Is Axelrod Walking in Rove’s Footsteps?

David Axelrod is not Karl Rove, so what’s he doing in his office? Barack Obama was elected to bring change to Washington, but like his predecessor, he’s bringing his top political strategist into the White House. The Boston Globe questions whether that’s the best idea.

Boston Globe:

From his new perch as senior adviser to the president, [David Axelrod] hopes to continue the tale of how Obama changed the way America practices politics. But it’s now obvious that there’s one part of George W. Bush’s political legacy that Obama and Axelrod aren’t eager to change: the very dubious notion of having the president’s campaign strategist rubbing elbows with all the policy wonks in the West Wing.

Bush’s decision to bring Karl Rove, his Texas-based strategist and the architect of his rally-the-conservative-base approach to politics, to the White House was controversial back in 2001. Even Bill Clinton, whose White House was viewed as overly political by many people, didn’t have his chief strategist ensconced in an office down the hall.

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