Barack Obama

Hey, so the Vanity Fair Africa issue hit newsstands today! Guest-edited by Bono! We rushed out to get our copy and brought it to the office where we realized that, you know, we're kind of shallow. Isn't Africa kind of last fall? We don't have the attention spans for that stuff. You know what we do care about, though? Celebrities! And with twenty different celebrity-studded covers, the magazine kept up involved for a good five minutes looking at the Annie Leibovitz compositions. Each one blends one subject from the previous cover, so you've got your Don Cheadle and Barack Obama giving way to Barack and Muhammad Ali. Here's a handy guide to who you'll want to look for at the newsstand. more »

Here's a cartoon drawn by Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) for a neurofibromatosis charity. The doodle, which sold on eBay for $2075, "features Senators Chuck Schumer, the head of the Senate Democrats' campaign arm; Harry Reid, the majority leader, Dianne Feinstein of California and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts." How can you not love this guy? He's a stirring speaker, he offers the nation a chance to heal its differences, and he's completely able to capture Chuck Schumer's gigantic, Jewy hooknose! We think the choice is clear.

A Doodle Is Worth $2,000 [NYT]

You know, in addition to being BLACK.

Drudge Report
Earlier: Matt Drudge Cannot Hide His Deep Knowledge Of African-American Culture

This morning's Sun reports that—due to his stunning popularity—the Barack Obama fundraiser already moved to The Grand Hyatt hotel from its original location was selling out its new block of tickets quickly. This did not come as news to us! We'd already gotten the following missive from event planner Serena Torrey, who is better known as New York magazine's flack. more »

Serena Torrey, the ice goddess publicist responsible for letting the world know just how excellent New York magazine—and everything associated with it—really is, may be more talented than any of us really know. She spends her days toiling in the trenches of Mosstown, lovingly handcrafting paeans to the mag's ever-growing ad page count, but she can't stop working in her spare time!

A reader forwards a copy of an invite from New York Magazine P.R. woman Serena Torrey to potential Obama donors, announcing that Obama's Friday night event in New York has been moved from a night-club to a larger hotel space.

Obama Moves to Bigger Space, Again [The Politico]

Hopes and Dreams: The Story of Barack Obama, an "instant-book" slapped together by a freelance writer in two weeks, will be published this week by Black Dog & Leventhal. According to the WSJ, this is an instance of a burgeoning trend: "with book sales declining, publishers increasingly are looking for quick-turnaround opportunities, hoping to tap public interest in a subject when it is hot." Oh, those desperate publishers, always looking for new ways to compensate for their tragically declining sales! more »

The scene at Penn Station, where Radar sits alongside Mujer. Many Spanish-speakers are concerned about the heterosexuality of their babies, so this may be a savvy move.

The Sun and The Washington Post have both reported that Barack Obama is using sinister social-networking and uploading-while-drunk tool Facebook.com to attract young voters. He joins a long line of adults who don't quite get it, like fellow Senator Evan Bayh, a man that includes both "Graeter's Black Raspberry Chip Ice Cream" and "War on Terror" on his list of likes. Of course, the kids aren't entirely okay either—Obama's Facebook profile indicates he's received 185 clip-art-for-charity "gifts." The first one? A bar of soap. Enjoy it, our articulate and clean black friend.

Obama backers find voice on Facebook [WP]
Obama's Facebook [NY Sun]
EARLIER: Barack Obama: One Fine-Smelling Black Man

"Former President Bill Clinton helped his wife, Hillary, secure..." Wow, who would have thought that Bill and Hill would be the ones who finally tracked that Osama guy down! GO TEAM AMERICA! Oh. "...secure a key endorsement from an African-American leader who was being courted by Illinois Sen. Barack Obama." So it's just yet another Obama/Osama typo—one at least, we see, corrected in later editions. But we had our little flags all ready to wave and everything!

Bill Snares Obama Guy [NYP]

Jason Horowitz leads today's Observer with a profile of Delaware Senator - and presidential candidate - Joe Biden. As Biden surveys his rivals on the Democratic side, he offers up the kind of quote that a reporter only dreams of getting:

Mr. Biden is equally skeptical--albeit in a slightly more backhanded way--about Mr. Obama. "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," he said. "I mean, that's a storybook, man."

Biden Unbound: Lays Into Clinton, Obama, Edwards [NYO]

This has been around for a few days, but we hadn't seen it. Pretty awesome, no? Our favorite part is how "Barry" was apparently styled for his yearbook shoot by, like, Jermaine Jackson. No, wait, that's not our favorite part. Our favorite part is the "still life" featuring what we're assuming is a beer bottle and a book of matches. You know, like for lighting your drug cigarettes! So badass. We thought we'd go ahead and do the same kind of point-counterpoint with the Democratic presidential frontrunners that we did that other time; after the jump, the secretary of the chess club bares her chompers. more »