The Golden Report

As reported in Playbook this morning, David Axelrod offered some insight yesterday into the Obama 2012 playbook in going after Newt Gingrich. This is also a story being reported, in different forms, by National Journal and the New York Times this morning.

“But in many ways, to the extent that there is kind of [an] angry base, … he’s expert at speaking to that. … [H]e was kind of the godfather of gridlock. He really, more than any single person, fomented this atmosphere in Washington where people are no longer respectful opponents but rather enemies — and you didn’t just disqualify the position of your opponent, you tried to disqualify them as Americans. That really began with him. I was tickled when I saw his ad in Iowa talking about how he’s going to bring the country together to solve problems. He’d be, like, the least likely person you’d assign that task to, based on his record and his approach. …