It is fascinating to observe the latest criticisms of Barack Obama. From conservatives and liberals alike we have begun to hear a new mantra, "he's too arrogant, he's being presumptuous." Let's be frank about what is really going on here. It is a new racial code.

Virtually everything about the Obama campaign has debunked the conventional wisdom: He outperformed and outstrategized Hillary Clinton in the primary season, and vanquished the Clinton machine. Goaded by John McCain to travel overseas, Obama toured the Middle East and Europe in a manner that was successful beyond all prediction. Despite the wishful thinking of Republicans that Obama would be snubbed and rebuffed by our troops in the Persian Gulf, they mobbed him with joy and excitement. France's Sarkozy and Britain's Gordon Brown treated Obama with uncommon fanfare, and Sarkozy offered that the French would be "delighted" if Obama won the election. The 200,000 cheering Berliners who listened to Obama's speech symbolized something that I blogged about back on May 19, after John McCain's invidious comment that Obama was the "candidate of Hamas":

Moreover, in trying to tie Obama to Hamas, McCain completely missed the point. Hamas aside, Obama is the favored candidate of the entire international community. If there were a world-wide referendum on our presidency, Obama would trounce McCain. He would win in England, he would win in France, he would win in Canada, he would win throughout the world, precisely because he has had the same inspirational effect overseas that he has had at home. The international community is looking for diplomatic leadership.

Finally, Obama has led John McCain in almost every poll since the he became the presumptive Democratic nominee. I list these accomplishments not to sing Obama's praises; I do it rather, to point out how improbable and singular Obama's success has been. Barack Obama's candidacy has been the ultimate "man bites dog" story, an African-American candidate who has garnered a mass following. This is unheard of in American politics, and we have now begun to see the blowback. It comes in the form of "Who does he think he is!?" To be blunt about it, Obama is now being criticized for things for which no white candidate would ever be faulted. Let's take a look at some Obama's presumed offenses:

1) He's an Ivy Leaguer. The last three presidents, Bush junior, Clinton, and Bush senior, all had Ivy League educations. Clinton also spent time at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. When did you ever hear carping about their Ivy League connections? When was it ever suggested that any of the three must be "elitist" because they went to Yale, or Harvard, or Oxford? Indeed with George W. Bush, the criticism was precisely the opposite, that his grades may not have qualified him for so fine a school as Harvard Business School. But there was never any hint that the three presidents' backgrounds were in any way disqualifying. But we do hear that about Barack Obama.

Just yesterday, when Virginia Governor Tim Kaine's name emerged as a leading veep candidate, one writer suggested that because both Obama and Kaine went to Harvard Law School, the combination might be too "elitist" for the electorate. Huh? The sad truth is, Americans have gotten so used to the idea of African-Americans as underachievers academically, the image of Barack Obama becomes a little unsettling for some. Hence, in the minds of some voters, he becomes "elitist."

2) The "bitter comments." Obama's comments that small town America, when experiencing economic distress, clings to "guns and religion," caused a firestorm. And while it is easy to see how the remarks could be seen as patronizing, I believe that there was more to the reaction. Throughout history, we have gotten used to whites being patronizing and paternalistic toward the black community. What we don't often hear is a black man saying condescending things about the white community. So Obama's comment stood as another man bites dog story. And once again, the reaction of the blue collar community was, "Who the hell does he think he is!? This black guy thinks he's better than we are!"

Yes, Obama's words were ill-chosen, but it was his race that added the extra sting to his remarks. And the sad truth is, Obama's statement that things like guns and religion were hurting his prospects with blue-collar workers was baloney anyway. After all, those issues didn't hurt Hillary Clinton. The real problem that Obama had (and still has) in the hinterlands of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, is that he's black!

It is to his great credit that Obama has learned that the best way to deal with this issue is to address it head-on, rather than tiptoeing around it. That's why Claire McCaskill (still number one on my wish list for veep) introduced Obama this way in front of 2000 cheering, white, Springfield, Missourians yesterday:

They said a young black guy named Barack Obama couldn't get elected to the United States Senate from Illinois. They were wrong... They say he's arrogant, not patriotic, blah, blah, blah...The truth is he's humble, he's patriotic, and he's a devout Christian.

Obama, for his part, added:

Nobody thinks that Bush and McCain have a real answer to the challenges we face. So what they're going to try to do is make you scared of me. You know, he's not patriotic enough, he's got a funny name, you know, he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.

When Obama made the comment about the dollar bills, the audience (mostly rural and white) chucked heartily en masse: They knew damned well what he was talking about.

3. "I am a symbol..." In one of the most ill-conceived and reprehensible columns I've seen in a long time, Washington Post writer Dana Milbank bends over backwards, trying to make his case that Obama has gone from the "presumptive" nominee, to the "presumptuous nominee." Milbank starts out with this curious indictment:

He (Obama) ordered up a teleconference with the (current president's) Treasury secretary, granted an audience to the Pakistani prime minister and had his staff arrange for the chairman of the Federal Reserve to give him a briefing. Then, he went up to Capitol Hill to be adored by House Democrats in a presidential-style pep rally.

Let's be blunt. This is disgraceful stuff. Does Milbank seriously object to Obama meeting with economic advisors such as Paulson, Bernanke, Rubin and Volcker? Bernanke briefed John McCain in March on the potential rescue of ailing firm Bear Stearns, but apparently, Milbank thinks that was fine. Milbank's loopy column notwithstanding, we should be concerned if Obama did not meet with such advisors, not that he is meeting with them. Further, note the language that Milbank uses: In Milbank's parlance, Obama didn't "take part" in a teleconference with Paulson; rather, he "ordered up" a teleconference, as if by a snap of his finger. Obama didn't "confer" with the Pakistani Prime Minister; rather, he "granted an audience to the Prime Minister." I'm surprised Milbank didn't take it a step further and say that Obama "deigned to speak with" the Prime Minister."

But the worst of Milbank's shameful piece is yet to come: Milbank writes that Obama, while meeting with "adoring" congressional Democrats, declared:

I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.

This is the quote that launched a million conservative bloggers, each complaining about Obama's arrogance. The problem is, Milbank butchered Obama's real quote:

It has become increasingly clear in my travel, the campaign, that the crowds, the enthusiasm, 200,000 people in Berlin, is not about me at all. It’s about America. I have just become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.

Obviously the real quote conveys a completely different meaning, but not the one that suited Milbank's purposes. My question is two-fold: First, how does Milbank sleep at night? And second, does the Washington Post have any editors?

It has become clear to me that over this campaign Obama has been held to a different standard than that of white candidates. What passes for confidence--or even acceptable puffery--among white candidates. becomes unacceptable arrogance if done by Obama. And even the term "arrogance" is a euphemism. What they're really saying is that he is "uppity." My advice to Obama? Keep being uppity; they'll get used to it.