David Axelrod Previews the Midterms, 2024

David Axelrod, chief strategist for former President Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns and host of The ...

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David Axelrod, chief strategist for former President Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns and host of The Axe Files and co-host of Hacks on Tap podcasts, joins Steve to tackle the complex questions about the midterm primary elections this week. What’s up with the Democrat Party’s tactic of funding extremist Republican candidates? And what is the outlook for the upcoming general elections? Plus: Axelrod gives listeners the big picture of what’s happening in Kansas as well as what the abortion rights issue means to both sides of the political aisle.

Show Notes:

–The Axe Files with David Axelrod

–TMD: Another Blockbuster Primaries Tuesday

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  1. Laura

    Side note on Michigan Republican primary for governor:
    Yes, Trump endorsed Tudor Dixon and she won. However, in a Click on Detroit debate featuring her and three other candidates (Ralph Rebandt was not present), she was the only one to not reference 2000 Mules in a question about Michigan's 2020 election. These were the options in the primary.

    https://www.clickondetroit.com/video/news/2022/07/07/republican-candidates-for-michigan-governor-debate-in-grand-rapids/
    Minute 25 to minute 30

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    Ben Connelly

    I would crawl over broken glass to vote Jonah / Steve 2024 as the Dispatch ticket for president.

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  3. Anand Dharan

    Democrat Party? Really? I subscribe to The Dispatch because you’re usually above doing that sort of derogatory, partisan demeaning of “the other side”.

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    Dave

    Great discussion. I always enjoy hearing smart, articulate analysts with whom I disagree on policy.

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  5. Mark

    I am a huge Steve Hayes fan, and he is the primary reason that I joined The Dispatch.

    But as others have alluded to, that was a complete softball interview. Steve offered no challenge to Axelrod's wild assertions that Joe Biden doesn't have cognitive issues (only communication issues), Axelrod fawning over what a successful President Biden has been, and his statement that the excess is on the Republican side. While there is much excess on the Trumpian right, you would have to ignore wild proposals such as Green New Deal, Court Packing, DC statehood, etc. to not think there is excess on the left.

    Is this (softball, non-combative) the modus operandi of The Dispatch when it comes to interviews, or are you simply going to allow progressives to airtime to tell their stories to a largely conservative audience?

    Again, I find the wide range of guests fascinating (David has had a number of political progressives on his Good Faith podcast), but some of these interviews seem very Bulwark-esque.

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    1. Alan

      None of those excesses have come to pass?

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      1. Mathew A

        Well technically Trump didn't steal the election either, he just tried to steal it.

        I think we can all agree it's the thought/attempt that counts though yes?

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        1. Alan

          Right but there is a country mile between talking about radical policy that never sees the light of day and talking about stealing an election. We have real systems in place to deal with crazy stupid ideas, and their place is in congress.

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    Wilhelm

    I had, uh, forgotten, um, how annoying Axelrod is. The bizarre stop-and-go speech pattern combined with his tendency to speak louder when he seems unsure of himself. It was painful. I couldn't make it to the end.

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    Mikeroxtele

    I appreciate a Dispatch interview with an intelligent, reasonable liberal like Axelrod. It's great to get a different perspective on the issues. Please do more of these! But I also agree with Kevin on the lack of push back, especially when Axelrod listed Biden's recent accomplishments - I would have liked you to couple those with his enormous failures. There's a reason why Biden's approval rating is in the toilet despite the last few weeks of good news for him. And Biden had nothing to do with the current falsely named Inflation Reduction Act.

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    1. Mathew A

      Yeah, I can't think of a single podcast from any of the dispatch series where the moderator really pushed back against a guest.

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      Dave

      I think the reason there wasn't as much pushback is because the purpose of the interview was not a debate, but just to get Axe's take on the political climate.

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    3. Mark

      Yes - if you believe Axelrod, Biden is a wildly successful President with full cognitive capability. His only problem is communication, largely due to a childhood stutter.

      Perhaps Steve went easy on him due to the invite to Axelrod’s program at U Chicago?

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    Mudskipper

    FWIW, I've donated to the DCCC in the past. They've lost me as a donor.

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  9. ExploreOK

    I was grinding this axe in a previous Dispatch podcast comment thread, and I am back to grind it again! Presidents do not have legislative accomplishments!

    To the extent that Trump had legislative accomplishments, they have nothing to do with any coherent belief system, vote-whipping, or campaigning-on-behalf of that I remember. It is an immense frustration of mine that I cannot get Trump-supporting friends and family to believe this.

    Similarly, every piece of legislation that Biden has signed passed congress in spite of the fact that Biden gloriously crashed and burned the first (and always most obnoxious) version, and then walked off only to have congress figure it out for themselves.

    Maybe this is intentional on Biden's part, but then I would have to believe claims that Trump is a 'stable genius' or is playing '5D chess'.

    Both are buffoons, and the only way Biden gets my vote is if the other guy is Trump.

    Anyway, I'm open to debate on my opening statement. Have at it.

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    1. Mathew A

      I think some president probably do. Lyndon Johnson almost certainly did. Probably Regan and Clinton as well. They were all very much involved in making things happen

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    Richard Maxton

    It's just such a nonsense argument to equate Biden's childhood stutter with his current difficulty in communicating. These are NOT related issues.

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