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John Edwards’ Hair Scandal
At first, it just seemed like an indiscretion, a couple of $400 haircuts while he was away from home. But John Edwards’ passion for his hair is now a full-blown campaign issue with his Beverly Hills stylist telling all today to the Washington Post.
It started, as these things often do, with a few casual trims in 2003 and 2004 and no money changing hands. The stylist Joseph Torreneuva waived his usual $175 fee. “I was just doing it because I’m a Democrat,” he recalled.
But since then it has gone on to expensive trysts in California hotels, Washington, Ohio and a $1250 session in Atlanta.
How will the affair of the hair affect Edwards’ presidential hopes? As always, it may be less about what actually happened than Edwards’ attempt to cover it up. When the $400 do’s went public, the candidate claimed his staff had arranged for them and he didn’t know how much they cost.
So far in all this, there is no suggestion of Edwards lying under oath, but it’s clear he is going to have a bad hair year.
Cross-posted from my blog
17 Responses to “John Edwards’ Hair Scandal”
Have they finished scraping the bottom of the outrage barrel yet? I’m willing to bet that Rudy spent more than a few bucks on his drag queen makeovers and Romney spends more on hairspray than Hillary.
Frankly I think this silly gambit must have been started by Fred Thompson, who would dearly love to have enough hair to take to Super cuts.
I am no Edwards supporter, but as long as what he is doing is not illegal, who cares?
“Two Americas,” the class-warfare appeal by Edwards to baser motives of those gullible people who love him and his charming smile, looks now like nothing but projection.
Why would anybody support him, anyway? Is it because he has the “courage” [sic] to insist that the nation engage in deliberate deficit spending to meet the requirements of his health care plan, a “noble” effort? [gag] (How many times has he attacked Republican deficit spending?)
We know why Edwards’s supporters are his supporters: They Feel Good about his uplifting words and his charming smile…
Yes, let’s beat this dead horse some more. Fred Thompson was a mole for Nixon during the Watergate hearings – not important enough to dig into, but haircuts, yes, there is a story good enough to last now for 2 months.
It’s no dead horse at all. It has become more lively.
How hilarious that the CIA leak case and the US attorney scandals were framed as nonissues, yet getting an expensive haircut now elicits prolonged outrage. Unfortunately it takes away from the real issues of the campaign- but to me it is on the level of watching coverage on Paris Hilton’s parents cutting ahead on the list of visitors at the jail.
All this does is play into the media stereotypes that the Democrats are a bunch of p***ies and that the Republicans are dimwitted tough guys.
No one mentions that none of the Republican candidates (or people like Rush Limbaugh) actually have any credentials as tough guys…
Except that tough-guy Romney has an entourage of 17 people whose job it is to make sure he looks and sounds perfect. Or can you imagine that hair messed up?
The one who fits the Reaganesque mold is Fred Thompson, but he lacks a real message or strong work ethic.
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This is really scraping the bottom of the barrel; to find mud for slinging.
It’s embarrassing that this stuff is being reported overseas. With all the problems this country has, our top issue is someone’s haircuts!
This does not make the US look like a ready for prime time coutnry. It does make it easy to believe the stupidity rates repoeted in the other post, though.
But,no woories. We have hot dog eating contests to make up for it!
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I spent ten minutes in a car this afternoon, listening to Rush Limbaugh refer repeatedly to John Edwards as “the Breck Girl”.
This Washington Post news article is of a piece with that.
Trivializing belittlement.
Is there really any reason to expect the Washington Post to be any better than Rush Limbaugh?
Rush’s pitch is worse than trivializing Edwards- its demasculating him- turning him into the scared little girl that won’t admit there’s a war on terror. Its an insidious smear- because if you keep repeating it it becomes part of your subconcious. OTOH- notice how the GOP candidates are all portrayed as John Wayne types who want to triple Gitmo and are tough enough to face anything. Its all in the marketing. Its no accident that 40% of Americans believe that Saddam caused 9/11 and 20% believe we found the WMD’s.
It’s just not fair. I spent $32 for a haircut yesterday and I still have cowlicks. The French spend a far smaller percentage of their GDP on tonsorial services, yet the average Frenchy is better coiffed than your American jamoke. Why can’t John Edwards promote Nationalized Hair Care so that we all can sport $400 hairdos (and I don’t have to spend my declining years looking like Alfalfa).
K. Ritter:
Giuliani — Romney — [snicker]
DLS- No Republican could pick the Breck girl over John Wayne- no matter how sick they are of their party! Its funny how important that cowboy image is to Republicans.
!
I’m not a Republican and I’d certainly pick a real Breck girl over John Wayne. [wink]
As to Edwards, I’m not snowed by his smile and sweet talk (that “sunny” trait, as the New York Times used to say all the time *gag*).