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Axelrod vows to stay the course on White House agenda despite hurdles
Senior White House adviser David Axelrod on Sunday said that the Obama administration remains committed to its agenda after a week of setbacks.
Axelrod vowed that the president would not back down on passing a healthcare reform legislation and would use the State of the Union address on Wednsday to lay out "additional steps" to energize the sputtering economy.
"He's going to go at it, he's going to stick to it, because there is too much at stake," Axelrod said on CNN's "State of the Union."
A number of events occurred last week that critics used in saying that President Barack Obama should take a step back and readjust his priorities in 2010.
On Tuesday, Republican Scott Brown dealt Democrat Martha Coakley a surprising defeat in the Massachusetts special Senate election. When he is seated Brown will become the 41st GOP senator, breaking the Democrats' 60-seat filibuster-proof majority.
The new political environment in the Senate has caused Democratic leaders to readjust their strategy to pass their bill, though Republican critics have called on them to halt their effort. But Axelrod reiterated that Obama will continue the negotiations.
"The president will not walk away from the American people," Axelrod said on ABC's "This Week." "[He] will not hand them over to the tender mercies of the health insurance companies."
Obama's renomination of Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke also ran into trouble this week as bloc of senators channeled voter outrage over the struggling economy in opposing his second term.
Over a dozen senators from both parties have questioned Bernanke's role in the baking bailouts during the financial crisis of 2008.
"Understand that chairman Bernanke offered very strong and steady leadership during this crisis without which we may have slipped into the abyss," he said on "State of the Union." "The president is very confident that the chairman will be confirmed."
Axelrod acknowledged voter anger over the economy and stressed that the Obama administration could solve its problems. He said that former President George W. Bush handed Obama a faltering economy and large debts and that Obama's popularity has suffered as a result.
"You can't govern in an economy like this without great disaffection," he said.
He also admitted that Democrats could have done a better job in the Massachusetts election and that voter dissatisfaction there revolved around impatience over the healthcare debate.
"The process...eight months of debate were less than satisfying," he said. "Were there things we could have done there, perhaps, we have to think that through.
"[We were] caught a little bit unaware on that one," he said.
Regardless, Axelrod struck a defensive note about Obama's first year in office.
"I have no regrets...I think history will look back and say that the president of the United States met his responsibilities," he said.
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