Larsson läser
Janerik Larsson
Janerik Larsson
Det är kanske inte världens just nu viktigaste fråga… Men jag blev förbluffad när jag läste att den tidigare Obama-rådgivaren David Axelrod i sin kommande bok påstår att Mitt Romneys samtal med presidenten på valnatten i det närmaste utgjorde en rasistisk förolämpning.
Det finns inget som sagts eller skrivits om Romney någonsin som gör att jag tycker att den historien ter sig sannolik.
Mike Allen i POLITICO redovisar historien och den i mitt tycke mycket trovärdiga dementin:
Garrett Jackson, Mitt Romney’s body man throughout the 2012 campaign, tells Playbook that he believes David Axelrod ”concocted” a phone call recounted in his memoir coming out Tuesday, ”Believer: My Forty Years in Politics.” Axelrod writes in a passage revealed by the N.Y. Daily News that Obama was ”slightly irritated” by Romney’s concession call on election night. When Obama hung up, he told Axelrod and others who were present that Romney had said: ”You really did a great job of getting the vote out in places like Cleveland and Milwaukee.” Axelrod writes that the president added: ”In other words, black people. That’s what he thinks this was all about.”
Jackson, 28, said in a phone call from Houston, where he now works as a private-equity analyst (ya can’t make it up!): ”When I read that, I was furious … It didn’t happen. … I was right next to the Gov – hell, it was my phone. I was the one who called [Obama aide] Marvin Nicholson. … Mitt goes: ’Mr. President, I just wanted to call and congratulate you and your team on a well-fought race, and congratulate you on your victory.’ Then there was a silence on Mitt’s end – we weren’t on speaker.
”The president said a few quick words and then Mitt said: ’I know there’s a lot of tough decisions ahead, Mr. President – a lot of tough issues that face our country. And it’s my hope that you’ll tackle those issues, and know that I’m here to help in any way that I can.’ There was another pause, and Mitt responded: ’Well, know that you and the first lady are in Ann and my prayers daily.’ And then the call ended. …
”[H]e didn’t do it in a malicious way – there was nothing about voter turnout. This was a national campaign. When I was giving the Gov updates, they were macro, and state results. There was never talk of turnout in this city versus that city.”
Kan presidenten hålla tyst om detta ?
Axelrod arbetar nu som rådgivare till Labourledaren Ed Miliband medan den tidigare Obama-rådgivaren Jim Messina arbetar för den brittiske premiärministern David Cameron inför valet i maj.