Franken v. Axelrod in health care history

The February exchange between Minnesota Sen. Al Franken and Obama adviser in a closed-door meeting has become part of the health care overhaul history. In a New York Times piece Sunday, the Minnesota Senator's sharp words to David Axelrod mark a key moment in the measure's chronicle.

From the New York Times:

But in an off-the-record panel discussion after the president left, Mr. Obama's senior adviser, David Axelrod, got an earful over health care. Senator Al Franken, the freshman Democrat from Minnesota, led the charge.

"David, I'm doing a slow burn here — do you know what a slow burn is?" one participant recalled him saying. Mr. Franken demanded to know Mr. Obama's plan, and then told Mr. Axelrod that the president needed to have the House pass the Senate bill.

"That's fine," Mr. Axelrod replied. "If you've got 218 votes in your pocket, we'll do that."

The session exposed the mistrust between the House and the Senate, tensions that Mr. Obama's health care team worked mightily to smooth over. To the Senate Democrats in the room, it seemed as if Mr. Axelrod was brushing them off, and that Mr. Obama really had no plan.

Last month, Politico reported the exchange thusly:

Five sources who were in the room tell POLITICO that Franken criticized Axelrod for the administration's failure to provide clarity or direction on health care and the other big bills it wants Congress to enact.

The sources said Franken was the most outspoken senator in the meeting, which followed President Barack Obama's question-and-answer session with Senate Democrats at the Newseum on Wednesday.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/32561.html#ixzz0ipEhUQGw

And had Axelrod concluding thusly about the dust-up:

White House senior adviser David Axelrod shrugged off a closed-door clash with Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who argued that President Barack Obama should have taken a more insistent role on health reform.