Axelrod, Obama Media Guru, Will Return to Chicago

From WGN:

David Axelrod, a top advisor to President Obama and the main architect of his election victory in 2008, will be leaving the White House next year and returning to Chicago to work on the president’s re-election campaign, a White House aide said Thursday.

Axelrod has not specified a departure date, but he plans to remain in his current position “well into 2011,” the aide said.

Axelrod, who calls himself a “Chicagoan on assignment,” has long made clear he missed his hometown and would return before the end of the four-year term. His wife still lives in the city.

One of Obama’s most trusted aides, Axelrod occupies a small office just steps from the Oval Office. On a wall in Axelrod’s office hangs a picture of the White House drawn by his daughter. The Chicago skyline is shown in the reflecting pool.

Axelrod, a former Chicago Tribune reporter and City Hall bureau chief-turned-campaign consultant, is the latest of the Obama crew to voluntarily dive overboard, joining Peter Orszag, Christina Romer, Larry Summers and, soon enough, fellow Chicagoan Rahm Emanuel.

This was Axelrod’s brief:

His portfolio is a broad one. He shapes the president’s message, oversees the speechwriting team, plots political strategy and advises on policy. A longtime campaign strategist, he is aware of his limitations when it comes to complex policy matters. He once made a self-deprecating reference to himself as “a duffer” when it comes to policy.

Other White House aides said part of Axelrod’s role is reminding the staff of the president’s campaign commitments and making sure that the White House agenda stays true to Obama’s promises.

Obama has given himself a solid B-plus grade as president; what grade should Axelrod get?