Axelrod: Obama victory will set GOP free

WASHINGTON, June 24 (UPI) -- Re-electing President Obama will set Republicans "of good will" free to work with him, Obama political strategist David Axelrod says.

Axelrod told C-SPAN there are many GOP lawmakers willing to make a stab at bipartisanship but haven't done so yet because of a "kind of reign of terror" that equates cooperation with the Democratic president with betrayal.

"My belief is that when the president wins in November, we're going to liberate these Republicans of good will," Axelrod said.

Axelrod said Republicans in Washington who want to work with the president have been "throttled" because the strategy of the GOP "doesn't permit it," The Hill reported.