NEWSWEEK: Media Lead Sheet/September 1, 2008 Issue (on newsstands Monday, August ...( COVER: Special Democratic Conven...),Health

COVER: "Special Democratic Convention Issue" (p. 22). Newsweek previews the Democratic National Convention. Editor Jon Meacham opens the cover package with an in-depth look at the unique and often complex relationships Obama has had with his father, stepfather and grandfather, and explores how these relationships shaped him into who he is today. Meacham writes that while growing up, Obama had to find a way to be comfortable in his own skin, reconciling his black and white ancestries while being raised largely by his white grandparents. "Without a father, he was forced to arm himself and to make his own way into the worlds he chose to join and to master." In an interview, Obama tells Newsweek that although his father was absent while growing up, he still had a big influence. "I think [my strength] actually comes, in my case, from the absence of a father. At some level I had to raise myself. My mother obviously was the dominant influence in my life, and I had a stepfather and a grandfather who both participated in raising me and were good men who did good things for me. But if I think about how I have been able to navigate some pretty tricky situations in my life, it has to do with the fact that I had to learn to trust my own judgment; I had to learn to fight for what I wanted."
Cover: http://www.newsweek.com/id/155173

Interview: http://www.newsweek.com/id/155175

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080824/NYSU004 )

"Making the Most of Mom" (p. 36). Senior Editor Howard Fineman writes that while Obama got his dreams from his father, he will likely get his votes from his mother. "That will be the aim of much of the pageantry at the Democratic convention," Fineman writes. "In the saga of Ann Dunham and her parents, the campa
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