Believer: My Forty Years in Politics

by David Axelrod

Though both Vrdolyak and Burke were ringleaders in the acrid Council Wars, it was only Vrdolyak whom the mayor loathed. I asked him why. “Because I think Burke is the product of his upbringing and environment. He is an honest racist,” said Harold, who didn’t live to see Burke later adopt an African American son. “But Vrdolyak isn’t a racist. He’s an opportunist. He’s using race, whipping people up for his own political purposes. And that I can’t forgive. That’s evil.”

The episode was a parable about Obama and his approach to politics, dating back to his years in the Illinois legislature. He is both idealistic and pragmatic, progressive in his goals but practical in pursuing them.

Like Churchill said, ‘Nothing is as exhilarating as the sound of bullets whizzing past your head.’