Obamania hits the tabloids

I've returned from the Hawaiian Islands with a frightening report on the tabloidization of American politics. First an admission: I use my wife as an excuse to, on occasion, buy copies of Us Weekly and People magazines (for her, of course). Yes, buying these magazines is the literary equivalent of rubbernecking past a grisly pileup and probably less excusable. But as far as I'm concerned if you want a front row seat from which to watch the decline of Western Civilization, pick up a copy of these magazines.

So anyway, there I am at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport with an hour to kill. I shamefully plunked down my money, opened a copy of People magazine and there, sandwiched between stories about celebrity struggles with mental illness, kidnapped coeds and bombed-out bimbo pop stars, was this:I would have written this piece a little differently. "WE TAKE HIS TEMPERATURE: SOCIALIZED MEDICINE? HOT! WAR IN IRAQ? NOT!"

This incisive piece of political journalism includes lots of hard-hitting questions, such as:So this is what it comes down to? In its battle to win over women (the primary audience for People magazine) the Obama campaign thinks that the candidate should answer the questions that American babes really want to know? Because apparently they don't want to know about winning the war on terror or fixing our entitlement programs or simplifying the tax code. They want to know:Fine. I get it. On matters of style he's no different than most heterosexual men. But should a presidential candidate lower himself to this level? Before you answer, consider Obama's Us Weekly appearance, timed perfectly with People's.Us Weekly famously features candid "just like us" celebrity photos, featuring dressed-down stars doing regular things like pumping gas or walking their dogs. Not to be outdone by Brittney, here's Barack Obama's "just like us" (not-so-candid) photo shoot:B.S. CLEANUP ON ISLE 5! How many of "us" shop with secret service agents?I for one can't wait for Senator John McCain's Us Weekly treatment: "WHAT'S HE REALLY LIKE? WE TAKE HIS TEMPERATURE: THE SURGE? HOT! MITT ROMNEY? NOT!"