Excellent New Yorker profile by Larissa MacFarquhar…

There are three things that Democratic political candidates tend to do when talking with constituents: they display an impressive grasp of the minutiae of their constituents’ problems, particularly money problems; they rouse indignation by explaining how those problems are caused by powerful groups getting rich on the backs of ordinary people; and they present well-worked-out policy proposals that, if passed, would solve the problems and put the powerful groups in their place. Obama seldom does any of these things. He tends to underplay his knowledge, acting less informed than he is. He rarely accuses, preferring to talk about problems in the passive voice, as things that are amiss with us rather than as wrongs that have been perpetrated by them. And the solutions he offers generally sound small and local rather than deep-reaching and systemic…

IMHO, the New Yorker is the best print magazine there is. (The only publication that comes close is the Economist, which is the only magazine I make sure I read from cover to cover every week.) The trouble with the New Yorker, though, is that it’s generally a Big Read. I used to subscribe to it, but found the mounting pile of partially-read back numbers too reproachful. So subscribing again to the print edition has joined the list of things I am going to do when I win the Lottery. (Another one is to hire a personal tech support guy as good as DisplayLink‘s Dave Hill.)