Ex-DNC Chief on Obama's Problems

Matt Lewis | August 08, 2009 7:04 AM

I thought it would be interesting to get a different perspective on Obama's slipping popularity. So yesterday, I interviewed former Democratic National Committee Executive Director Brian Lunde.

Here's an excerpt:

Take Obama's initiative to overhaul health care , he says.

Obama "outsourced his health care policy, deferred to the congressional wing -- and now it's his. And he's now trying to sell something that wasn't his," says Lunde.

Lunde knows the insiders as well as anyone. As executive director at the DNC, he mentored a young Rahm Emanuel. As campaign manager to Paul Simon's presidential campaign, he hired David Axelrod as media adviser. He was also close with White House Communications Director Anita Dunn; the two worked together in 1981 to organize a breakfast club for new Democrats. Though he considers himself a Democratic Leadership Council "Blue Dog" Democrat, Lunde angered many Democrats when he supported George W. Bush for president.

Read the whole thing here.