In the process of contemplating an end-of-the-year list for the personal blog, I went through Time magazine’s covers for 2008.
Mark Hemingway dubbed Newsweek “Obamaweek” for its seemingly endless Obama covers, but their red-bordered rival usually managed to put Obama on the cover in one form or another with equal regularity.
Photos or illustrations of Obama were on the cover of issues dated November 24 (as FDR), November 17, November 10, November 3, October 27, October 20, October 6, September 29, September 1, August 11, June 23, June 16, May 19, May 12, May 5, April 28, April 21 (as a child), March 31, March 17, March 10, March 3, February 18 and January 21. That’s 23 times and we still have December to go. (And does anyone doubt that Obama will be the magazine’s Man/Person/Newsmaker of the Year?)
Now, Obama is the winner of a hard-fought presidential race, and so it’s not surprising that he was on the cover a lot. But for contrast, John McCain made the cover 10 times so far this year – on November 10, October 27, October 6, September 8, August 11, July 28, May 26, May 12, February 4, January 21.