Axelrod blames 'extraneous factors' for Dems' woes in Obama's native Illinois

The Hill reports:

A top White House official blamed "extraneous factors" for Democrats' troubles this fall in President Obama's home state.

White House senior adviser David Axelrod blamed the political fallout from former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's (D) time in office for some of the difficulties now facing Alexi Giannoulias (D) in his race for the president's old Senate seat and Gov. Pat Quinn's (D) bid for reelection.

"There were some extraneous factors in Illinois this year," Axelrod said on MSNBC, "including a lot of contretemps about how the president was replaced."

Let the blaming begin!