Obama's Strategist Discusses White House Run

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FARAI CHIDEYA, host:

From NPR News, this is NEWS & NOTES. I'm Farai Chideya.

Obama-mania - it's on. On Saturday, Illinois Senator Barack Obama made his run for the presidency official, invoking President Abraham Lincoln.

Senator BARACK OBAMA (Democrat, Illinois): Divided, we are bound to fail. But the life of a tall, gangly, self-made Springfield lawyer tells us that a different future is possible.

(Soundbite of applause)

CHIDEYA: Of course, Obama himself is a self-made lawyer turned politician. He's been in the U.S. Senate for two years, served seven years in Illinois state Senate. He was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. Later, he worked as a community organizer and a civil rights attorney, plus a constitutional law professor.

With that kind of experience, the 45-year-old Democrat says he's right for the top job in the White House, but can he convince voters? We'll hear from two political analysts. But first, the man behind the man. Political consultant David Axelrod is the senior strategist for the Barack Obama presidential campaign, and he helped lead Obama's senatorial campaign in 2004.

David joins us from Chicago. Glad to have you on.

Mr. DAVID AXELROD (Senior Strategist, Obama Presidential Campaign): Thanks. Glad to be here.

CHIDEYA: So, I actually met Barack Obama back when I was an undergrad at Harvard, and he was the president of the Law Review. And he was charming and intelligent and all the things that people see in him. But let me just break it down for you.

He's 45, which is not young in, say, hip-hop terms or MTV terms, but it's young for someone running for president. He has not yet taken any controversial positions that people would disagree with. What is he going to do to really distinguish his policy so that he could win?

Mr. AXELROD: Well, first of all, let me suggest a couple of things. First of all, he's 45 years old. If he were to become president, he'd be 47, which would be older than Bill Clinton, older than President Kennedy and several other presidents, so I don't think that's really an issue. And, you know, I think when he stood up in 2002 and gave a very piercing critique of the pending war at Iraq, and urged the Congress not to authorize the war, that was at the time a controversial position to take.

When he came to Washington and pushed ethics reforms, including disclosure of a lobbyist fundraising, that was not welcomed by either party particularly. I don't think he's afraid to take difficult stands. I think he's proven that. But in terms of the overall - the question is if longevity in Washington is the test, then obviously he would not be the answer.

And Senator Biden, for example, he's been there for 34 years, Senator Dodd's been there for more than 30 years. If we were awarding the presidency on that basis, they would be elected.

CHIDEYA: But let me just ask you…

Mr. AXELROD: There's more to it than that. I think people really want significant change. He said on Saturday he hasn't been in Washington for long, but he's been there long enough to know that we need to change Washington. And he brings a body of experience, Farai, that is I think uniquely suited to that task from the community organizer to the civil rights lawyer to the constitutional law professor.

CHIDEYA: David, let me just interrupt you for a second because we don't have that much time. You've got John Edwards throwing his hat back in the ring. He's really working on the issue of poverty, been down in Louisiana. Senator Barack Obama, what is his keystone? What is the keystone of this campaign? I mean, you've been a journalist-turned-political consultant, worked with him before, meaning Senator Obama. What is going to be the keystone of this campaign?

Mr. AXELROD: Well, I think the keystone of this campaign is changing our politics, changing the politics of Washington so we can actually deal with the big problems that confront us. We've been discussing healthcare for a very long time. We've been discussing energy for a long time. We can't get things done on those issues because our politics get in the way, the lobbyist culture of Washington gets in the way, and our inability to come together as a country around these solutions because of our politics gets in the way. I think he represents the opportunity for us to get beyond that and begin to solve these difficult questions.

CHIDEYA: What do you think about the race question? There has been obviously a lot of debate about whether or not an African-American can win the presidency, period. But in Senator Obama's case there's actually quite a lot of white support and then some African-Americans have been lukewarm. How are things going to breakdown on a racial basis?

Mr. AXELROD: Well, I don't think that he's asking for any vote or will ask for any vote on the basis of the fact that he's African-American. And hopefully, people will not vote against him on that basis either. He's going to ask on the basis of his record, his commitments and his vision for this country.

Now I tell you that when he started his race for the Senate here in Illinois, he was polling at about 31 percent of the African-American vote and he ended up with 95 percent at the end of the race. He earned those votes as he earned the other votes that he got, and he'll do that here.

I think it's not surprising that at this point in the race he's new to the scene for a lot of people, and they're unwilling to make a commitment, as they should be. He has to go out and earn those votes, and that's what he's going to do.

CHIDEYA: Final question: Is Senator Obama going to have to run far to the left in order to win the primary and then re-center himself, as so many candidates from the Democratic Party have had to do?

Mr. AXELROD: I think he's going to be the same candidate from start to finish. You know, one of those - that's one of the kind of unfortunate qualities of our politics is that people seem to shift and turn and move according to the political season. It's one of the things that I think contributes to a great deal of cynicism. And so, you know, he I think will be a consistent voice throughout this election.

CHIDEYA: Well, David, thank you so much.

Mr. AXELROD: Okay, good talking to you.

CHIDEYA: Political consultant David Axelrod is the senior strategist for the Barack Obama campaign.

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