So much Obama damage control that David Axelrod even talks to Fox News

Here's how desperate Obama administration spokesmen were Wednesday to fill the info void they'd created by hiding away during the previous night's bad news election returns:

David Axelrod, an ex-newspaper reporter but one of the lead Obama attackers against the Fox News Channel in recent weeks, actually granted an interview to the Fox News Channel. To Major Garrett.

Obama aides knew full well in advance that election night was not going to go well for them and the commentators would connect the dots back to Obama and VP Joe Biden because, well, that pair has been so actively campaigning and money-raising all over.  

So no administration spokesmen appeared during the evening news storm. They passed word ...

... that the voters' verdict was so important to this president that, as usual, he wasn't even watching election returns. But that info vacuum meant the election results' story theme got away from the White House in the 24/7 news cycle:

It was an awful night for Democrats, losing two governorships plus some mayors' offices. The young people returned to form, which is to say failed to show despite a gazillion e-mail urgings, and unhappy independents went to the Republican side, listing the economy as Job One.

And, OMG, what does this bode for the 2010 midterm elections, now only 362 days away? And for the crucial congressional healthcare vote, which seems to be postponed another week every other day?

So, today out trotted Axelrod and Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to say the same things over and over as damage control: How could the election be about the president when he was not on any ballot?

Local issues prevail; Gibbs even dismissed the voting as "local elections." Corzine was in his own deep trouble already. We'll get young people energized next year. And, off-camera, off-the-record, Virginia Democrat Creigh Deeds was an awful candidate who didn't listen to us enough.

But, hey, (insert quick verbal pivot here) look over here at New York's 23rd District where a Democrat took advantage of Republican/Conservative infighting and snatched a single GOP House seat.

Axelrod to Garrett:

The other races in Jersey and in Virginia were really state races, very much focused on state issues. In New Jersey it was very much focused on Governor Corzine, but in New York 23, the issues that we’re discussing everyday in Washington were very much on the ballot.

And, particularly because of the purge of the Republican candidate, by the right, it became even more so and what you saw was a pretty vigorous turnout there yesterday in a district that had been held by Republicans for 140 years and the Democratic candidate won. I think that sends a strong message here.

To ABC's Jake Tapper Axelrod quoth:

I think that young people were energized by the President about the set of issues and concerns that he ran on. I think they'll be energized again in 2010. But you know some of it is a personal appeal and we are going to work hard over the next year to make sure that in these national elections that are coming up our voters and particularly young voters are strongly engaged.

However, far more important for this president's future than these aides' scripted media quotes are the political calculations going on silently today in the minds of, say, the 257 Democrat House members who must face angry voters next year when the troubled economy will be even more Obama-owned. Here's what they see:

Virginia's Gov. Tim Kaine, who's also the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, spent extra national money there and still can't deliver his own state against a tide of voter dissatisfaction.

Also, they'll note that Corzine couldn't even approach winning New Jersey with that state machine, all the money in the world, a mediocre, overweight Republican opponent, a third-party guy to siphon GOP votes and five presidential appearances in an historically Democratic state that went big for Obama in 2008.

Gee, these realistic professional pols might think to themselves, how eager should I be to be seen doing the roll-call bidding of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid Democrat triad from now on?

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Social conservatives sense a change in the air

Fox News is evil--unless you're selling an Obama book

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Photo: Jim Young / Reuters

Comments

[Erik]

I stopped reading and even considering this as credible news story when I read "OMG" as part of the content of this article. What is this, a high school newspaper? Get some real writers, LA Times. Better yet, hire some editors who have a clue how professional journalists should write.

[Mark]

Hit it right on the head....best post-election analysis I've seen yet. Without the spin.

Thanks!

[jay]

The White House had already stated that they didn't have any against Major Garrett, so the story is bogus.

[Charles]

The email/online scam.

Millions sent out and millions of replies gone unanswered. Millions of meaningful suggestions input but unread with no replies.

Great hope for communications and transparency but none there.

Even young people learn eventually. At least the Republicans only ask for money with no promises of participation made.

Obama caught in the big lie of email/online means something.

[DemonDuck]

The Times used to hold itself to a better standard of reporting.

This is meaningless trash -- what is the reason that The Times, Wall Street Journal, USAToday and FoxNEWS want to tear down everything the President does or in this case criticize the President for --- something that I don't see the connection to.

This is America. It's a Democracy. People make choices. That's good isn't it?

Question: Is it better to criticize President Obama and fight to thwart everything he does or is it better for all of us to push in the same direction for once.

Have you said these words lately?

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Lately I wonder.....

[megapotamus]

So the morally imperative boycott of Fox lasted, what? five days? Hillary was on Greta the other night. How does this effect the Obies who actually DID refuse to watch Fox? If they relied on MSNBC for their election coverage they were dissappointed, unless the way they wanted the elections covered was to repeat the "news" from eight oclock at ten. Is that what they wanted? It's what Barack wanted. As usual he is voting "present" and as always, he is actually "absent".

[Timothy L. Pennell]

My question is, why would FOX agrre to talk to this BUM? This 'Administration' isn't a 'legitimate' Representative of America. Cuba. Venezuela. The old Soviet Union, maybe. But they are CERTAINLY NOT a representation of what this Country is about. And I would hope that FOX would treat them that way.

[twitter.com/TomRoyce]

Add in that Reid is facing a tough challenge to get re-elected and party loyalty to a hail mary play is going to be tough sledding. Take one for the team does not mean much if you will be losing your coveted seat in the Senate or the House and your political future is toast.

Democratic back benchers will be hard pressed to risk their future for the long term benefit of the party.

[keith]

Wow Mr. David Axelrod has to be very careful. His credibility is on the line here. I just wonder if people will take him serious after he talked to fox, a tabloid network. I hope that he will clarify himself well.

[erica stephens]

Oh! Please! How can the outcome of this election not be a referendum on the President? He is the leader of the Democratic Party...Hello!

[Graham]

Axelrod to Garrett:

It wasn't really about Obama. Except in New York. Where it was.

[Juan Meden]

Yeah, just keep doing what your doing, Axelrod. Obama may not be on the ballot now but he will be soon enough. Then you will have your hat handed to you and it will be good riddance for the American people.

[Darren]

Do they not have Wikipedia where Mr. Axelrod lives?

NY-23 has changed hands between the GOP and the Democrats eight times in the last 100 years -- most recently in 1991. He may be discussing a geographic area that now includes NY-23, but the 23rd Congressional seat is distinctly purple.

[Samuel Morrison]

Here's a suggestion, Mr. Malcolm:

Quit. Do it now. Hand in your press pass. There are plenty of out-of-work and soon-to-be-out-of-work-reporters who actually give a damn and who are capable of producing a substantive article that will actually help readers understand what is happening in the world, instead of simply whining that they are insufficiently stimulated. Let one of them have your job. Take up skydiving or running with the bulls or whatever it takes to get you sufficiently excited, and let serious people do your serious job.

Sincerely,
America

[Mayu]

If this had nothing to do with Obama and if "Obama" wasn't on the ticket...

why did he go to NJ and VA over SIX TIMES to campaign for the dems? If it meant nothing in the long run... if it wasn't about him and it was just a local election...

why not stay home and work on that 3 month old request for more troops in the war you started, requested by the general you hired?

Face it... VA who was so pro-Obama that they went dem last year was swept by republicans this year

NJ who is so blue that they haven't been led by a republican in eons... went republican this year

NY who is so blue the dems usually win by major double digits... was almost taken by a republican this year (It was just a what, 3 point spread?)

that's gotta say something.

Not to mention about a third who were polled said they were placing their votes to "Send a message to the white house"

they're kidding themselves if they think this election meant nothing to Obama.

[Mayu]

if they had WON VA and NJ... they'd be dancing in the isles right now about how Obama has been vindicated, and how the American people obviously have faith in the white house.

anyone who says that isn't true are fooling themselves. You know if they had won, it would have been a "win for Obama".

it only has nothing to do with him now, because he LOST.

Lost VA
Lost the blue state of NJ
almost lost the blue state of NY. the race was almost too close to call... usually dems sweep the race with double digits... this time it was just 3 points.

that says something.

[Tom]

Wow, totally unbiased article. Great piece of JOURNALISM. Wheres the sarcasm font when I need it?

If you read the exit polls from those states, the majority of people voting there said that Obama had nothing to do with their vote. End of issue.

[Olivier G]

This analysis is pretty one-sided, and really bypasses several facts:
- the Virginia democratic candidate was by all accounts a poor candidate, who ran a poor campaign
- the NJ democratic candidate had abysmal popularity ratings
- the democratic base in each state didn't both to go voting, at least not as much as their republican counterparts.
- overall turnout in both states was well below last year, ensuring that angry conservatives get a disproportionate influence on the outcome.
In that context, to call Tuesday an "awful night" for the democrats is a stretch. The reason that democratic voters stayed home may just be that they didn't have much to be excited about, irrespective of how much money was spent in ads or celebrity visits.
If house members or senators do run for cover and kill the Obama agenda as you seem to be suggesting, they will suffer a blood bath at the mid-terms next year. The base will definitely punish them for their inability to deliver by staying home.
The solution is clearly to press forward with their legislative agenda, stay focused, and deliver bills on 3 items: health, climate/energy and financial regulation. That will get the base excited, get dem voters to the polls. It may not be enough to stem some losses in 2010, but at least it will be vastly superior to being intimidated into inaction by the chattering class.

[tired of it]

House picks up 2 Democrats and the press goes into full spin mode.

The media in this country is a joke. Bunch of villagers parroting each other's right wing extremism and stupidity.

[Donald Sensing]

How couuld this week's elections be about President Obama when he wasn't on the ticket? The same way that Obama made 2008's election about Bush when he wasn't on the ticket.

[IM Snooping]

@Tom: "If you read the exit polls from those states, the majority of people voting there said that Obama had nothing to do with their vote."

******************************

What about the people who stayed home? They weren't polled -- but *something* kept voters who showed up in 2008 home.

I think actions will speak louder than anybody's words in how Tuesday's election results have actually been received by the political class. The WH, Congressional Democrats, and their supporters say it was good for them. Republicans and their supporters say it was good for them and bad for Obama and the Democrats.

And you can never put too much faith in anybody's spin -- that's why they call it "spin." It's much easier to tell what they really think by things they subsequently do.

[Satans Angels MC]

OMG!

Satan is trying to take over the Whole World! Thank God for Armageddon.

Poor Obama. Nothing is ever gonna work out for him.

We are ruled by Invisible Aliens called Angels and some old fart called God.

(And, Shiva and Surtur and a whole damn family of interstellar killers from outerspace.)

I'm so glad you are a Christian Publication. (And,a Jew. Death to the Enemies of Allah!!!)

Hare Krishna!