It's time to fire Axelrod

The case against Axelrod has been building for some time, from soon after the wondrous campaign he spearheaded ended and his limpid salesmanship of the president’s defining stimulus package began. Most economists think that bill, flawed as it may have been, played a vital role in stabilizing the economy and preventing a depression. But according to last week’s Democracy Corps poll, that’s not what most voters think. That disconnect, and the damage it has helped do to Obama’s standing on the economy, is widely regarded as a major communications failure by the White House.

You could say much the same thing about Obama’s signature health care reform bill, which was similar in structure to a plan that former Senate Republican leaders Bob Dole and Howard Baker co-authored, but was successfully branded as a government takeover and neo-socialism by a disciplined and uncountered conservative message machine. In fact, President Obama did say so himself, telling Jonathan Alter during a reflective moment, as noted in Alter’s new book The Promise, that he and his team screwed up the framing of the debate and the messaging on their bill…

This White House is simply not good at handling communication and politics. The legislative achievements are there. So is the individual outreach. But what’s missing is a coherent message. Whether dealing with the media, the business community, Republicans or Congress, this White House hasn’t gotten its message across. (Just check out what Dem Gov. Chris Gregoire said of the White House’s communication on immigration: “They described for me a list of things that they are doing to try and help on that border,” Ms. Gregoire said, “…and I said, ‘The public doesn’t know that.'”) Why is this surprising? The last thing so many of us thought during the presidential campaign was that these guys would have difficulties controlling the message and managing their constituents. Simply put, Washington runs this White House right now; the White House doesn’t run Washington.