Richard Nixon had it when he first ran against JFK. Thomas Dewey had it back in the 40's. Al Gore was so overflowing with it that he refused the help of a two-time incumbent. More recently, Hillary Clinton had much more of it in the early primary season than anyone else.

So what is it... Money? Power? Media attention?

Nope. What they (and countless others) all have in common is the secret weapon that can seal the outcome of the election -- arrogance.

It's that swagger that says you're a winner, or the attitude you can afford to take with some journalists and politicians. It shows in the way you can pack them in from miles around when you make speeches, no matter how inconsequential.  It's right there in your campaign funding, where you only need to wish for cash and it seems to magically appear. Barack Obama's sure got it these days.

Trouble is, that level of arrogance almost always comes back to bite you in the ass. Witness:

• Nixon's arrogance led to his stunning defeat by Kennedy, directly contributing to his subsequent heightened paranoia and ultimately to the Watergate/resignation scandal.
  
• Dewey's campaign coasted to the finish line because he thought the game was in the bag, but who can forget that infamous "Dewey Defeats Truman" newspaper headline?
• Al Gore... He declined Bill Clinton's assistance (which may have been a smart choice in retrospect), but he couldn't even win his home state.
• Hillary was christened the presumptive nominee for so long that she forgot to run a primary race, and that could cost her a legacy.

John McCain tries his best to get on the evening news, but he can't seem to compete these days with Obama. Likfe Truman before him, McCain keeps plugging away while rock-star Obama keeps wowing the crowd.

As I look at the latest scenes of Europe screaming for Obama, and listen to the US news media fawning over his every breath, I have to wonder when the shine will suddenly come off this bandwagon. Obama had better learn from history and tone it down some -- American voters love attitude, but they love tearing down the favorite even more.