Consistency. Sincerity. Lack of Anger. Three tenets for politicians to live by. Consistency is easy enough to gauge. Sincerity is more subjective, but voters know it when they see it. Anger is easy to judge thanks to television.

John Kerry never got past his inconsistent image as a flip-flopper. Fernando Ferrer never got passed the insincere moment he told a gathering of NYPD sergeants he no longer considered the police killing of Amadou Diallo a crime. Howard Dean never got past his nationally televised angry outburst after losing Iowa.

These three tenets came to mind the other day when Ken Mehlman went on ABC to play the anger card against Senator Clinton. Mr. Mehlman said Mrs. Clinton “seems to have a lot of anger,” and then noted, “I don’t think the American people, if you look historically, elect angry candidates.” He’s right about history even if he’s not quite right about Mrs. Clinton.

Mr. Mehlman currently leads the Republican National Committee, a reward for his stewardship of President Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign – a campaign that embodied consistency, sincerity and lack of anger. Say what you want about President Bush and his policies, but he is consistent, comes across as sincere and rarely displays even a hint of anger in public. It’s easy to picture the president pausing before answering a reporter’s question, providing himself that crucial split-second to muster a smile and a nod that mask any inner anger he might truly feel.

If Mr. Mehlman is the preacher of political pleasantness, he is ideally cast in Washington against Dr. Dean, the angriest of angry men. Dr. Dean’s reward for shouting down his own candidacy was leadership of the Democratic National Committee. And Democrats are surprised he’s having trouble raising money?

Dr. Dean’s scream demonstrated that anger is self-generated, not a label created by opponents. That’s good news for Mrs. Clinton. Just because the leader of the opposition party calls her angry doesn’t mean she really is. Anger is not Mrs. Clinton’s issue these days. She needs to worry about sincerity.

Mrs. Clinton was already vulnerable on the sincerity front when she showed up at Al Sharpton’s annual event commemorating Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Even the senator’s Democratic supporters have been bewildered recently by her conveniently timed nuances on abortion and flag burning. Even her attitude towards the Iraq war increasingly seems more like political contortion than genuine feeling.

So when Mrs. Clinton last month declared the House of Representatives “has been run like a plantation, and you know what I’m talking about,” the pandering light lit up. In essence, Mrs. Clinton compared Republicans to slave-owners in front of a largely black audience at an event honoring perhaps the greatest black leader in American history.

The Clintons are royalty in Harlem, so it’s easy to see why Mrs. Clinton felt comfortable crossing the line that day. Her remarks marked a rare misstep on the campaign trail. But while manipulative (a close cousin of insincere), her remarks were not angry. Mr. Mehlman is correct that Mrs. Clinton is making mistakes, but he’s applying the wrong label.

Still, Democrats should listen closely to his observation about anger failing in the voting booth. Over the last decade, Republican candidates have channeled hope and opportunity while Democrats have seemed more bent on revenge and recrimination. Optimism trumps anger every time.

In Albany, the Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno, should take a lesson from his party’s chairman. Mr. Bruno is a jolly fellow whose press conferences provide Albany reporters with much needed comic relief. He doesn’t seem like the angry type most of the time.

That’s why hearing him threaten Mayor Bloomberg this week marked a momentous moment of political peril. Mr. Bruno has everything to lose by warning a billionaire mayor just reelected in a landslide: “Bullies end up getting bloody noses.”

Mr. Bruno’s leadership of the State Senate is within four seats of collapse. He is understandably upset that Mr. Bloomberg might support a Democrat for a key Republican seat in Queens. This is a classic political feud: Mr. Bruno opposed the mayor’s dream of a West Side Stadium, and State Senator Serphin Maltese, who leads the Queens Republican party, encouraged the mayor’s conservative opponent, Thomas Ognibene. Mr. Bruno looks small when he acts angry about a situation he helped create.

Instead of smiling and vowing to work with the mayor, Mr. Bruno waved a bloody fist at the mayor and added: “People that know me know that the way you deal with us is not to bully and not to threaten.” You be the judge.

Back in 2001, Mr. Bruno called a press conference to announce a plan for the state to help counties pay for Medicaid. It was a great idea. But Mr. Bruno didn’t run the idea past Governor Pataki. In retaliation, the governor fired four of Mr. Bruno’s friends from their state patronage jobs. Mr. Bruno got the message and Medicaid reimbursement disappeared from his agenda. Mr. Pataki didn’t raise hell and let voters see his disdain – he acted behind the scenes. Mr. Bruno should learn know by now that angry outbursts look selfish rather than statesmanlike.

Anger has a place in political discourse, but only mustered as a tool to promote the public good. Rudolph Giuliani’s tenure as mayor is the textbook case for anger’s short shelf-life of effectiveness.

Mr. Giuliani’s feistiness propelled him to victory in 1993, an era when voters were themselves angry about crime and filth. But as crime declined and quality of life here improved, voters tired of Mr. Giuliani’s punitive persona.

The September 11 attacks offered Mr. Giuliani the chance to showcase his most attractive political characteristics-consistent confidence and sincere determination. Notably, he was more empathetic than angry during a period in which New Yorkers and the nation needed him more than ever. Mr. Giuliani rose to the occasion and was rewarded with apt appellation of “America’s Mayor.”

If Mr. Giuliani does run for president, Democrats will surely try reviving his angry reputation. They won’t succeed unless Mr. Giuliani helps them by returning to his rowdy roots.

Mr. Mehlman has nothing to lose by calling Mrs. Clinton angry, but the strategy won’t work unless she actually starts acting that way. In the meantime, the senator needs to sustain the consistency and sincerity that helped her turn a carpetbagger caricature into senatorial victory.

Mr. Goldin’s political column appears weekly.