Axelrod Says He'd Fire Anyone Who Calls Romney 'Weird'

One of Tim Pawlenty’s laugh lines last night was a gibe at Mitt Romney’s personal wealth; after declaring that he’d mow the lawn of any American who could identify President Barack Obama’s plan for entitlements reform, Pawlenty said that offer was limited to one acre of lawn for Romney.

I was just having some fun with that, pulling Mitt’s chain a little bit,” Pawlenty said.

But a more serious underlying point, Pawlenty said, is that voters want to know about the backgrounds of the presidential candidates and to whom they can relate.

“I think if people are running for president, want to be president, the electorate wants to know who are you, where do you come from,” Pawlenty said. “I don’t suggest that my life story is better or worse than anybody else’s. It’s just different.”

Pawlenty mentioned that his father was a truck driver and his mother died when he was young, and mentioned that he “got lucky, got a job at a grocery store, worked in a union position” and worked his way through college.

“Those are the kinds of things people want to know because if you’re president, they’re gonna want to know, who is this person and does your life story kind of line up with theirs?” Pawlenty said.

Circling back to Romney, Pawlenty continued: “In Mitt’s case, he’s got an incredibly successful background and I think we should applaud it and celebrate it”

Axelrod’s declaration came after an article earlier this week by Politico, in which anonymous aides and advisors from Obama’s reelection campaign were quoted as saying they were ready to launch a “ferocious personal attack” on Romney. One source was quoted as saying that there is a “weirdness factor” about Romney.

But this morning Axelrod pushed back on the report, telling host Joe Scarborough when asked if he’d go as far as to fire staffers who used the word “weird” in reference to Romney that he would.

“I would if someone used words like weird I would certainly do that, yes,” said Axelrod. “I thought that was totally inappropriate.”

“All of it is garbage,” he added.

And on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Axelrod suggested that reporters should stop relying on these unnamed sources.

“Anyone who purports to be a source of the Obama campaign who makes those remarks who made those kind of comments should be removed from those reporters rolodexes,” said Axelrod.