Party Like It's 2008

Never one to let novelty get in the way of mendacity, David Axelrod would like to remind you yet again, that the next election is a choice, not a referendum. He trotted out that appeal last year and got trounced in the midterms. And yet he ran Obama’s 2008 campaign essentially as a referendum on eight exhausting years of George W. Bush — to great success.

Assuming no great improvements in the economy, how Obama fares in 2012 will depend in large part on how well Axelrod can portray his incumbent as an insurgent.

If anyone can manage such a bald feat of hucksterism, it’s Axelrod — and I don’t mean that as a compliment.