With Barack Obama headed to the White House, the lady publishing industry is working on the biggest get of the year: The first post-election Michelle Obama cover.

One might expect Conde Nast's Vogue to be leading the race, given all that editor Anna Wintour has done for the First Couple (lavish fundraisers, praising editorial), not to mention corporate cousin Vanity Fair's fawning coverage.

Our publishing insiders tell us Wintour has a lock on Michelle for the March issue, and that it's 99 percent locked up. Only problem? Ebony might beat 'em to it.

WWD says the black lifestyle magazine is stalling its January issue closing in a last minute effort to score an interview with the future First Lady. But even if Vogue gets beat, it'll still be making history: A Michelle cover in March will still, like, make the number of times Vogue featured a black person on its cover — following LeBron James, Oprah, Halle Berry, and Jennifer Hudson — able to be counted on one hand.