Bob McCarty Writes

While numerous ballot-casting events are sure to capture the nation’s attention next month, magazine writers are doing their best to make or break some White House bids.

In an Elle Magazine article, The H Bomb, it appears writer Judith Pollitt’s mission is to help Democrat Hillary Clinton by painting her as a much-vilified and misunderstood female who’s been the recipient of many slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. She concludes by saying she won’t vote for Clinton merely because she’s a woman and, instead, will wait to see how things pan out before the New York primary takes place.

Vanity Fair published an article, A Tale of Two Giulianis, in it’s January 2008 issue. In it, writer Michael Shnayerson uses his below-the-byline lead paragraph to tease the fact that Republican Rudy Giuliani’s divorce lawyer told reporters two months before 9/11 that the mayor of the city—beleaguered by an angry wife who wanted more money—had only $7,000 to his name.

Soon after, the writer explains, “Perhaps it wasn’t quite the truth.” Shnayerson goes on to offer details leading him to describe Giuliani as “…a picture of a politician leading a parade, as Mayor Giuliani so often did. Only the marchers behind him aren’t drum majorettes or wartime veterans or firefighters or police. They’re a ragtag band of Texas lawyers and energy lobbyists, penny-stock sharpies and security-industry entrepreneurs, agog with visions of the ultimate pay-to-play presidency.”

Gentlemen’s Quarterly (a.k.a., GQ) published an article, IS THIS GUY FOR REAL?, about Republican Mike Huckabee. If the subhead — Republican Mike Huckabee has a slim chance of making it to the White House. But that won’t stop him from shaking up the GOP race. — causes you to think writer Ross Douthat holds a negative impression of the former Arkansas governor-turned presidential hopeful, you’d be wrong. In the last line of the article prior to a back-and-forth interview section, Douthat writes, “Huckabee’s mix of economic populism and social conservatism might just be the future of the post-Bush GOP.”

Finally, the most-surprising article in recent days appeared on Christmas Day in Christianity Today under the headline, Romney facing challenges in presidential bid. Much to my surprise, the article did not address the issue of Romney’s Mormon faith in detail greater than a mere one-time mention. When I reached the end of the piece, I figured out why the subject had not been addressed: It was a Reuters wire service article that CT had published.