To be fair, this reputation is not necessarily unfounded.
Failure could shake not only the economy, but also Mr. Obama's presidency, given his reputation, fair or not, for drawing red lines and then watching foes cross them.
His popular reputation, fair or not, was shaped by a single sound bite on the eve of the 2006 W.G.C.-Accenture Match Play Championship.
Soundbite innovations aside, for 2010 the main focus is on consolidating the fair's unique reputation as not only an important marketplace but also a creative hub.
García will seek to repair his image as Philadelphia sports fans again find themselves defending their unruly reputation, fair or unfair, before a national and international audience.
They tend to see online art sales as more accessible and transparent than sales in the gallery world, with its reputation, fair or not, for being a kind of exclusionary club.
That is the cable channel whose slogan, "Get More Action," sums up the sometimes sophomoric, always male-centered programming that has cemented Spike's reputation, fair or not, as a sort of Maxim magazine for television.
His evolution from political sideshow to hard-charging challenger is upending his own reputation, fair or not, as a deft behind-the-scenes operator and consensus builder who, in public, is judicious and understated, at times to his own detriment.
Like many others, Mutombo believed the man who was once his Georgetown University frontline companion was a maturing, emerging presence in the National Basketball Association after the early years of his career, when his personal reputation, fair or not, was more akin to his on-court inelegance.
It remains to be seen whether or not the name will play internationally, though, thanks to it's fair-to-middling reputation here.
