Topless Biden in 'The Times'

I have to say, seeing this picture of a shirtless Joe Biden washing his Trans-Am on the main page of The New York Times website is...well, just weird. It's tied to a story about how The Onion likes to parody Joe Biden, which Onion readers already know and non-Onion readers likely don't care about, and Biden himself may or may not be aware of (or care about). Don't get me wrong: like all red-blooded Americans, I love The Onion (which once employed me, many years ago, in a semi-legal, mainly non-humor-related capacity). But I wonder what the Times is gunning for here? Trying to shake the "Gray Lady" moniker? Nervous that Huffington Post is challenging its traffic? It's sort of like watching a sad old man buy a Trans Am in a desperate bid for youth...