[MUSIC PLAYING]
KARL ROVE: Politics has constantly been changing.
DAVID AXELROD: It's exhilarating.
It can be exasperating.
Truth is that Karl and I don't see eye to eye on some things.
We'll just keep this between us,
but I actually like the guy.
There goes my career.
KARL ROVE: Reagan used to say that our American democracy was
always one generation away from extinction.
DAVID AXELROD: We're more polarized now than ever.
That's understandable.
We're in a tribal moment.
DAVID AXELROD: In a great campaign,
you have a very clear sense of what it's about.
KARL ROVE: A lot of the campaign is going
to depend upon the message.
Donald Trump was the anti-Obama.
He held himself out as, I'm going to take a brick
and throw it through the plate glass window.
Mission accomplished.
If you're in a campaign and you don't
believe you're going to make a mistake,
you're in the wrong business.
The lesson is, when you're attacked,
respond, impeach the charge, and then go back on the offensive.
I have as much experience as Jack Kennedy did.
Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy.
[LAUGHTER]
KARL ROVE: Pow!
Right there.
These are battles of definition.
KARL ROVE: Each candidate's trying to say,
I'm the answer to your question in this election.
DAVID AXELROD: Exactly.
It's a performance.
And look at the campaigns in the 19th century.
And they were brutal.
They just weren't on television.
The one corrective in a democracy is the vote.
Our moment is now.
KARL ROVE: If you've never been involved in politics,
don't be afraid to get started.
DAVID AXELROD: It is really important
to be agents of change.
KARL ROVE: Politics is a wonderful, noble profession,
and it ought to be the passion of every single American.
DAVID AXELROD: If you want change, this is your choice.
Well said.
DAVID AXELROD: I'm David Axelrod.
KARL ROVE: I'm Karl Rove.
BOTH: And this is our MasterClass.