Posted on 02/03/2015 9:24:02 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
President Obama was shocked and irritated by Mitt Romney's concession call in the 2012 presidential election - and claimed Romney insinuated that Obama won only by getting out the black vote, according to a new book by presidential campaign strategist David Axelrod.
Obama was "unsmiling during the call, and slightly irritated when it was over," Axelrod writes.
The president hung up and said Romney admitted he was surprised at his own loss, Axelrod wrote.
"'You really did a great job of getting the vote out in places like Cleveland and Milwaukee,' in other words, black people,'" Obama said, paraphrasing Romney. "That's what he thinks this was all about."
The 488-page memoir, "Believer: My 40 Years in Politics," is due out Feb. 10 from Penguin Press. An advance copy was obtained by the Daily News.
In the book, Axelrod also reveals:
* Shortly after winning the Democratic primary in 2008, Obama briefly considered appointing Hillary Clinton to the Supreme Court.
* Former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel was uncomfortable with senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, because of her close personal relationship with the Obamas. "'I don't want to manage the president's best friend," Emanuel said. To get rid of her, he campaigned for Jarrett to run for Obama's Senate seat. But Obama wanted her in the White House and convinced her to abandon the idea.
* Obama complained privately about Biden's long-winded nature when they were senators. "Joe Biden is a decent guy, but man, that guy can just talk and talk," Obama complained to Axelrod at one point. "It's an incredible thing to see."
* The president was so desperate to get then-Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe to support his healthcare plan he joked he would give her the White House if she voted for it. "We'll call it the Snowe plan. Hell, she can live here in the White House! Michelle and I will get an apartment,'" Obama said.
* On a trip to New York City in 2009, then Mayor Mike Bloomberg offered unsolicited advice about Obama's demeanor. "'You know what his problem is? You have to like people to be successful. You have to connect," Bloomberg told Axelrod. "I saw him greet people at the golf course. You probably told him to do it. But he doesn't feel it. You have to have that!"
* In 2007, Obama got a sneak peek at the iPhone during a private meeting with Apple's Steve Jobs. "If it were legal, I would buy a boatload of Apple stock. This thing is going to be really big," Obama said after the meeting.
* Axelrod said Obama in 2004 rejected the idea of being Vice President, telling him in a private conversation: "I can't imagine wanting that job. I'd rather come back and run for Governor after a term than be somebody's Vice President."
* Axelrod claims Bill Clinton offered him the job of communications director on his first presidential campaign in 1992. The job went to George Stephanopoulos after he turned it down.
* But he still tried to save Hillary Clinton from her famous 1992 gaffe about "staying home and baking cookies." After Jerry Brown accused Bill Clinton of "funneling money to his wife's law firm for state business," Axelrod advised keeping Hillary Clinton away from the press. "If it were me, I would not send Hillary out," he told the Clinton camp. "I'd send the Governor out on his own."
Instead, she answered questions from the press and ended up with her famous line: "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas," she said. "But what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession."
When you get over 100% support in some districts, you KNOW you have the support of the people!
Ohio, Wisconsin and Virginia are also where Romney ran pro-choice ads.
Romney killed his own turn out.
Bammy B a mulatto. At best.
“in other words, black people”
Everything is a “dog whistle” to these liberals, but they are the only ones that can hear them. Doesn’t that make them the “dogs”?
“Romney killed his own turn out.”
He did the same thing in 1994, trying to outliberal Ted Kennedy in the last debate during the senate race in Mass. He went into freefall and lost on a night that everybody else won.
That’s what a bum he is, nearly as Manchurian as McCain.
The consultants and handlers made some good bucks though.
And they want to make some more dough off the next loss.
yep
I bet Romney recorded that call and nothing like that happened
bump
“Romney insinuated that Obama won only by getting out the black vote”
He probably would have won this close election anyway, if it had not been for CNN and Candy Crowley, who colluded with the Dems by asking Romney a trick out of context question about a reference to terrorists right near the end of the the “debate”. Obama’s performance was pathetic. But Crowley’s piece of media treachery, which unfairly very likely decided the election.
That Obama won by getting phenomenal turnout in key places is true, but the skin color of fraudulent voters who don’t really exist is tough to determine.
The dead vote.
The line about giving Snowe the White House actually did amuse me I confess
It’s like reading Stalin liked ketchup with scrambled eggs
McCain picked Palin and got more votes and is arguably more conservative than Romney...not saying much
Romneys credibility lies in his business skill....he did indeed have a big hand in founding a pretty successful venture capital outfit
That requires talent
And they were so picky about funding they almost went broke before Staples
Dumb? Yeah. In this last election Kasich did real well in Cleveland...there are Republican votes to be had there.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.