The Vanity Fair cover photo of Beto O'Rourke, taken by Annie Leibovitz, is an apparent homage to the famous Time magazine portrait of Ronald Reagan when he was chosen as Man of the Year in 1980.

Aaron Shikler, who had painted he posthumous White House portrait of John F. Kennedy and the official portrait of Jackie Kennedy, was chosen to portray Reagan after the former California governor won the 1980 presidential election in a landslide.

Reagan was shown in a blue shirt and jeans with a brown leather belt and his hands on his hips. Shikler was said to have been given only 90 minutes to do preliminary studies for his painting and Reagan fell asleep during the session.

O'Rourke, a former Democratic Texas congressman, was photographed with a light-blue shirt, tucked into a pair of jeans and a leather belt. He is standing next to his truck on a dirt road and has his hands on his hips.



Leibovitz's photograph has also prompted comparisons with to another Democratic candidate — former North Carolina senator and John Kerry's 2004 vice presidential pick John Edwards.

Edwards, who lost to Kerry in the 2004 Democratic primaries, was photographed by Leibovitz for a cover story in Men's Vogue, also posing in the outdoors with a casual outfit and a truck. Like O'Rourke, Edwards sought to use his earlier defeat as fuel for a later presidential run.

The 2008 Edwards campaign fell flat after Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton dominated the field. He was later found to have fathered an illegitimate child with his campaign videographer Rielle Hunter while his wife Elizabeth Edwards was dying from cancer.



O'Rourke is entering a crowded field of candidates for the Democratic nomination. The latest Real Clear Politics average puts O'Rourke a distant 6th place with 5.3 percent. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who has not yet announced a bid, leads the pack in the high-20's with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., sitting in second place.