Jfk Jr. Launches New Magazine

John F. Kennedy Jr. stood before a crowd of journalists Thursday and unveiled a giant photo of supermodel Cindy Crawford dressed like a punk George Washington, replete with powdered wig and Napoleon jacket unbuttoned to reveal a lace halter and bare midriff.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the 34-year-old proclaimed, “meet George.”

George is the name of Kennedy’s new political magazine - in honor of the founding father - and the photo was the cover of its premiere issue. The magazine’s slogan: “Not just politics as usual.”

The first issue, 500,000 of which will hit newsstands in two weeks at $2.95 a copy, reeks of high expectation. With backing from the largest magazine publisher in the world, George looks more like Elle than The New Republic - high-tone glossy, with heavyweight paper and a staggering 175 pages of ads.

Kennedy, who is the magazine’s editor-in-chief and co-founder, made no bones about his intentions to make George above all an entertainment.

“Public life and politics is both serious and fun,” he said. “People have to be entertained about politics before they’re interested in it. Culture is more powerful than politics.” George will cover politics “as another aspect of popular culture.”

The issue, copies of which were handed out at Thursday’s press conference, includes:

Madonna’s meditations on what she would do if she were president.

Al Franken’s satirical modest proposal on how to save Medicare and the space program (launch old people into outer space without having to dwell much on the costly technology involved in getting them back).

A profile of Julia Roberts’ humanitarian trip to Haiti.

A dialogue between Cindy Crawford and fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi on the dressing habits of Washington powerhouses (Cindy: “I think if Dukakis had had shoulder pads he would have gotten a lot more votes. … I was, like, ‘Get the guy an Armani suit!”’).

When word of the magazine started to circulate a year ago, many columnists assumed it would be the new liberal journal. However, Kennedy insisted Thursday that the issues will be “uncolored by a partisan point of view.” He said he named it after Washington because of the first president’s “revulsion against partisan warfare.”

“As Uncle Ted told me,” the editor said, referring to Sen. Edward Kennedy, “‘John, if I’m still talking to you by Thanksgiving, you’re not doing your job.”’

He may not have to wait even that long to feel the senator’s cold shoulder. If there is a starring character in the first issue, it’s House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the man who would dismantle just about everything Uncle Ted has fought for.

The issue contains a profile of Gingrich’s lesbian half-sister, an article about one of Gingrich’s think-tank advisers, and an interview with Gingrich himself about civilization and cyberspace.

The articles about the speaker are, alternately, critical, lavishing and neither here nor there. Kennedy called his magazine “post-partisan.”

Hendrik Hertzberg, managing editor of The New Yorker, left Kennedy’s press conference Thursday shaking his head.

“I don’t see how you have a political magazine without taking political sides,” he said. “Politics is about differences. It’s not about harmony.”