Former chief strategist for former President Obama's presidential campaign and advisor to the president David Axelrod said the agenda presented by Democratic presidential candidates at the first CNN primary debate on Tuesday is not a winning message. "Do we move forward with these idealized proposals that are going to beg opposition and make it easier for Donald Trump to make his case and win re-election when the stakes are so high?" the CNN contributor asked. <blockquote>DAVID AXELROD: You said something interesting when was, it isn't good enough to argue that the country doesn't want this. It does seem as if you're running for president that you ought to take into consideration what the country wants. And the fact is large numbers of people oppose the Medicare for All proposal if it replaces private insurance. We've seen it in poll after poll, a large number of people in this country do not believe the border should be decriminalized. A large number of people in did country don't believe that undocumented immigrants should qualify for public [aid]... I appreciate your feelings about these issues and I'm very passionate about health care myself. I was in the White House when we fought just to get the Affordable Care Act, couldn't get a public option. So Bernie Sanders was there. He knows that. He knows that what he's talking about is not going to happen any time soon. And so should the party move forward -- this is what Democrats are asking. Do we move forward with these idealized proposals that are going to beg opposition and make it easier for Donald Trump to make his case and win re-election when the stakes are so high? This is what a lot of Democrats are worried about. </blockquote>