Who is David Axelrod? He is the chief political strategist of the Obama Presidential campaign. Equally as important, he was a key, if not the key, political consultant on Obama's U.S. Senate campaign in 2004. More here and here.
Why is Mr. Axelrod relevant? Because he apparently is fond of "The Chicago Way," which is a particularly brutal form of politics ala The Untouchables. Important also, in that Mr. Axelrod seems to have found in Mr. Obama a person with a similar "appetite for the Big Kill" that wipes out the competition even before there is a vote. Perhaps, he was impressed by Obama's takedown of the Alice Palmer and others in 1996, so the two decided to join forces starting with the 2004 Senate campaign. During that campaign, the two apparently remainded in constant contact. This from an Obama biography "Promise to Power" by David Mendall, who covered the campaign for the Chicago Tribune:
"Obama would lean on Axelrod increasingly throughout the 2003-2004 campaign season--and thereafter. If Obama was on his cell phone, which seemed to be at every spare moment, there was a high probability that he was consulting with `Ax', the apt nickname for this cutthroat political operativee. Obama would call Axelrod three or four times a day, at all hours of the day and night, seeking his counsel."
The results of the political marriage? Witness the wipeout of his primary opponent for the U.S. Senate Blair Hull. Just like Palmer, Hull got kneecapped before the vote. Oh sure, he didn't get removed from the ballot like Palmer, but he was so weakened that he proved no threat to Obama by election day.
But this is where it get interesting. While most thought that Hull did himself in, it was the Obama campaign that pushed the others such as the Chicago Tribune and NOW to make a cause celeb out of Hull divorce and to force Hull to release his divorce records.
It was just before the Illinois Senate primaries in late January 2004 that the Chicago Tribune broke the news about Hull's difficult divorce. Once the blood was in the water, the Obama campaign "worked aggressively behind the scenes to fuel controversy about Hull's filings" as the was revealed months later. Obviously, the pressure worked on in Hull's case, but did the Obama campaign pressure the Trib about the Jack Ryan (Obama's competition in the general election) divorce as well. Did they suggest to or pressure the Trib to sue to get the Ryan records released?
Why is Mr. Axelrod relevant? Because he apparently is fond of "The Chicago Way," which is a particularly brutal form of politics ala The Untouchables. Important also, in that Mr. Axelrod seems to have found in Mr. Obama a person with a similar "appetite for the Big Kill" that wipes out the competition even before there is a vote. Perhaps, he was impressed by Obama's takedown of the Alice Palmer and others in 1996, so the two decided to join forces starting with the 2004 Senate campaign. During that campaign, the two apparently remainded in constant contact. This from an Obama biography "Promise to Power" by David Mendall, who covered the campaign for the Chicago Tribune:
"Obama would lean on Axelrod increasingly throughout the 2003-2004 campaign season--and thereafter. If Obama was on his cell phone, which seemed to be at every spare moment, there was a high probability that he was consulting with `Ax', the apt nickname for this cutthroat political operativee. Obama would call Axelrod three or four times a day, at all hours of the day and night, seeking his counsel."
The results of the political marriage? Witness the wipeout of his primary opponent for the U.S. Senate Blair Hull. Just like Palmer, Hull got kneecapped before the vote. Oh sure, he didn't get removed from the ballot like Palmer, but he was so weakened that he proved no threat to Obama by election day.
But this is where it get interesting. While most thought that Hull did himself in, it was the Obama campaign that pushed the others such as the Chicago Tribune and NOW to make a cause celeb out of Hull divorce and to force Hull to release his divorce records.
It was just before the Illinois Senate primaries in late January 2004 that the Chicago Tribune broke the news about Hull's difficult divorce. Once the blood was in the water, the Obama campaign "worked aggressively behind the scenes to fuel controversy about Hull's filings" as the was revealed months later. Obviously, the pressure worked on in Hull's case, but did the Obama campaign pressure the Trib about the Jack Ryan (Obama's competition in the general election) divorce as well. Did they suggest to or pressure the Trib to sue to get the Ryan records released?
Axelrod, who is a former Trib reporter, and Obama clearly had the Trib's constant ear around this time by granting them "unfettered access to see the real Obama on a daily, if not hourly, basis." The Trib had no record of making divorce records relevant in political campaigns prior or since the Hull/Ryan cases. So what could have possibly prompted the Trib to decide to go to court to get Ryan's records released? How much pushing did Axelrod do?
It strains credibility to think the he didn't push them to go to court for the Ryan records because:
A) Axelrod had constant access to Trib reporters and editors at this time (Documented by quotes in Tribune articles on 2/10, 3/1, 3/17, and culminating in a Axelrod-authored commentary on the editorial page on 3/26)
B) Obama has a record of using legal manueverings to wipe out candidates (see Palmer case)
C) Alexrod/Obama has been found to push for the release of the Hull records
D) Ryan was Obama's likely Republican competition (given that both were the clear frontrunners in their respective parties at the time of the Trib's initiating the lawsuit)
So tell me, how does the subject of the Ryan divorce not get discussed by Axelrod and the Trib? Given the candidate's and Axelrod's history, how do they not push for the Trib on the issue? Again, it strains credibility to think otherwise. But to my knowledge Axelrod and Obama have never directly answered the question as to whether they pushed the Trib on the Ryan divorce records.
As a coda to the whole affair, the Trib waited until late June -- a couple of days after Ryan resigned from as the Republican nominee -- to disclose that the Obama campaign secretly pushed for the release of the Hull records. Why would they wait until Ryan was gone to disclose about the 5-month old story on the long-departed Blair Hull? Could it be that they didn't want the Ryan court case muddied by questions about whether the Obama campaign pushed the Trib to get the Ryan records released?
The Obama campaign and the Tribune should be asked about this so the public knows Obama's full record of wiping out the competition -- two plus confirmed, one more highly suspect.
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