One thing you forgot to mention: New Yorker readers are a tiny minority; a tiny minority will see the cartoon; a tiny minority cannot affect the election significantly. The publicity that resulted from the cartoon makes the New Yorker available to a large minority through the Internet. Who does this publicity benefit besides the New Yorker? Well… it doesn’t benefit John McCain, so….
It seems obvious the the New Yorker will flack for any Democratic candidate and attack any Republican one, any time. This cartoon is devious enough to rate approval from Nixon; it puts the “prejudice” of the hicks out there (who don’t read the New Yorker) up for ridicule and also gives Obama another chance to be self-righteous; it’s simply part of the publicity the magazine gives to the latest Hope their smug and condescending readership requires.
I would have to see a New Yorker cover satirizing Obama to believe that the New Yorker has a true satirical spirit.
