David Axelrod (political consultant)

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David Axelrod is a Democratic political consultant based in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is perhaps best known for his work on the campaign of Barack Obama in for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and for President in 2008, and for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. Axelrod is the senior partner of AKP Message & Media, and was a political writer for the Chicago Tribune. He is also a supporter of Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool who helped Axelrod found his firm (then under the name Axelrod and Associates). He is widely regarded as the top political consultant in Chicago -- he is a longtime strategist to Mayor Richard M. Daley, and styles himself a "specialist in urban politics." Axelrod has consulted some national candidates, including Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who won the seat of New York's governor in 2006, and the presidential campaign of former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina.

In January 2006, Axelrod's then 23-year-old son, Michael, become embroiled in controversy after being confronted in the stands of the United Center by Kendra Davis, the wife of New York Knicks Forward Antonio Davis. Davis left the court during the game and entered the stands, ostensibly to protect his wife. Davis was suspended 5 games by the NBA. The incident was widely reported in the Chicago press, principally because of David Axelrod's prominence as a political consultant.