campaign question

in light of this election, I have been thinking about political operatives. Weird, Huh? 

We know this is true:

Steve Schmidt < David Axelrod

and

Rick Davis < David Plouffe

I am pretty sure this much is true

Steve Schmidt < Karl Rove

What I truly wonder is this:

is Karl Rove = David Axelrod? or < ?

and 

is James Carville  = David Axelrod or Rove?

I would like to see any of these guys duke it out one time. Of course, I think Carville and Rove had less to work with. Carville had a guy with unbelievable political skill and intelligence but no discipline. Rove had a guy with decent political skill, little intelligence (relative) but great discipline as a campaigner. It seems that Axelrod had more to work with.

Just a thought. if you have a thought, try to keep it horserace related, not purely partisan.