Reply #143: I like it. I understand that it is an idealized depiction, suggesting that

[saltpoint]

the candidate is so favorably held that he can walk on water, or in it, or whatever, and that roses appear unbidden in his aura as he strides ashore in a modern U.S. city.

The bridge in the backdrop is a link not only from one shore to another but to a new era whose catalyst is Obama's candidacy.

The stallion bears the good Horseman of the new Apocalypse. He's a good horse, sturdy and dutiful but mythic in every good respect. He inhabits the water as well as the land and so is likely among Poseidon's water-steeds. The Greeks could have told us all about Poseidon and his steeds, and it was the Greeks who gave us democracy.

The bridge connects. The horse bears the prophecy on its sturdy mythic back.

The image is messianic. Hope writ large. An exaggerated affirmation which gauges the deep despair of the last 8 years. It exaggerates the ordinary, but on purpose, and is testimony to why John McCain will not be the next president. The Obama image generates roses; McCain's would produce thorns.

Not pictured in the cover are the throngs of welcomers on the shore, eager for this new messenger.

- - -

I don't have any problem with an exaggerated image in the service of a hopeful direction. After the NEW YORKER cover of last week, I think Obama is owed this one.