David Axelrod Wishes Democrats Hadn’t Criticized Bush For Golfing

In this photo provided by The University of Chicago, David Axelrod, senior strategist for President Obama's re-election campaign, reflects on the 2012 contest during a public forum in the Performance Hall of the Log... In this photo provided by The University of Chicago, David Axelrod, senior strategist for President Obama's re-election campaign, reflects on the 2012 contest during a public forum in the Performance Hall of the Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago on Monday, Nov. 26, 2012. Axelrod will formally join the nonpartisan Institute of Politics as its inaugural director in January. Axelrod is talking with Steve Edwards, the IOP's deputy director for programming. (AP Photo/Courtesy of The University of Chicago, Robert Kozloff) MORE LESS
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Criticizing the President for golfing in the middle of a crisis might be the ultimate in “both sides do it.” But David Axelrod wishes his side wouldn’t have.

The longtime confidant to President Obama told the New York Daily News that Democrats shouldn’t have engaged in the annual summer ritual. Obama has faced a torrent of criticism this week for hitting the links right after delivering a statement on the brutal murder of American journalist James Foley

“We used to pillory George Bush for going to his ranch and we were wrong,” Axelrod said of Obama’s predecessor. “The demands and pressures of the presidency are relentless, and we ought to want our presidents to get small breaks to relax, even in-and maybe especially in — the midst of crisis.”

During the 2012 campaign, when Mitt Romney’s campaign frequently attacked Obama for golfing, conservative journalists dug up video of Axelrod criticizing George H.W. Bush for the same thing.

In the video from 1994, Axelrod called the 41st president “out of touch” for playing golf while simultaneously touting improvements to the economy.

“Bush tastelessly did it, often from the ninth hole, and from the cigar boat and other places,” Axelrod said in the video.

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