Andrea Mitchell won't be the only one tagging along with Barack Obama's convoy to the Middle East. Name any brand name media personality, and she'll be on that plane too. Supposedly, the clamoring for a seat on Obama's plane by the nation's top political reporters is a foil to the virtual ambivalence about John McCain's own trip to the Middle East last spring, where his stop garnered barely a mention on the evening news broadcasts. So how come Obama's visit is being treated like the second coming of the messiah? Because dude is a rock star, y'all!

Here is the official way of explaining why this trip is notable:

As for the heavy coverage planned for Obama's upcoming trip, news executives said in interviews that, once again, the Democratic candidate was potentially benefiting from being a newer, untested politician. To that end, his first visit overseas since becoming the party's presumptive nominee would be an opportunity for voters to see how Obama handles one of their major concerns: his ability to handle national security matters and foreign affairs.

"If this were John McCain's first trip to the war zone, that would be a story and we would cover it big time," said Paul Friedman, the senior vice president of CBS News. "This is Senator Obama's first trip — his positions and the public's perception of him on national security issues are important."

Friedman said McCain and the Republicans have helped make the visit a bigger story because they have repeatedly questioned Obrama's credentials, keeping a running count of the number of days that have passed since Obama last visited Iraq, in 2006.

And here is the real reason: While McCain is merely a politician, Obama is a celebrity.

The news industry's fascination with Obama has carried over to general-interest magazines, with the candidate landing on considerably more covers in recent months than has McCain. In the last couple of weeks Obama has graced the front of Rolling Stone and, for the second time now, that of Us Weekly (both of which are owned by the company of a prominent Obama supporter, Jann Wenner).

Beth Jacobson, a spokeswoman for Wenner Media, said they were among the better-selling magazines of the year.

Ned Martel, the deputy editor of Men's Vogue, said, "He's what is called in the magazine world an 'interest driver.' " The magazine put Obama on its cover in 2006 and has recently dispatched the photographer Annie Liebovitz to produce another spread for an upcoming issue. It did do a feature on McCain in 2006 as well; it did not make the cover.

[NYT]