Axelrod hedges on healthcare this year

David Axelrod seemed to hedge last night on whether the White House expects healthcare reform to pass this year.

"We want to get it done this year," he told CNN. "That is our -- that is our goal. And we're going to continue to work at it."

Asked why Harry Reid recently suggested healthcare might get pushed into 2010, Axelrod blamed bureaucracy and the holidays:

AXELROD: I mean, part of the problem is that they're waiting on scores from the Congressional Budget Office. (INAUDIBLE)...

BLITZER: Those are estimates of how much this will cost?

AXELROD: Exactly. And they've been backed up because they were working on the House bill. And so that's delayed the entire process.

And then when you add in holidays and so on, there are only a certain number of days in the year. But we're still hopeful that we can move this process along. I believe the will is there to get this done.