Talk:David Axelrod (political consultant)

The link to the Japanese article on this page needs to be removed. It is about a seperate Axelrod who is a "far right Israeli lobbyist" arrested in 1990 for killing an Arab person. —Preceding unsigned comment added by I am 123456 (talk • contribs) 16:45, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

For future reference, WP:SOFIXIT; Japanese article links look like this: [[ja:ダヴィド・アクセルロッド]].скоморохъ 16:48, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

Does "Democratic" in the first sentence refer to the Democratic Party? If so, someone should change the link; it currently links to "democracy". All in 03:32, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Fixed. --HailFire 20:34, 2 October 2006 (UTC

What does it mean to say he has jewish parents? Is he a practicing Jew? I note he is head of a fundraising committee for the catholic church that the controversial priest who spoke at Wrights church spoke at. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.235.243.223 (talk) 16:05, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

To more directly address the issue discussed in the preceding paragraph, with its indirect reference to anti-Semitism, does one refer to other American citizens as, for example, "Born to Protestant parents." This is not usual practice, when referring to persons of other than Jewish extraction or religion. It has no place in this article. It is another subtle form of anti-Semitism. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.15.57.109 (talk) 19:40, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Plagiarism

The last paragraph is lifted word for word from the NY Times article about Axelrod: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/magazine/01axelrod.t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&oref=slogin

WikiProject class rating

This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as stub, and the rating on other projects was brought up to Stub class. BetacommandBot 14:27, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

Should be High Importance

This man is sort of Karl Rove —Preceding unsigned comment added by 218.223.193.144 (talk) 08:10, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

"...sort of Karl Rove..." I dunno, I think this guy has cleared the hurdle of notability, but is biographical information about him of high importance? I would think not. He rates mid at best in Illinois (and that importance may be transitory, right now hes "current events", remains to be seen if he merits more than a footnote to "history"), perhaps high in Chicago if thats his area of influence.PreciousRoi (talk) 00:35, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

His name's come up in a astro-turfing allegation in regards to a PR Firm using a professionally produced smear video about Sarah Palin supposedly belonging to the Alaskan Independence Party, a claim that was debunked some weeks ago: http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/194057.php —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.240.212.137 (talk) 10:33, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

axelrod and web 2.0

I'm changing "Axelrod is credited with engineering Barack Obama's unconventional presidential campaign by drawing on 'Web 2.0' technology and viral media to support a grassroots strategy," because I've found a source that this is not true. While he's involved in implementing this strategy, he certainly did not in anyway engineer this strategy. [1] Ocedits (talk) 03:50, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

personal life

does he have any children besides Lauren? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.4.77.118 (talk) 21:15, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

His other business: ASK

I added information on his other business.

ASK Public Strategies

Axelrod operates a second business from the same office, ASK Public Strategies, that discreetly plots strategy and advertising campaigns for corporate clients to tilt public opinion their way. He and his partners are secretive about operations and won't reveal the client roster or revenue. Customers and public records confirm agency has run campaigns for the Chicago Children's Museum, ComEd, Cablevision, and AT&T. The firm helped set up front organizations that were listed as sponsors of public-issue ads, a practice that industry insiders call such practices "Astroturfing" (manufacturing grassroots support). Eric Sedler, 39, a former public relations director at AT&T and corporate-reputation specialist at PR giant Edelman, is the "S" in ASK and the company's managing partner. The "K" is John Kupper, 51, a former congressional press secretary and ad-industry consultant, while the "A," of course, is Axelrod. One TV commercial, penned by ASK, warned of a ComEd bankruptcy and blackouts without a rate hike and was sponsored by a group known as CORE, which describes itself on its Web site as "a coalition of individuals, businesses and organizations," but after a complaint was filed with state regulators, ComEd acknowledged that it had bankrolled the entire $15 million effort. Employees of the utility and its parent, Exelon, have contributed $181,711 to Obama's presidential bid, more than workers at any other company in the state.The Secret Side of David Axelrod Businessweek Mar. 2008[2] When Illinois utility Commonwealth Edison wanted state lawmakers to back a hefty rate hike two years ago, it took a creative lobbying approach, concocting a new outfit that seemed devoted to the public interest. The firm also worked on behalf of Madison Square Garden's to stop plans for the contructions of a football stadium for the Jets on New York's Westside. ASK's $1.1 million fee was listed as the "largest lobbying contract" of the year in the annual report of the state's lobbying commission. ASK last year proposed another "front" group campaign to help Illinois hospitals block a state proposal that would have forced them to provide more medical care to the indigent. One part of its plan: create a "grassroots" group of medical experts "capable of contacting policymakers to advocate for our position," according to a copy of the proposal. (ASK didn't get the contract.) Public-interest watchdogs say these grassroots campaigns are state of the art in the lobbying world. "There's no way with a straight face to say that's not lobbying," says Ellen Miller, director of the Sunlight Foundation, which promotes government transparency.Obama’s Lobbyist Connection By Michael Isikoff | NEWSWEEK [3] The firm's work has also involved Michelle Obama's employer, the University of Chicago Hospital. She helped create a program, called the Urban Health Initiative, that hired ASK Public Strategies in 2007 to assist in marketing the plan to the community as a better alternative for poor patients. The plan has critics in the community, however, who see at as a way to dump costly patients and increase the hospital's bottom line.University of Chicago shunning poor patients?: HOSPITAL DISPUTE: Obama's wife, 3 aides tied to plan to free up space by Tim Novak and Chris Fusco Chicago Sun Times August 23, 2008 http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1122691,CST-NWS-hosp23.article

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Wallamoose (talk • contribs) 02:54, 21 September 2008

Suggested Additions

An interesting story on possible campaign violations and a lack of supervision on where contributions are coming from.

Excerpts from article cited below (and in other papers today):

Obama senior adviser David Axelrod, speaking to reporters en route to Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday, noted that anyone can donate to the (Obama) campaign through the Internet. "We monitor these things as best we can," he said.

The Republican National Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission on Monday asking for an investigation of Obama's foreign contributions, among other things.

The FEC on Monday provided The Associated Press with a spread sheet of potential overseas donors that did not include contributors who left their state designation blank. As a result, the list was incomplete.

The $3.3 million total does not include donors who have given less than $200 and whose contributions do not have to be itemized. Some of that money could also have come from overseas. About half of Obama's $455 million in contributions so far are unitemized. The campaign does not identify those donors.

"We monitor these things as best we can," Axelrod said.

(6th paragraph from the bottom)

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081008/D93M0K5G0.html

"Obviously we've got a huge database of contributors," he said. "It's valuable to our campaign... We're probably more forthcoming about disclosure than anyone."

Independent watchdog groups, however, have asked the campaign to provide more information about its fundraisers and to at least provide information about small donors by zip code or country from where they donate.

Republican John McCain's campaign lists all his donors, even those who give less than $200, on his Web site. (Wallamoose (talk) 23:06, 8 October 2008 (UTC))

axelrod you are a complete asshole, you don"t give a shit about our country, if i ever see you in my neighborhood im gonna kink your ass, because you don"t give a shit about our country, you know that john mccain is the best choice for this country and obama will be a total disaster.think asshole cause when you die, God will judge you, not me; so you know already that obama is tied to terrorist,all around this world,so wise up mr axelrod and condemn obama before its to late.