THE BUBBA GAP….Apparently this week’s issue of Newsweek was guest edited by Mark Penn. The cover story is blurbed like this: “Barack Obama is a Niebuhr-reading ESPN watcher. The origins of his troubles with the ‘other’ tag.” And the cover photo dramatizes this as arugula vs. beer. Cute!

And on the off chance that you don’t quite get the message, the issue also includes pieces by Karl Rove (“President Bush’s former senior adviser offers advice for fighting the ‘elistist’ label”); Jonathan Alter (“Hillary wants to cast Obama as a ‘Brother From Another Planet’”); Ellis Cose (“No matter what Obama does or what issue he takes, many voters may vote purely on demographic and racial terms”); and Raina Kelley (“With Barack Obama, it’s about much more than just race”).

That’s an impressive package. I’d say they hit pretty much every latte-sipping talking point in the book. Nice work.