David Axelrod took the stage of a packed Langford Auditorium on Tuesday alongside Vanderbilt Professor of History Nicole Hemmer for a discussion about the American presidency and campaign strategy in an election year. Axelrod was a campaign strategist and later senior advisor to President Obama beginning with Obama’s senate bid in 2004. In 2015, he became a New York Times bestselling author after publishing his book Believer: My Forty Years in Politics. Axelrod and his wife have also raised over $26 million for epilepsy research through their foundation, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE).
The conversation began with a brief discussion of Axelrod’s upbringing and introduction to politics. He recounted his work with the campaign of Robert F. “Bobby” Kennedy. Axelrod began selling buttons for the campaign at age 13 with a desire to make every moment he had count. Once on the campaign trail, though, he was struck by Kennedy’s ability to imbue others with a sense that they, too, could change the world. Axelrod explained that his time with Bobby Kennedy’s campaign was the foundation for his future campaign messaging strategies: making people feel they have a voice in government.
Professor Hemmer’s next question centered around Axelrod’s early work as a political consultant on various mayoral campaigns, to which Axelrod lamented about just how undervalued mayoral campaigns are. As he explained: no government official—save perhaps the president—is more accountable for the daily lives of their constituents. Axelrod went on to discuss his work with Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, who ran to be the city’s first Black mayor in 1983.
When asked about campaigning with a “historic first” candidate like Mayor Washington, Axelrod responded by acknowledging that campaigns don’t need to publicize the historic first because they speak for themselves. From his perspective, campaigns should focus more on connecting with voters and drawing them into a coalition than talking about the candidate’s background explicitly. Axelrod would, of course, employ this strategy again during the 2008 Obama campaign.
When asked what drew him to Barack Obama, Axelrod said that he admired Obama’s commitment to working tirelessly on his speeches, and that they both simply got along as people. He then went on to describe Obama’s early candidacy, and the climate in which he ascended to the U.S. Senate. He said that the 2004 campaign marketed itself as “turning the page” after shifting viewpoints on the Iraq War, the economic crisis, and the legislative gridlock that had befallen Congress at the time. Axelrod even recalled telling Obama to “be like Mohammed Ali and roll with the punches” when in debates with his opponent.
After Obama’s successful 2004 Senate bid, he and Axelrod again joined forces as Obama launched his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2007. Despite long odds and a sizable fundraising gap between Obama and the initial frontrunner, Hillary Clinton, the polls steadily drifted in Obama’s favor. Axelrod credits Obama’s success in the Iowa caucus in part to Obama’s ability to connect with voters in small towns, as he had done during his 2004 Senate bid in bordering Illinois. Axelrod added that authenticity generally sells in a campaign, noting that Obama’s ability to connect with voters about the issues that mattered to them was a key factor that led to his victory in Iowa and eventually in securing the Democratic nomination. Nomination in hand, the Obama campaign maneuvered its way to a 365 electoral vote victory over Republican challenger John McCain.
Axelrod then explained how he and the Obama campaign pioneered the use of social media to gather information about prospective voters in 2012. He also recounted how President Obama’s message, while focusing heavily on the economy, engaged more with voters’ desire to be heard, or in Axelrod’s words, “to find someone who would fight for them,” channeling the spirit of Bobby Kennedy and ensuring voters feel they have a voice in their politicians.
Anticipating Professor Hemmer’s next question, Axelrod drew parallels between 2012 and the 2024 election cycle. He noted that the economic situation, while not ideal in either case, could be shaped more by messaging that connects to the voters than with a complicated but effective policy proposal. Earlier in the conversation, Axelrod also mentioned that Vice President Harris is in a unique position having such a short time to campaign. Her recent entry into the race may frighten voters who have not yet been accustomed to her policy, but Axelrod feels that the things Harris has learned over her nearly four years in office have and will improve her prospects in the general election.
At the conclusion of the conversation, Axelrod took a hard stance against the negativity that has engulfed American politics in recent years and warned young people not to fall into the trap of cynicism. He maintains that cynicism from politicians often causes people to become cynical about politics as a whole. Instead, he encourages everyone to use the resources at their disposal to make a positive change in politics, for a democracy cannot prevail if its people do not believe their voices are heard.
