David Axelrod, the former chief political strategist to President Obama, is the latest public political figure to join the growing list of commentators at NBC and MSNBC. Though details of his deal with the network have not been revealed, it was announced on Tuesday that he will be a Democratic pundit on NBC and serve as a senior political analyst on MSNBC. Former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs also recently started work as an analyst on NBC and MSNBC.
Axelrod's new gig on the left-leaning stations may not be much of a stretch for the former White House advisor being that his career started in Journalism. According to a statement released regarding the deal, "For nearly three decades, Axelrod guided successful campaigns at every level on the ballot. He began his career as a journalist, spending eight years as a political writer, columnist and City Hall bureau chief for the Chicago Tribune before stepping into politics in 1984." The statement goes on to say that, "He founded Axelrod and Associates, a political and media consulting firm which became AKPD Message and Media. He later founded the communications management firm ASGK Public Strategies."
He will also be working at the University of Chicago where he graduated as the director of the university's new Institute of Politics, and as a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Harris School of Public Policy. He previously worked as an Adjunct Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University.