Obama's $2-Million Man: Campaign Guru Axelrod

August 22, 2008— -- Since 2005, Sen. Barack Obama's campaign has paid out more than $2.1 million to the consulting firm AKPD, run by its chief strategist and guru, David Axelrod, according to federal campaign finance reports reviewed by ABCNews.com.

Axelrod is credited with orchestrating Obama's presidential campaign and its overall strategy and message.

In the first seven months of 2008 alone, the firm, AKPD Media and Message, was paid $1,028,200.

"Every presidential election produces multi-millionaires," said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

"Political consultants are businessmen, not ideologues," said Sabato, who wrote the book "the Rise of Political Consultants: New Ways of Winning Elections."

"While many of them believe in their parties and candidates, they also believe in their bank accounts," he said.

McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, a former registered lobbyist, was paid $98,996 in 2007 and is not taking a salary in 2008, according to the McCain campaign.

McCain strategist Charlie Black, a Washington lobbyist, also is serving in an unpaid role.

Jill Hazelbaker, the McCain campaign's communications director, said Davis and Black are "giving their time to McCain because they believe he is the best candidate to be president."

"They've already made their pile," said Sabato. "Don't worry, if McCain's elected, even if McCain isn't elected, they'll go out and make millions more. It all comes from that political involvement, and they cash in."

Payment records for Axelrod's counterpart in the McCain campaign, Steve Schmidt, were not available because he only joined the campaign this summer. Hazelbaker confirmed that Schmidt is being paid, though she would not specify how much.

For Obama, the payments to Axelrod's firm began in March 2005 from the Illinois senator's pre-candidacy political action committee, Hopefund.

Since Obama officially announced his candidacy in February 2007, the payments to AKPD have been made by Obama for President. They are listed in the records as payments for Fed Operating Expenses/Media Services.