Axelrod: Romney Just Lived Up to My Predictions

Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod declared on MSNBC this morning that Mitt Romney lived up to his predictions in last night’s debate.

“I was on your show, I think maybe last week, and I said that I expected Mitt Romney to come in and turn in a very strong performance,” Axelrod said on Morning Joe. “That’s his history. He’s been rehearsing for this since last June. And he delivered his lines well.”

“The problem isn’t with his performance. The problem is with his underlying theories and some fundamental dishonesty that we saw last night. The president came in, treated people like adults, talked about what we need to do to move this country forward, rebuild the middle class, rebuild this economy,” he continued. “And Governor Romney came in and basically played a shell game. You guys know this.”

Axelrod said that this alleged “dishonesty” is “going to catch up with” Romney.

“I think that I give him credit for a strong performance. I give him an F for being honest with the American people,” he said.

“I understand there was a — there was — there was a hunger for us to attack Romney more personally than the president did last night. And the president was talking to the American people about some of these fundamental issues, as I said, treating the American people as adults.”

Axelrod implored the MSNBC staff to help the campaign bounce back from last night.

“There’s going to be — there will be more debates. And we have more of an opportunity in the next 30 days to continue to bring these facts to the attention of the American people,” he said. “And I would just say to you and to your whole crew, because I know you have a powerful influence on the political scene, you guys have an obligation as well to check some of these allegations. Everybody is very dazzled by the fact that Mitt Romney came in with some well-rehearsed lines. But now we have to sit back and say what is it exactly that he said, and is it true?”

He reiterated his prediction powers on NBC this morning.

“You know, Savannah, I was with you last week and I joked that Governor Romney had put more preparation into it than they did into the Invasion of Normandy and you saw it last night,” Axelrod said. “I expected a strong performance. I got a strong performance, but that’s what it was, a performance.”