On Morning Joe today, chief Obama adviser David Axelrod pushed back against the Politico article wherein the president’s reelection strategy supposedly included calling Mitt Romney “weird” and making fun of his “skinny jeans.” Although Axelrod himself was quoted by Politico dubbing Romney’s career, “Extreme Makeover”, and questioning the former governor’s awkward sense of humor, the word “weird” was sourced anonymously to “Obama’s advisers in about a dozen interviews.” Now Axelrod is saying he will fire anyone on his team who uses that word. “All of it is garbage,” he explained. “We have legitimate differences with Mitt Romney.”
Of course, that’s easy for Axelrod to say now that the narrative has already been unleashed. As Mediaite argues, “The Obama campaign wants you to know that Romney is weird, but they don’t necessarily want you to know that they want you to know that Romney is weird.”
Axelrod told Politico, “When he makes jokes about being unemployed, or a waitress pinching him on the butt, it does snap your head back and you say, ‘what’s he talking about?’” Some could surely call that “weird” (or bizarre, or odd … ) though the word’s allusions to Romney’s Mormonism ‚ a religion that has publicly fought accusations of weirdness — make the issue thornier.
As for the matter of jeans, Joe Scarborough thinks Romney’s are “sexy.” Here’s the full segment:
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David Axelrod Promises To Fire Any Team Obama Staffer Who Calls Mitt Romney ‘Weird’ [Mediaite]
