David Axelrod, former aide to President Barack Obama, says in his new book that Obama's 2008 Democrat rival Hillary Clinton was a poor candidate, but he told
CNN's Jake Tapper on Wednesday he thinks things are different as the former secretary of State appears headed for the 2016 nomination.
In
"Believer: My Forty Years in Politics," Axelrod writes that Clinton was not a healing figure and that when she tries to moderate she risks looking like an opportunist.
Axelrod told Tapper that things aren't the same now.
"She's in a different place, the times are different, the political environment is different," he said. "I saw her in 2007 as a poor candidate because she was so cautious, shrouded in this veil of inevitability. Once she lost the Iowa caucuses she became a different candidate, much less guarded, much more willing to connect with people in a visceral way, much more revealing of herself, much more of an advocate."
That is the person Clinton needs to be to win the presidency, he said.
"She needs to project a vision of where she wants to take the country," Axelrod said. "Your rationale has to lead your candidacy. It didn't in 2008. If she does it this time, I think she can be a very formidable candidate."
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