At Newsstands Everywhere, the Honorable Beach Babe From Illinois

The Obama shot caused more buzz than it otherwise might have because the newly formed Senate was off to a slow start yesterday. Plans to debate the ethics package on the Senate floor were postponed in favor of a long series of quorum calls. The Senate held its first roll-call vote of the session -- a resolution remembering Gerald Ford -- but a dozen senators failed to show up for the vote; one, freshman Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), dashed into the chamber five minutes after the vote closed.

But in truth, Obama did not seem entirely displeased by the Beach Babes shot. Perhaps that's because he has spent a lot of time working out at Chicago's East Bank Club, as the Chicago Sun-Times has documented. Asked what Obama was planning to do yesterday afternoon, the senator's communications director, Robert Gibbs, replied: "Photo shoot on South Beach."

Actually, Obama was going to New York for an event with Jesse Jackson. But as the 2008 presidential campaign gets off to an early start, a potential candidate's every move is aimed at one constituency or another. Just last month, Obama appeared on "Monday Night Football." At the B. Dalton in Union Station yesterday, his campaign book, "The Audacity of Hope," was prominently displayed on the same rack with Hillary Clinton's "It Takes a Village," 10th-anniversary edition.

Would other candidates concede the beachcomber vote to Obama, or would they, too, don swimsuits in People magazine? A spokeswoman for Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) laughed at the notion but provided no substantive answer.

"Are you asking me to pose in a bathing suit?" asked Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines, deflecting. "Can it be 1920s-style?"

On the other hand, Obama doesn't need to get undressed to attract the paparazzi these days. Introducing him at the news conference yesterday, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), who opted against a presidential run himself, announced: "I'd like to turn to Senator Obama, who has been working on this issue for many years but can't seem to get any attention from the press in general."

Each of the 12 Democratic senators took a turn at the microphone, but it quickly became apparent that most of the cameras were pointed at Obama, even when he wasn't talking. And though Feingold started out as the event's MC, Obama quickly assumed that role when the questions began.

"Senator Obama," CNN's Dana Bash hollered from the back row, "on the issue of Iraq . . ."

"I'm sorry," the senator demurred. "Let's get the ethics questions out, and then I'll be happy to stick around."

The next question was also directed at Obama, and the one after that. Inch by inch, Obama edged Feingold away from the lectern; the man from Wisconsin was reduced to nodding and wiping his forehead.

"Are we done with the ethics?" Obama finally asked. His colleagues departed. Obama took five more questions about Iraq and then was chased from the room by reporters and camera crews until an aide pleaded for his release. It was quite a swell, but this Beach Babe didn't mind swimming in it.