A 10,000-word interview with Axelrod, now a top Obama adviser, was originally published in the Chicago Reader on July 12, 1991; this is an excerpt. Read the entire interview here. The author now goes by Sarah Bryan Miller.
Axelrod is intense, aggressive, manifestly intelligent, extremely verbal, argumentative, and highly competitive. His politics are standard leftist: he talks about Republicans as “country clubbers” with the fervor of one who really believes it, despite the electoral evidence of the last few years. He jiggles a leg constantly as he answers questions. He wheels his Saab—sans seat belt—through heavy traffic with one hand constantly on the car phone, expertly transferring from one call to the next, in a virtually nonstop virtuoso demonstration of the utility of call waiting. He lives in Oak Park with his wife and three young children.
When a reporter goes over to the enemy side—joins a campaign or takes a political job—the pure of heart all roll their eyes. Did you see being a reporter as a way to get into political work, or did your thinking change along the line?
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
In the Senate offices? Yeah. But that was never what I was interested in doing.
Well, first of all, we have to find a way to let people know you’re a woman, because your name’s very confusing.
There’s no question that in politics it’s better to be setting the pace than reacting to other people. Campaigns are about defining the issues upon which the election is going to be decided, and making sure those issues are your issues and not your opponent’s issues.
