Protesting Your Way to the White House

The standard advice from career counselors is that complaining about one’s salary is the wrong way for an employee to go about getting a promotion or a raise. While in the short run, management might seem to give in, hoping to quiet a squeaky wheel, in the long run the strategy usually backfires. The bosses merely wait for some opportune moment down the line to can the rabble-rouser. Candidates for president of the United States should heed this advice as well.

Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) supporters in the media have reacted pretty loudly to widespread criticism that he is acting arrogantly. Some have complained that the criticism stems from a racially motivated desire to put him in his place.

This is preposterous. Despite — some say because of — his race, Obama has a serious chance of winning the White House this fall. The last thing anyone with any degree of intelligence cares about at this point is race. The central question is: Which candidate can convince Americans that he will govern more responsibly?

Candidate Obama has already passed the personality test. Now he needs to pass the sobriety test. Furthermore, his supporters would do well to remind Sen. Obama that winning the presidency is a privilege, not a right, and that protesting the vetting process will not get him there.

If Mr. Obama is sincere about leading this country to a better future, and not just trying to put another notch in his belt, he needs to seriously tone down the triumphant atmosphere a bit and listen to the people whose votes are necessary for him to succeed.