Democratic media consultant David Axelrod is in an interesting position. He's just picked up a
major contract to produce advertising for the Democratic National Committee. One might question whether producing advertising for the DNC presents a conflict of interest for a consultant already producing independent expenditure ads for the AFL-CIO and the Media fund. I'm sure all parties have vetted this with their attorneys, so there shouldn't be a legal conflict of interest, and since all three clients share the goal of defeating Bush and seeing John Kerry elected President, there doesn't seem to be any professional or political conflict of interest. So, these are good times for David Axelrod.
If things turn out as we expect, however, David Axelrod is soon to become the most conflicted political consultant in America. Why? Because his two most prominent clients are already being mentioned as the leading contenders for the next open Democratic nomination for President.
In 2003, John Edwards conducted a closely-watched courtship of several media consultants, including the consultant who worked with him on his successful 1998 campaign for U.S. Senate, Bob Shrum. Shrum eventually signed on with Kerry, and Edwards hired Axelrod, one of the few major media consultants based outside of the D.C. area (in Chicago). Around the same time Axelrod also signed up a client almost completely unknown in national political circles, but one making a name for himself in Chicago and Illinois politics--Barack Obama.
So, assuming Obama is elected to the Senate, what happens with Axelrod after the election? Does Edwards stay polite, but distance himself from Axelrod? Or does he try to pull him closer so he doesn't fully align himself with Obama and start preparing him for the next open Democratic nomination? What does Obama do? How does Axelrod navigate this potential conflict of interest? Siding with one over the other 8 years out is a risky move that could still result in him being alienated from both.
Regardless of what Axelrod does with Edwards and Obama, we can be sure of one thing: Axelrod is the "it" guy of political media, and even if he never again works with Obama or Edwards, his client list for the 2006 election cycle is likely to get larger and more impressive.