On Monday's broadcast of MSNBC's Hardball, former Obama adviser and current MSNBC contributor David Axelrod said Democrats will have a "fling" with Bernie Sanders but at the end of teh day will settle for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as the nominee.



"I think she'll be the nominee of the party," Axelrod said to host Chris Matthews. "I think people have will have a fling with Bernie. Bernie is like a great fun date because you know he's not going to be around town too long and I think you're going to see people flirt with that. But at the end of the day, I think she's going be the nominee."



Later in the segment, Axelrod said when Clinton was chief of the State Department she "owned" the Trans-Pacific Partnership.



"She said it was going to be the gold standard for trade agreements, so this is very, very freighted for her," Axelrod said.





DAVID AXELROD: Look, we've got a situation where people now are, the median income in this country is about what it was in 1989 and there is a great deal of anxiety about that and there is a great deal of anger about what is seen as the rigging of the system. That is real. But I think Hillary's fundamental approach reflects the mainstream of the Democratic party. And I don't really believe -- I think she'll be the nominee of the party. I think people have will have a fling with Bernie. Bernie is like a great fun date because you know he's not going to be around town too long and I think you're going to see people flirt with that. But at the end of the day, I think she's going be the nominee and she'll incorporate elements of a more populist agenda but it's going to be in a growth frame...



It was a little easier for President Clinton because he wasn't the Secretary of State in charge when these negotiations began and when she left in December of 2012, she was in Australia, she called the TPP, she said it was going to be the gold standard for trade agreements, so this is very, very freighted for her. This is difficult terrain to navigate because she owned this to some degree and now she has to try navigate through it. So it's going to be challenging for her.