“Look, I think cynicism is a marketable asset these days, and you see it very clearly in this Ebola story,” Mr. Axelrod said. “There’s an impetus to create fear and then market it, exploit it. And that’s true on the part of the media, and that’s true on the part of the politicians.” Tom Davis, a Republican former congressman from Virginia, said both parties had contributed to the toxic environment, as had an obsessive news media. Every element in the system is rooting for failure.