New Yorker cover

Says cartoon insults Muslims. But he keeps his distance. Maureen Dowd worries about what liberals will laugh about once he’s president. After some suggestions that the race was more or less tied, a new poll shows him with an 8-point lead.

Let’s face it: Barack Obama has to be the most exotic candidate running for the presidency in recent memory. He describes himself as the kid with the funny name who could only hope to be president in a country like America. When we examine his biography, you see that this biracial, Hawaiian born, son of a single mother, and former community organizer is not your regular candidate for president. Add to this that his father was a non-practicing Muslim who left him at the age of 2, a mother who was quite possibly agnostic, and the fact that Obama attended Catholic school in Indonesia and, again, he is not your regular candidate for president. We also know that for a period of close to 5 years, Obama was raised by his maternal grandparents, Toot and Gramps. When it comes to the race question, Obama is not your normal pro civil rights leader. In fact, his candidacy has, as is often stated, transcended racial politics. He has been in the U.S. Senate for less than 4 years, and is only 46 years of age, which would make him, along with Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, one of the youngest presidents. A graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law, coming from a family of modest means, and you have a true American story—potential Hollywood material.

…and demand an apology from The New Yorker for insulting Obama… no, wait, for insulting Muslims and people who wear Afros and burn flags, or wait again… should that be, for insulting people who believe that the Obamas are Muslims who wear Afros and burn flags… Gosh, satire is so confusing!