'Tasteless' cover, fascinating story
NEW YORKER | Magazine delves into Obama's political roots
WASHINGTON -- The shame of the controversy over the cover of the latest edition of the New Yorker -- portraying Barack and Michelle Obama in the Oval Office, her wielding an AK-47, him in a turban and robe outfit suggesting he is a Muslim -- is that it draws attention away from a very good story inside by Ryan Lizza about Obama's Chicago political roots.
(Cover credit New Yorker)
The imagery in the cartoon is a savage lampoon. The Obamas are fist dabbing in front of a portrait of Osama bin Laden, over a fireplace with an American flag in flames.
The Obama team -- and in rare agreement the McCain campaign -- said the cover was tasteless. Obama top strategist David Axelrod told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" it was a "cartoon poorly executed. . . . Did we like it? No. Is it the focus of our attention? No."
John McCain said, "We completely agree with the Obama campaign, it's tasteless and offensive."
Rachel Sklar of The Huffington Post discussed the cover with New Yorker editor David Remnick, who said it was satire and that New Yorker covers do not have to relate to the story.
"What I think it does is hold up a mirror to the prejudice and dark imaginings about Barack Obama's -- both Obamas' -- past, and their politics," Remnick said.
What it does is reinforce bad information. Polls have shown that between 10 percent and 12 percent of people think Obama, a Christian whose middle name is Hussein, is a Muslim.
The cover hides an in-depth story about Obama's political roots, taking us to Hyde Park, the Gold Coast and Springfield. Lizza brings us inside Obama's Chicago political world and the political culture that spawned the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Among Lizza's scoops:
• • Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th), with Obama at the launch of his political career -- when he ran for state Senate and knocked his opponents off the ballot -- is lukewarm in the article and is critical of Obama's relationship with Tony Rezko. She also sidesteps a question about whether Obama has retained his personal integrity.
"I asked her if what she considered slights or betrayals were simply the necessary accommodations and maneuvering of a politician making a lightning transition from Hyde Park legislator to presidential nominee. 'Can you get where he is and maintain your personal integrity?' she said. 'Is that the question?' She stared at me and grimaced. 'I'm going to pass on that.' "
• • Lizza reports that Rep. Rahm Emanuel told him that Obama was a "top strategist" for Gov. Blagojevich's first gubernatorial campaign.
He and Obama "participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor," Emanuel said. "We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two." A spokesman for Blagojevich confirmed Emanuel's account, although David Wilhelm, who now works for Obama, said that Emanuel had overstated Obama's role.
• • The 2000 remap of state Senate districts is a critical benchmark in the Obama history. With Democrats in control of the legislature--and the maps -- Obama in 2001 was able to create a district that stretched from Hyde Park to the Gold Coast. That let him connect with a network of wealthy donors whose support was crucial to his future success.
"In the end, Obama's North Side fund-raising base and his South Side political base were united in one district. He now represented Hyde Park operators like Lois Friedberg-Dobry as well as Gold Coast doyennes like Bettylu Saltzman, and his old South Side street operative Al Kindle as well as his future consultant David Axelrod."