bankrolled the entire $15 million effort.

And does all this touch Obama? It does. According to the article, "Illinois employees of the utility and its parent, Exelon, have contributed $181,711 to Obama's presidential bid—more than workers at any other company in the state."

[bold emphasis added]

The source is what makes the irony so delicious:

MotherJones Blog: Astroturf Axelrod?

The original BW article: The Secret Side of David Axelrod