Mr. Axelrod said he found the reaction of much of New York’s political establishment dispiriting and outdated. “‘Scare the hell out of people and maybe we can get them to vote for our deficient politics,’” he said, describing the approach with brutal efficiency. “That’s not a politics I want to be associated with. That’s not a politics I think prevails.”

Say what you want about Obama-world, but at least they are the only democrats who actually know how a campaign is supposed to be run.