Aug 11, 2006 6:10 pm US/Central
Barack Obama On Cover of Men's Vogue
Political Consultants Debate Mainstream Exposure
by Mike Flannery
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Courtesy: Men's Vogue Magazine
He's appeared on the covers of more magazines in the past year than some supermodels.
Illinois Senator Barack Obama is now gracing the cover of the September-October issue of Men's Vogue Magazine.
CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports on why all this exposure may not be a good thing.
A new magazine, Men's Vogue, is the latest to put Illinois's junior senator on its cover. With a story inside that compares Barack Obama to great figures in American history, concluding that "…he alone has the potential to one day be mentioned in the same breath."
"The last time a guy had a build-up like this, he had 12 Apostles around him," said Chicago poltical analyst and professor Paul Green.
While the article does not compare the senator to Jesus, it does revisit Obama's much-discussed 1980s decision to make a commitment to Christ while a community organizer on the South Side.
Celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz shot pictures of Obama with his family and at work.
He said nothing about running for president, but did say: "There are -- what? -- maybe 10 presidents in our history, out of 40-something, who you can truly say led the country. Just being the president is not a good way of thinking about it," said Obama in the article.
Referring to civil rights legislator President Lyndon Johnson, Obama added: "I'm not Johnson, but I'm fascinated by him. There's a piece of him in me…that kind of hunger, desperate to win, please, succeed, dominate."
Green and other analysts note it's not unusual for political newcomers to Washington to enjoy a big buildup. Obama's honeymoon is different, though, already two years old.
Just as his family heritage -- an African-born father and a Kansas-born white mother -- defies racial pigeonholing, Obama's managed so far to avoid the standard political labels, too.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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