Though Us Weekly's attention to Barack and Hillary made headlines in the media industry, it's unclear whether the coverage – Hillary's fashion, Barack is "Just Like Us" – actually helped sell magazines. This week, the first true test: Michelle and Barack are on the cover.

This is a very interesting departure for Janice Min's celeb weekly, and a risky one; when In Touch tried going the "serious" route last April with a cover on the Virgina Tech massacre, the issue bombed at newsstands. Only People has successfully tackled celebrities and real-life folks each week with commercial success, though it's been part of the brand since the beginning.

So how come this non-celeb cover might just work?

• The Obamas' story is not one of tragedy, like Virginia Tech, which can turn people off at the checkout aisle. (Jennifer Aniston's personal tragedies, meanwhile, are still fair game.)

• Like the Kennedys, the Obamas are celebrities who exist outside the political realm. That is, even people who don't follow the Beltway sway can have, what they believe to be, an informed opinion about the couple.

• There's the love story. The against-all-odds rise to prominence. And, of course, their attention to fashion and style, or at least the ability of Us editors to pluck out the necessary plotlines to make the case.

All of which makes for, if there ever was one, the perfect political couple that plays into a celebrity-hungry appetite. (Compare this with the extremely unlikely possibility of John and Cindy McCain gracing the cover of Us for a clearer understanding.)

And Us has one other little thing going for it this week: The celebrity gossip slate is EMPTY. (Just look at the three other stories plugged on the cover. Recycled!) If there was ever a time to test out an Obama cover story, it's certainly during the week when the most exciting news is Britney Spears' selling her house.

(N.B.: Giving Obama the cover, meanwhile, is one more notch on Jann Wenner's Political Leanings bedpost.)