Is the willingness of celebrity weeklies to engage in political fodder – Bill Clinton essays, Barack Obama “Just Like Us?” spreads – evidence that tabloid readers are interested in mixing politics with escapism, or are the editors so starved for actual content that isn’t recycled from the blogs that they’re looking to any pop culture talking points for an easy pictorial?

We’re going to go with a more simple rationale:

• Tabloid readers are primarily women, and now that a lady is running for president, they’re more willing to forgo a few pages on the Duff sisters for a Hillary interview.

• Barack Obama, who’s shown he’s worth looking at on the beach, is studly enough for a tabloid’s front pages.

• The fight between the candidates rivals Lauren v. Heidi.

[NYT]