SCULLY: Let me follow up on that: You have been inside the White House. If the president is reelected, will things be different? Will the political environment be different, allowing Republican and Democrats to work together on budget issues, the economy, and other major issues facing this country?
AXELROD: You know what? This is what I believe. I believe there are Republicans of goodwill in Washington who would like to work with us and they have indicated that. I was there for two years. I know several people who would really like to work with the president to solve problems, but the strategy of the Republican Party doesn’t permit it. There’s been this kind of reign of terror--any effort towards cooperation is considered betrayal, on the part of some people in the Republican Party. People have been throttled in their desire to try and work together. My belief is when the president wins in November, we're going to liberate these Republicans of goodwill. They’re going to blink in the light of a brand new day, and they’re going to turn to the Grover Norquists—frankly, as Jeb Bush has recently—and say, "You know what? We did it your way, and that was a failure for the country and a failure for the Republican Party. And now we're going to work together. There may be issues on which we will fight and disagree, because that’s why we have two parties, but where we can agree, we're going to find common ground." I think that is the message his reelection will send.