Subject: Re: Axelrod
From: Cheryl Mills <[email-masked]>
To: Huma Abedin <[email-masked]>
Cc: Nick Merrill <[email-masked]>, Philippe Reines <[email-masked]>, John Podesta <[email-masked]>, Robby <[email-masked]>, Huma Abedin <[email-masked]>, Dan Schwerin <[email-masked]>, Jake Sullivan <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 2015 09:13:04 -0500

folks

our actions will not change him. so we should not have that expectation.

On Fri, Jan 9, 2015 at 8:17 AM, Huma Abedin <[email-masked]> wrote:

>  He has said this to her and repeated to me several times.
> And until she sees him, it won't be tempered. And even after she sees him,
> she has to be prepared.
>
> Sent !
>
> On Jan 9, 2015, at 8:15 AM, "Nick Merrill" <[email-masked]> wrote:
>
>
> http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/david-axelrod-hillary-clinton-elections-114101.html
>
>
>  Axelrod: Clinton 'wasn't a very good candidate' in 2007 (Politico)
>
> By Jonathan Topaz
>
> January 8, 2015
>
> *Politico*
>
>
>
> David Axelrod on Thursday jabbed at Hillary Clinton, saying that she
> wasn't a very strong candidate during the first part of her campaign for
> the 2008 presidential nomination.
>
>
>
> The chief strategist for Barack Obama's first presidential campaign said
> that Clinton, who lost to Obama in the Democratic primary that year, was
> too cautious during the early stages, when she was considered the
> prohibitive favorite.
>
>
>
> "When you play not to lose, you often lose. And my perception of Secretary
> Clinton was that she wasn't a very good candidate in 2007," Axelrod said at
> a Thursday evening event at the University of Chicago Institute of
> Politics, where he serves as director. The comments preceded a conversation
> with outgoing Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, who has said repeatedly that
> he is considering a run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.
>
>
>
> Axelrod said he thought that once Clinton came in third in the 2008 Iowa
> caucuses, she became a much more formidable candidate.
>
>
>
> "[O]nce she wasn't the frontrunner anymore, once she was fighting for her
> place, she threw all the caution away and I think she started relating to
> voters in a much more visceral way that reflected who she really is,"
> Axelrod said. "If I had any advice for her, it would be: Be that person."
> After Iowa, Clinton rebounded to win the New Hampshire primary, setting off
> a neck-and-neck contest with Obama that didn't end for nearly five more
> months.
>
>
>
> Axelrod also said that Clinton failed to provide a convincing rationale
> for her candidacy in her unsuccessful bid, echoing a criticism he made in
> November. "In 2007, the mistake they made was they allowed the candidacy to
> get out ahead of the rationale for it," he said of Clinton's team.
>
>
>
> "It wasn't clear what the campaign was about. And I think campaigns have
> to be about something," Axelrod added.
>
>
>
> The strategist, who served for a time as White House senior adviser during
> Obama's first term, said that presidential candidates on both sides in 2016
> will need to fashion a message on middle-class economic issues and stagnant
> wages.
>
>
>
> Clinton has not yet made a public decision on whether she will run for the
> Democratic nomination. Axelrod said he doesn't believe she has made up her
> mind, but that if she chooses to run, she will be in a "more dominant"
> position to win the primary than any candidate in his lifetime.
>
>
>
> Still, Axelrod said that Clinton proved she was "vulnerable" in her
> primary loss to Obama and that she will need to avoid the "inevitability
> trap" to earn the 2016 nod.
>
>
>
> On Jan 8, 2015, at 9:23 AM, Huma Abedin <[email-masked]> wrote:
>
>  Right
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Cheryl Mills <[email-masked]>
> *Sent:* Thursday, January 8, 2015 9:22:29 AM
> *To:* Huma Abedin
> *Cc:* Philippe Reines; John Podesta; Robby; Nick Merrill; Huma Abedin;
> Dan Schwerin; Jake Sullivan
> *Subject:* Re: Axelrod
>
>  she doesn't have inevitabiliy language - the media does
>
> On Thu, Jan 8, 2015 at 9:04 AM, Huma Abedin <[email-masked]> wrote:
>
>> We can have a longer conversation about Axelrod. I downloaded to Robby.
>> We shouldn't be under any illusions that he will start saying only
>> positive things.
>> He's not looking for a job in 2016, he sees himself in a different role
>> now and feels he needs to say what he thinks (lots of obama people have
>> said they don't like ready for hillary or her inevitability language)
>> otherwise he won't be credible.
>>
>>  ------------------------------
>> *From:* Cheryl Mills <[email-masked]>
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, January 7, 2015 8:58:33 PM
>> *To:* Huma Abedin
>> *Cc:* Philippe Reines; John Podesta; Robby Mook; Nick Merrill; Huma
>> Abedin; Dan Schwerin; Jake Sullivan
>> *Subject:* Re: Axelrod
>>
>>  what is odd is that - she did more than reach out to him when she left
>> - she went a did a fundraiser for his charitable enterprise.
>>
>>  then he still said/tweeted less than kind things.
>>
>>  so the notion that it is coming somehow related to her not having
>> spoken to him strike me a hollow in light of some of his comments given her
>> generosity to him as one of her first appearances.
>>
>> On Wed, Jan 7, 2015 at 11:18 AM, Huma Abedin <[email-masked]> wrote:
>>
>>>  Just wanted to follow-up on this original note.
>>>
>>> As you may have seen, Ax tweeted this a short while ago: >..Smart of
>>> @HillaryClinton to be counseling with @benensonj.  He was brilliant,
>>> essential player in @BarackObama wins!
>>>
>>> He called me last night to give us a heads up that O'Malley and Webb
>>> have both asked to speak at his institute. We got into a conversation about
>>> his public comments. He assured me that he is 100 percent supportive of HRC
>>> and that she will be the nominee and understands that we might be
>>> frustrated with what he has said. I sense that he is disappointed that we
>>> have talked to everyone else in Obama world except for him and I assured
>>> him that HRC would be in touch soon. I think we are now in a good place
>>> with him but she needs to call him and I conveyed that to her. Will try to
>>> get it done this week.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *From:* Philippe Reines [mailto:[email-masked]]
>>> *Sent:* Wednesday, December 17, 2014 10:35 PM
>>> *To:* CDM; John Podesta; Robby Mook; Nick Merrill; Huma Abedin; Dan
>>> Schwerin; Jake Sullivan
>>> *Subject:* Axelrod
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> We had discussed the utility of reaching out to David Axelrod, but Is he
>>> on HRC's - or anyone's -- call sheet? I hate to reward bad behavior, but
>>> this seems like one headache we could easily neutralize.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *Axelrod on Hillary: 'Ready for What?'*
>>>
>>> By Peter Sullivan
>>>
>>> December 16, 2014
>>>
>>> *The Hill*
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> David Axelrod, a former adviser to President Obama, said Tuesday that
>>> Hillary Clinton needs to establish a rationale for her presidential
>>> candidacy, saying when he hears "Ready for Hillary," he thinks, "Ready for
>>> what?"
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "What happened in 2008 was that Hillary's candidacy got out in front of
>>> any rationale for it, and the danger is that that's happening again,"
>>> Axelrod, who was a top adviser to Barack Obama's come-from-behind win over
>>> Clinton in 2008, said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
>>>
>>> "You hear Ready for Hillary; it's like, 'Ready for what?' "
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Axelrod said Clinton could be using the time before she announces her
>>> candidacy to decide the answer to that question.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Now Hillary's task is to define what it is that she's running for and
>>> running about," Axelrod said. "And what would the future look like under
>>> another President Clinton, and I suspect that's what she's taking her time
>>> working through now, but she has to answer that question."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Liberal groups have been pushing forward with an effort to convince Sen.
>>> Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to challenge Clinton from the left on economic
>>> issues.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> MoveOn.org, one of the groups, announced Monday that it has passed
>>> 100,000 signatures on its "Run Warren Run" petition. Warren insists she is
>>> not running but always phrases the denial in the present tense, which some
>>> see as leaving the door open.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Asked if there is an opening for Warren, Axelrod said, "I suppose there
>>> is."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "My suspicion is that what she's doing is trying to influence how
>>> Hillary frames her candidacy and the issues she focuses on," Axelrod said.
>>> "I think Elizabeth is very sincere about her concerns about what's
>>> happening in the American economy, and Hillary hasn't yet said what exactly
>>> her program will be, what she's running on. I think Elizabeth knows she's
>>> got maximum leverage by still being in the conversation."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Many of Axelrod's fellow Obama campaign alumni are now working for
>>> Clinton's campaign-in-waiting in some capacity. Jim Messina, Obama's 2012
>>> campaign manager, for example, signed on as co-chairman of the pro-Clinton
>>> super-PAC Priorities USA.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Two more top campaign aides, Mitch Stewart and Jeremy Bird, have joined
>>> Ready for Hillary.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>