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Like the article says, Panetta, Gates, and Clinton didn't owe their jobs to Obama, so they felt freer to make criticisms after leaving office.

Some failures are too big to go unnoticed, though, even (once in a while) by those who are paid to tout a party line.

If talking heads never, ever acknowledge a mistake by their own party's leaders sooner or later their credibility goes down.

So if Axelrod ventures a criticism once in a blue moon it could actually help his career (so long as he doesn't overdo it).

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...Clinton didn’t owe their jobs to Obama,
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Clinton was given the SoS position to keep her from challenging Obama in 2012; no other reason.