Wag the Blog: The New Yorker and the Outrage Factor

Unless you have been under a rock for the past 48 hours, you know that the New Yorker cover featuring Barack Obama, dressed in Islamic garb, and Michelle Obama, toting an assault rifle and ammo belt, is all the rage -- or outrage -- of the presidential race.

The controversial New Yorker cover (AP)

Even as Obama prepares for a much-anticipated speech laying out his vision for the future of Iraq and John McCain continues to make his pitch to Latino voters, all that blogs and cable television want to talk about is the magazine cover.

The story has continued to burn despite the fact that neither campaign has poured any fuel on it.

Obama's campaign released a statement blasting the cover as "tasteless" and "offensive"; McCain quickly condemned the cover as well.

So, for this week's "Wag the Blog" question we want to know your explanation for why this New Yorker cover -- amid all of the other outrages, both real and perceived in this campaign -- has drawn so much attention and outrage from the political world. (While we're on the subject, make sure to read Marc Ambinder's riff on the "politics of outrage.")

Is the reaction unique to Obama, the not-so-secret whisper campaign moving around the Internet about his religion and the sensitivities among the American people about the first African American nominee for president? Or would a similarly satirical cover featuring McCain have caused the same hubbub? Why or why not?

As always, the most interesting/insightful comments will be excerpted in a post of their own later this week. Go to it!

By Chris Cillizza  |  July 14, 2008; 11:02 PM ET
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