Vanity Fair Parody Of New Yorker Cover Shows McCain Some "Love"

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) got a dose of the "love" that he has said the media has for his rival late Tuesday after Vanity Fair posted a cartoon on its website satirizing the New Yorker's controversial cover of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) last week.

The cartoon shows the McCain, who turns 72 in August and will be the oldest American president in history if he wins the election, holding a walker while fist-bumping his wife Cindy, whose history of addiction with pain killers is parodied with a bottle of pills. The Vietnam War veteran has a bandage on his head, a reference to his facial scars caused by skin cancer. A portrait of President George W. Bush hangs on the wall above a fireplace where the Constitution burns.

"We here at Vanity Fair maintain a kind of affectionate rivalry with our downstairs neighbors at The New Yorker," Vanity Fair said on its website. "We had our own presidential campaign cover in the works, which explored a different facet of the Politics of Fear... in a selfless act of solidarity with our downstairs neighbors here at the Condé Nast building, we'd like to share it with you."

The New Yorker came under attack more than a week ago after it released used an "incendiary" cartoon depicting Obama as a radical Muslim on its Sunday cover. The cartoon by Barry Blitt shows Obama dressed in traditional Muslim garb, fist-bumping with his wife Michelle, who is in green military fatigues. In the background is a portrait of Osama bin Laden and a fireplace in which an American flag is burning.

New Yorker editor David Remnick has said the magazine was trying "to hold up a mirror to the absurd" attacks against Obama.

McCain's campaign released a video titled "Obama Love" ridiculing the media on Tuesday for what it said was its unreasonable fascination for his rival. The video features reporters including Lee Cowan, Lou Dobbs and Tucker Carlson heaping praise for the freshman senator. MSNBC's Chris Matthews is also shown describing a "thrill going up my leg" during an Obama speech.

"It's pretty obvious that the media has a bizarre fascination with Barack Obama," the campaign said Tuesday in an email announcing the video's launch. "The media is in love with Barack Obama. If it wasn't so serious, it would be funny."