ike/ Leggo His Eggo

In the pantheon of public figures who have become caricatures of themselves, Maureen Dowd ranks up there with Dick Vitale and maybe this fine lady. I challenge you to read this column and summarize her argument. If you can make it to the end, she talks about concern that Barack Obama is becoming "too prissy about food." Apparently, he's in danger of losing the election if people don't start making fun of him more. Please, I implore you, don't kill the messenger.

But today Dowd wrote about a growing criticism about Obama: his narcissism. The chattering about Obama and his humongous ego started at about the same time that Hillary Clinton's humongous lead in national polls begin to shrink. "How could this relative newcomer be so sure of himself," they asked.

I contend that much of the "Obama's Ego" buzz came from the way his supporters supported him. Obama's minions, many of whom voted or donated for the first time, were a genuine political force, either scaring or amazing the public with their passion. Regardless, the ego issue has become part of the national lexicon of Barack Obama.

One would be hard-pressed to find a group of people more egotistical than those who seek public office. I would expand on this thought if David Brooks hadn't covered this very topic in what is probably his best column ever, which he penned in the aftermath of a particularly infamous political sex scandal.

But to run for president requires a different type of audacity altogether; to actually think that you alone are best qualified to hold the most powerful job in the world necessitates a hubris associated with some sort of disorder. But where is the evidence that Barack Obama is afflicted more severely than any of his 2008 counterparts?

Apparently, the proof is in his smile. His calm demeanor. His ability to control his temper. The way he can whip a crowd into a frenzy by just talking about his vision.

Signs of narcissism? Perhaps. But I'd like to offer a different vision of narcissism embodied. After five years in captivity, is it narcissistic to abandon your wife--who has endured a debilitating car accident--and young family who have waited patiently for you? Is it narcissistic to search the country for favorable places from which to launch your political career? Is it narcissistic to call your wife one of the most heinous words in the english language in front of journalists because she dared to make fun of your thinning hairline?

And lastly, is it narcissistic after receiving a diploma from an Ivy League University, to become what U.S. News and World Report called a "tireless and pragmatic advocate for the community" in inner city Chicago?

It would be foolhardy to assume that single anecdotes from a life prove or disprove one man's sense of self over another's. But it is the responsibility of conscientious voters and citizens to dig beneath appearances and topical arguments if they aspire to discover what motivates a candidate to seek public office.