David Axelrod - CNN Senior Political Commentator
David Axelrod
CNN Senior Political Commentator
David Axelrod, a former senior advisor to President Obama, is director of the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics and host of The Axe Files podcast
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‘Is this the right thing to do?’: Axelrod poses questions for Biden around reelection
Nov 06, 2023
Former Obama senior adviser David Axelrod joins CNN This Morning to discuss whether President Joe Biden should stay in the 2024 race after a New York Times-Siena College poll showed Biden struggling in key battleground states against Donald Trump.
Opinion: The lesson Obama could teach DeSantis
Aug 14, 2023
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is following a familiar playbook, placing all chips on Iowa as he tries to right his presidential campaign, writes David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to Barack Obama.
David Axelrod: After Barack Obama, America will never be the same
May 20, 2023
David Axelrod, former senior adviser to former President Barack Obama, writes that under extraordinary pressures, Obama more than measured up as both a president of the United States and a role model to millions of Black and Hispanic children.
Opinion: If Biden’s so unpopular, why isn’t any Democrat posing a serious challenge?
Apr 21, 2023
President Joe Biden, expected to announce his 2024 reelection campaign next week, has only two Democratic challengers so far, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Marianne Williamson. Why doesn’t he have primary challenges despite his low approval ratings and a struggling economy?
Opinion: The sports whiz who might just save Major League Baseball
Apr 01, 2023
CNN’s David Axelrod writes that Theo Epstein, who became a legend by bringing championships to the title-starved Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs through the use of advanced data analytics, is now applying the mining skills he and his crew of baseball-loving math nerds developed to save the game.
Opinion: Lori Lightfoot’s fatal political mistake
Mar 01, 2023
David Axelrod writes that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot lost her reelection bid because of her clenched-fist, go-it-alone style of leadership that made consensus hard to build and drove many who should have been her allies away.
Opinion: The mistake Biden must avoid in his big speech
Feb 02, 2023
In the lead up to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech next week, David Axelrod writes that the President must avoid making the speech all about himself and his accomplishments.
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Hear former Obama adviser’s caution to Biden amid classified documents issue
Jan 14, 2023
Former Obama adviser and CNN senior political commentator David Axelrod tells CNN’s Wolf Blitzer why he would advise President Joe Biden against staying quiet about the classified documents found at his home and private office and the related special counsel review.
David Axelrod: In a lifetime of politics, this one sublime moment shines through
Jan 03, 2023
Fifteen years ago, Barack Obama stunned the world by winning the Iowa Democratic caucuses, writes David Axelrod. He says recalls that night “not only as a fond memory but as a reminder of what America can be.”
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Hear Fauci’s response to Elon Musk’s attacks
Dec 13, 2022
During an interview with CNN’s David Axelrod, Dr. Anthony Fauci responded to a series of tweets from Elon Musk that suggested Fauci be prosecuted.
Opinion: Sinema’s departure is more show than substance
Dec 09, 2022
David Axelrod writes that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s announcement that she is leaving the Democratic Party is more of a statement about hyperpartisanship than an institution-shifting change of position.
Opinion: Nancy Pelosi will be remembered as a political star
Nov 18, 2022
David Axelrod writes that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who announced Thursday she was stepping down from her leadership position, has ‘the heart of an idealist, the moxy of a ward boss and the indefatigable determination of a woman energized by the mission of politics.’
Opinion: Why Democrats’ Senate win in Nevada may be a blessing in disguise for the GOP — and the nation
Nov 14, 2022
The voters of Nevada and the nation may have done Republicans and the country a favor by freeing the GOP of Donald Trump’s iron grip, writes David Axelrod. The people dealt a blow to Trump and extremists and election-denying Republicans, he says.
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‘Not the normal midterm election’: David Axelrod reacts to voting night trends
Nov 09, 2022
Former Obama adviser, David Axelrod, reacts to the voting trends so far in the midterm elections as the results continue to defy predictions of a Republican red wave.
Opinion: Adam Kinzinger’s big regret
Sep 16, 2022
David Axelrod writes Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s political journey from stalwart party man to lonely Trump critic offers a parable about the powerful pull of tribe that has seized the Republicans, with grave implications for both the party and US democracy.
About
David Axelrod is a veteran of politics and journalism and the former chief strategist and senior advisor to President Barack Obama. He currently serves as director of the University of Chicago’s non-partisan Institute of Politics and as the host of The Axe Files, a podcast jointly produced by CNN and his institute. Axelrod, a former political writer for the Chicago Tribune and media strategist behind 150 state, local and national campaigns, also is the author of The New York Times best-selling memoir, “Believer: My Forty Years in Politics.”