Close Obama adviser Axelrod to go to White House

CHICAGO (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama has tapped David Axelrod, a senior aide and one of his most trusted confidants, to become a senior White House adviser, his transition team said on Wednesday.

Axelrod, who was Obama's strategist during the campaign and has been a political consultant for a long list of prominent Democratic politicians, was seen as a crucial player behind Obama's comfortable win over Republican John McCain in the November 4 presidential race.

Obama's staff also announced that Greg Craig, a former special counsel to President Bill Clinton and also a former State Department official, will become White House counsel when Obama takes office on January 20.

(Reporting by Caren Bohan, Editing by Sandra Maler)