BUT, MELVIN, HE'S SO HISTORIC: Obama, Axelrod and Jarrett run the most negative presidential campaign in history

But you already knew that, right?

Many predicted this would be the most negative presidential campaign in history, with outside groups blanketing swing-state airwaves with attack ads.

But few thought the hostility would erupt quite so intensely from the candidates themselves...

...The record-setting rancor reflects the circumstances of the 2012 race: Obama couldn’t run on an economic rebound, and some of his biggest legislative accomplishments, such as his health care law, are unpopular in the polls...

Obama is so far removed from his 2008 campaign promises that his current campaign is unrecognizable by comparison. His is the first such effort to divide Americans by class, income, gender, race, religion, ethnic heritage, and any number of myriad other, arbitrary categories.