That Barack Obama picture—on the cover of this month's issue of the men's magazine—looked familiar. Slightly less of Obama's hands are visible; the Democratic candidate's shoulders are weirdly hunched; and the picture's rendered in black and white. But it's obviously from the same Platon shoot as the one that illustrated Time's December cover story. Embarrassing, though it's hard to condemn Esquire: determined insurgent politicians have a limited range of body language; the photo editors can safely assume readers have short memories; and the likely Democratic nominee needs the support of Scots-Irish racists in Appalachia more than he does the goodwill of Esquire's photo department or metropolitan readers.

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