Former adviser explains how Obama lost control of his legacy

Former adviser explains how Obama lost control of his legacy

ADAM RADWANSKI at the Globe and Mail

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/former-adviser-explains-how-obama-lost-control-of-his-legacy/article23235649/

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Unsurprisingly, Mr. Axelrod lays a good chunk of blame for Mr. Obama’s inability to simultaneously speak to a cross-partisan audience and inspire his fellow liberals, the way he did in his first campaign, on what he plainly considers a toxic culture in his nation’s capital – one caused both by the “implacable opposition” of Republicans (which the President initially underestimated) and a parochial press corps disinclined to see the big picture. In the interview, he seemed frustrated that what he considers Mr. Obama’s most substantive achievements – including saving the auto industry, implementing new financial regulations, bringing troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan, expanding gay rights, reopening diplomatic relations with Cuba, and reforming health care – have been given short shrift.

But the backroom guru also concedes there are some ways in which the President and his team did not make the most of his communication abilities – hard-learned lessons that future leaders would do well to note.


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