Political consultant and journalist David Axelrod spoke at an Equality Illinois PAC-sponsored gathering downtown on Nov. 17 about, among other issues, President Obama's engagement with the LGBT community and the political landscape as the U.S. moves into the 2016 presidential elections.
Axelrod said the LGBT-rights movement was "in an auspicious time" and that it seems like a tremendous amount of change came about suddenly.
"We're a little closer to the idea of equality than we were just a few years ago," he said.
But that transition, as fleeting as it may seem to many, was the result of years of work. Axelrod, who was strategist for both of Obama's campaigns and served as an advisor to the president from 2009-11, described the decision-making behind eliminating "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" as well as Obama's waiting for the right moment to come out in support of marriage equality. According to Axelrod, Obama was hoping to be asked by a journalist whether he would have voted for same-sex marriage if he were still a state legislator, but no journalist ever did.
"We're a much better country because millions of Americans can have [their] relationships honored," Axelrod noted.
He further spoke about the presidential elections, predicting that race might come to a contest between Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz. Bernie Sanders, he added, might ultimately prove beneficial to Clinton's campaign.
"The choice will be so stark and clear, young people will see it, and Bernie will help them to see it," Axelrod said. "I think the Republicans will help them to see it too."
Axelrod also signed copies of his memoir, Believer, at the gathering.