Dee Dee Myers (former Clinton Press Secretary) has some advice for Barack Obama.

Part of Obama’s persona is self-reliance. He’s calm; he’s cool; he’s self-possessed. In many ways, he has tried to define himself in opposition to Clinton’s sometimes needy, often undisciplined, emotionalism.

But while eschewing emotion — and its companion, vulnerability — Obama should be careful not to sacrifice empathy, the “I feel your pain” connection that sustained Clinton. This connection is the shorthand people use to measure their leaders’ intentions. If people believe you’re on their side, they will trust your decisions.

Too often, Obama leaves the impression that he stands alone — and likes it that way. Clinton was fond of saying, “We’re all going up or down together.” Obama must make sure that people know that he needs their help as much as they need his.

The first thing I could appreciate is how Democrats celebrate their president's personal qualities regardless of what they are. When Clinton was President, empathy was a great thing. When Obama was elected--an almost polar opposite to Clinton, they all just loved his Spock-like demeanor. If the next Democrat President turns out to be a foul-mouthed, obnoxious boob, they'll find those to be positive aspects as well.

Myers is somewhat more sophisticated, understanding the political value of empathy, while remaining clearly ignorant of its nature.

Empathy creates trust, and confidence in the leader can be the difference between success and failure. Unfortunately for Obama, empathy just can't be faked. The picture above is a case in point. Bush was in an uncontrolled environment, his every move being recorded for posterity, including this one. The look on his face says everything.

Its also unfair to Barack Obama. There are race and gender issues at work here that can't be ignored. Whether fair or not, white man running for office is going is presumed to have the intellectual capacity and emotional control to do the job. Empathy is a bonus, a quality that 'balances the force'.

A woman, on the other hand, is going to be presumed to be empathic, while her intellectual capacity and emotional control will be naturally suspect. Its quite an irony that few people had any doubt of Hillary Clinton's 'manly' qualities, but wondered if she was still a woman underneath her hard-bitten exterior. A few tears went a long way to reestablish her gender bona fides. Its notable that Sarah Palin's biggest obstacle is to sell her own 'Spock-like' qualities.

A black man is probably in the toughest spot of all. Society doesn't automatically allocate the black man an empathic nature, intellectual capacity or self-control. Obama is doing well to have convinced the American electorate that he has two out of the three.

In spite of this, I have no illusions that health-care might have passed had Obama been more charming. Something about pigs and lipstick...