Politicians don't get to that level WIHOUT being arrogant. They're all egomaniacs! No big surprise...

never heard of a candidate being criticized for acting "presidential" until a black man ran for the office.

a meme with no basis in reality!

Wow!

This just means the punditocracy will need to keep at it until they can move those poll numbers- or explain how the numbers don't really reflect the reality among voters...

those same respondents have not yet had several months of the media mindlessly repeating the accusation that Obama is arrogant. let the media do its messenger boy job and see what the polls say in October!

Has anyone polled the punditocracy? Because it only matters who they think is being arrogant, you know.

I agree with a previous comment that it's something new to criticize "the next president of the United States" (campaign boilerplate not exclusive to Obama) for acting like a winner. Obama has plenty to be confident about. He's a well-received author, and he's a well-liked teacher known for being thoughtful and provocative. (NYT had a fairly good article yesterday on his career at U Chicago, and the Chicago paper had a similar one a while back). Even without his political career, I cannot imagine why you'd expect him to be a shrinking violet.

Look at how Dubya uses self-deprecating humor. It's mostly to divert attention from his obvious failings. The class clown is now the president. You like that? It might be tolerable if he weren't also the class bully. The one time I can think of Obama being self-deprecating was in discussing his bowling. Because he sucks, and he knows it... at bowling! But when it comes to law and governance, I believe he knows what he's talking about. And he'll work hard and take the job seriously. Of that I'm certain.

Anyway, nobody thinks this is in the bag. I think what gets Republican's goats is he's not walking around with a big "L" for loser saying he's the scrappy underdog who's gonna put in a good fight (subtext "...and lose, cause I'm a big loser." Gee, the guy might actually win and he realizes it. Is this supposed to be bad?

Arrogant? Isn't owning eight homes arrogant?

It amazes me how the party of the rich trick the poor people of America into voting for them based on family values. Then, the same robber barons 'help' those same poor people by doing away with their 'death tax' and keeping their capital gains tax low.

Oh, and let's ignore health care because Dubya loves Jesus. And pay more attention to gays than schools. Yes, and that arrogant black man who is really a Muslim! How dare he get out of his place!

Some days it is really difficult to live in the red states, especially when the poor Republicans are your relatives....

Ditto to what most of the previous posters have written (e.g., memes having no basis in reality). One person's "arrogance" is another's "confidence" or "leadership ability". For eight years, we've suffered through a staggering combination of arrogance and ignorance with President Bush. I'm perfectly happy to accept a little arrogance if it comes with the genuine competence of an Obama administration. But I suspect we won't let facts get in the way of a good narrative.

"It ain't braggin' if it's true"

Often attributed to young Cassius Clay, another audacious black man accused of arrogance.

In truth we have had few presidents without the arrogance factor: Jimmy Carter (but he's a bit self-righteous), Gerald Ford (but even he had the arrogance to pardon Nixon), and Ronald Reagan (but he was acting).

It takes a bit of arrogance to run for president. God knows, no one acts more arrogantly entitled than George W. Bush. Voters tended to look at that superficial humble-servant-of-God stuff that he tends to put on when he was campaigning. They forgot that his base -- his rich peers -- were never far from his mind.

I would love to see a little humility in either candidate. I'm not holding my breath.

The most arrogant thing Obama has done thus far: The FISA betrayal.

People should look more closely at actions and less at the superficials of personality. I don't care if a politician is a bit cocky, but God forbid he betray the constitution.

Also, just for the record, John McCain skipped that vote but we all know how he would have voted. He has excused torture and spying on the American people and is willing to pursue 100 years of war. That's not just arrogance, That's dangerous.

It never seeks to amaze me how ridiculous many in the media can be. So NOW they're trying to say that Barack Obama is full of too much arrogance and too much Hubris? Come again?

You mean these SAME media folks somehow MISSED the past 7 1/2 years of George W. Bush's presidency? Talk about the height of arrogance. It took this guy 7 years to to admit he'd even made ONE mistake during his presidency--and I mean it took him a REALY long time to even think of any type of error he might have made. And you wonder WHY so many in the MSM are held in such LOW regards.

Thank goodness the PEOPLE can see through all the 'crap' most in the MSM put out there.

*SMDH*

For too long journalists have gotten away with constructing narratives rather than reporting news, rather than gathering and synthesizing facts. This whole "arrogant" "presumptuous" thing is just the latest. Sometimes I get frustrated with my fellow voters and think - god, how can people be so stupid. But, really, it is not that they are stupid it is just that they are uninformed. And this is because journalists are not doing their jobs - give people the facts about issues, about the candidates stands on issues - information that voters need to make an informed decision. Is this because journalists are lazy - sure - but it is also because they are all lackeys of the corporate interests that control media outlets. Juicy, controversial, titillating (but essentially meaningless)narratives bring in revenue. That is because readers or viewers find these stories more compelling than a bland story that simply sets forth the facts - hey, I like a good, juicy story as much as anyone.

But we live in dangerous times which demand that the American people are informed and journalists have disgracefully dropped the ball. Look, if you want to create narrative don't become a journalist - what you really want to be is a novelist or screenwriter.