David Axelrod told me on Meet the Press this morning that he believes the country is better off today than it was a year ago, but acknowledged there is still a great deal of work to be done.
The president's senior adviser joined me to cap off a week that may turn out to be a pivot point of the Obama administration.
Axelrod would not say the president will make an ideological shift towards the center of the political spectrum, but Obama's meeting with the GOP in Baltimore seemed to signal an openness to gaining Republican support by incorporating more conservative ideas into his agenda.
"We don't sit around in the White House making calculations on that basis. The President of the United States has one concern, which is how do we move this country forward?" Axelrod told me.
The White House takes umbrage to the idea that anything is being reset. The administration does not consider its first year a throw away. But between the State of the Union and the president's Q&A with Republicans, last week came off as a fresh start by connecting with unemployed Americans and focusing on the economy.
The perception has been that Obama was distracted by health care, which caused the economy to suffer. There has been a concentrated effort by Obama and the White House to end that idea, though the GOP will not let it die easily.
Rep. John Boehner claims the Republicans haven't been able to work with the president because Obama has been too set on passing a liberal agenda. He said:"Listen, there aren't that many places where we can come together. The President-- is-- he was the most liberal member of the United States Senate. You don't get there by accident.
And if you look at the policies that we've seen over the course of this year from the Administration and-- his Democratic colleagues in Congress-- there are all these leftist proposals. And the people of Massachusetts, the people of Virginia, the people of New Jersey are sending a pretty loud signal, just like the other 47 states to-- to Washington, saying, 'Stop. This is-- this is way more than we ever want-- wanted Washington to do.'"
But even Boehner acknowledged that health care is not dead, rather that it will require a major overhaul from the bills being passed around in the Capitol.
Also this morning, Axelrod said "no decision" has been made about the 9/11 trial. The case was set to be held in New York City, but reports came out this week that it will likely move. Axelrod would not comment on the president's thinking, only that he was "taking into consideration what the local authorities are saying."
For more video - including insights from David Brooks, Eugene Robinson, Mort Zuckerman and David Faber - visit the MTP Web site.
