WASHINGTON (JTA) – President-elect Barack Obama named David Axelrod as a senior adviser.
Axelrod, who ran Obama’s successful campaign for the presidency, becomes the fourth of 12 staffers named to the Obama White House who is Jewish.
He was one of four staffers named late Wednesday. Obama in a statement said the team would work to "strengthen our economy, reform Washington and meet the great challenges of our time."
Axelrod has one of the highest win ratios among Democratic operatives. He launched his career in 1984 managing the late Paul Simon’s upset win for the Illinois seat in the U.S. senate that year. Simon had attracted strong pro-Israel support in the effort to unseat Sen. Charles Percy, a Republican who was strongly critical of Israel.
The previous Jewish staffers named were Rahm Emanuel, the chief of staff; Ron Klain, chief of staff to Vice President-elect Joe Biden; and Mona Sutphen, a deputy chief of staff.
