True, but when it comes to politics of any kind (politics per se, religion, etc.), satire is always going to be "way too subtle for most people". The vast majority of people are too embedded in their own beliefs to see the (in)significance of it all. The Left takes it on the chin and smiles along with it, while the Right nods in ironic agreement how correct it was to hold firm to its stubborn beliefs.
All satire preaches to the converted, when looked at from within its own political sphere.
Good satire in which we are meant to comprehend that the satirist does not believe what he or she is ostensibly portraying but is criticizing those who nurture such a belief, provides a context or a frame. It should have been deep in the magazine where people that actually READ the New Yorker that get it would understand. Not on the cover, this election is just far to important. Do the New Yorker editors have NO CLUE what the rest of the country thinks?
