I love Edwards, and I've defended him a thousand times here on DU...

His house, his decision to stay in the race--- I've thrown down on his side big time...

BUT--- 400 FRICKING DOLLARS FOR A HAIRCUT?

Here's the rub..... I could care less if he yanked 400 bucks out of his own pocket for the cut, albeit that's one expensive cut... but he didn't. He charged his campaign and in turn, it had to be reported.

Hence my irritation.

That's 2 haircuts at 800.00---uh that's 80, 10 dollar contributions.

Me-thinks it's politically stupid. For God sakes---haven't we learned that the media eats this shit up. It started with Clintons Tarmac haircut and worked its way to Kerry. Shouldn't a savvy campaign adviser be aware of this type of shit?

Thank God Al never had a haircut story.... ;-)

100%

Do people who have money not realize that you don't have to spend that much money for trivial things? Like haircuts?

His campaign did with our contributions. I donated 50 bucks recently to his campaign, so yeah, I'm a shareholder.

One of the biggest determiners of who becomes president is who "looks presidential." This is a valid campaign expense, and I'd be very surprised if he set up the appointment himself or chose who cut his hair. He might very well have not even known how much it cost. It's too bad that we as a country are that trivial, but we are.

a million times.

Every kid I went to high school with looked like that. I bet they paid 4.50 (four dollars fifty cents, not four hundred dollars).

if you know someone in particular will cut your hair properly and you're going to be in front of a ton of cameras and you're running for president, you're going to make sure your hair looks "presidential". Visual image counts for way more than it should in politics.

one of the repubs EVERYONE would be screaming their heads off. I just find it laughable that a guy who's building his campaign strategy around issues of poverty pays that kind of money for a haircut.

facials, haircutsm pedicures, massages, or whatever, on their campaign's dime and we'll never know. I can only guess how much money Newt spends on personal amenities.

We'll never hear about it. MKJ

They still are butt ugly. :D

Edwards sets himself up to be "for the poor" and "concerned about poverty."

Like his house, it's really no one's business how he spends his money, but it seems a tad hypocritical to spend fortunes on houses and haircuts when you're touting the "Two Americas" theme.

Ghouliani and McCain don't even pretend to be for the little folk, so they get a by from the media.

Simple as that. If they do spend that much campaign money on personal grooming, the corporate media would never report it and certainly wouldn't make a big deal of it.

being deliberately malevolent and self serving.

Most of us are hypocrites, at one time or another. He has certainly been consistent about thisissue. And, this issue of poverty needs all the attention it can get. MKJ

And it seems like the more hair they have, the more expensive it is. I think that having a bald president might be nice for a change.

I imagine they all do that, too, but all George Bush gets out of it is somebody who looks like George Bush. Edwards is pretty, isn't he?

Nail, meet hammer. Sorry 'bout your head.

I understand that image is everything. I also understand that fantabulous haircuts can cost $400. To me this issue doesn't really matter.

BUT, as you say, this is what the media loves to lap up. A very stupid move and I daresay a bad sign of missteps he might make should he be the nominee. Missteps that of course don't matter BUT would be exploited nonstop.

I mentioned that there are many people who don't even make $400 a week.

it's his contributors.

If Gore doesn't run, I will vote for Edwards in my Primary, but I'm not happy about this at all.

and that the fee is not extraordinary.

Never jump to conclusions.

I could care less if he spent his own money. It's the fact that he charged the campaign.

My mom always says one should never let others know how much you spend on yourself. I think this is a prime example of why...

This is a self-inflicted wound by Edwards; he gift-wrapped this embarassing little tidbit for the media.

Now, as I do, I'm gonna play the devil's advocate.

Are we absolutely certain that the charges were just for a haircut? Are we certain that all this is true? Whenever I read "Politico reports that Edwards spent..." my hackles just go up. And then, when I see GOP blogs repeating the shit http://amerpundit.com/archives/749 I just wonder.

Anyone got a link to the source documents?

All that advocating aside, if he DID charge the campaign--and I don't care if it was for a cut, a color, some man tan, a full body massage and an exfoliation, the first thing he should do is say it was a horrible accounting error and reimburse immediately. And then he should have his wife say he has babyfine hair and it's impossible to do anything with it, and he really needs a decent cut so it lays right, so he isn't spending time screwing with it and having 'makefun' videos put up on YOUTUBE about him and his goofy, static-y hair--she should play it flat, open, a bit funny and honest. She should acknowledge that it IS an extravegance, but his hair isn't that great and he looks way better spending the money, which first, he has, and second, supports the economies of the places where he gets the cuts--oh, and he should stay out of Beverly Hills in future. Get those cuts at high end spas in the heartland.

That's a month's rent in some parts of the country. Day-um. This is one he needs to confront and put behind him. He can't let it slide into the background. IMO.

that photo was taken. BushCo, of course, did everything they could to stop him. They didn't. He managed to get two plane's full of patients and take them back to Tennessee.

It was hot and disgusting. I don't think he was worried about his hair.

who said Al needed to get one knew the context of the photo. :)

Christ, it's sometimes hard to pipe up in here! Things can be taken so literally.

I get confused at who I reply to sometimes... sorry

(if he decides to run) over his crappy hair. The photo was clearly posted as an effort to CONTRAST, and my remark was a snark response, not serious.

Sheesh. Have a little perspective.

getting kids ready for school and myself for work - too rushed.

I wasn't sure if it was snark or just defensiveness of Edwards.

The Republicans are developing their meme re Edwards, just as they did for Gore and Kerry.

He should do what he can to not play into it - at least from this point forward.

Anytime I see "piling on" about a candidate, be it Clinton, Obama, Richardson, Edwards, even Biden--I take the opposite tack, simply because I have noticed that there's a LOT of bullshit getting tossed up here in the name of "advocacy." And a lot of the advocacy is just shitty. You've got Obama saying he wants to run a decent campaign with no dirty tricks, and you see Obama "supporters" posting the nastiest shit--stuff Obama himself would NEVER endorse--about his opponents. And they claim to be "helping."

If Edwards did have the campaign pay for the haircut, he should do, as I said previously, the right thing by saying it was a HORRIBLE ERROR and it was not intended (even if it was). And he should never do it again. So far, all I've seen is rightwingers characterizing this as "his" haircut. I have not yet seen the source document that says it is HIS haircut. Could it have been HER haircut? Maybe she needed some weaving done because of chemo? And needed to look good for an appearance? What would be the difference, there? Would people be more sympathetic?

Lotsa questions, few answers..!

I was just goofing...;-)

I agree. Someplace there should be someone with enough snap to know that this sort of thing causes problems in a campaign, as it's been historically proven to do. Why they keep handing out fodder for the media and GOP to chew on is a mystery to me.

Not the best of strategies.

What's funny though is you never hear about how over paid these dimwitted advisers are. And trust me, they're way overpaid.

of particular importance if the debates are held at a barbershop. All the other candidates -- especially our republican brethern -- will be seated at a shop with conservative prices. I can hear people on the set asking, "Where is Senator Edwards? Why isn't he here yet?" But John will be at that exclusive barbershop for the ultra-rich millionaires. Then Edwards will sue. Just wait and see.

Because while I'm not the greatest Edwards fan, pointing out something as ludicrous as an expensive haircut as if it's some kind of character flaw or political gaffe is just a Bush league cheap shot.

I say allegedly because I have yet to see a source document.

zidzi (1000+ posts) Tue Apr-17-07 03:13 PM
Response to Original message
10. So the fuck what? Beats
stealing our treasury and keeping our Soldiers in Iraq.

So.. fuck off latimes.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3220783&mesg_id=3220874

and WE are supposed to tell them what to do with their money?

Sorry but this is all bullshit. Not your opinion that is fine but this coverage.

Have you noticed that this is the only coverage Edwards is getting??? Hmmm wonder why ...oh I'd venture a guess but I wouldn't want to set a bad example by bringing class warfare into now would I???

I thought the story was bullshit too until I found that out. I don't think anyone cares what he does with his own money. It's that it came from campaign contributions.

Maybe it didn't "play well" (see the media's former adoration for "staying on message" and where that got us) but I don't give a rip. If this pisses off donors they will stop giving....oh that's it they don't want to give him any coverage other than attacking him for what being honest?

ya gotta admit though---it ain't to politically bright?

and when it brought back up-I can see Fred Barnes saying "Let's not forget about his haircut *snicker*- the entire veiwing audience who aren't a lock to vote against their own best interests anyway will collectively sigh and change the channel.

said, "we don't like how your hair is done and we've set up an appointment". He shows up, his hair is cut, and he didn't handle it.

had achat boxon the right side of the screen. There were several young girls chatting about their hair, which was long, and in one case very straight and the other two had curly long hair. The conversation turned to going to the salon to have their hair trimmed. The first one said a trip to her salon cost $85.00 and with the tip it was $100.00! These were just regular people who had to actually save up to visit the salon every 3 months. I see THAT as a lotmore insane than a $400 hair cut for John!

I personally won't spend any $$ on getting my hair cut, not becauseI can't afford the $20-$35 every couple of months, but because I'm too damn cheap to spend any money to pay someone else to do a job I can do myself! But it sure seems like I'm the exception! Of course I'm also not in the public eye OR running for President!

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it's now mainstream.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/17/edwards.hair.ap/index.html

He paid me with left-over Bush 2006 money....

part of that money was for makeup for a local TV appearance. Who cares how much he spends on his f'n haircut? Do we need to start a list to see how much Hillary or Obama spend on their haircut?

exactly how much Senator Obama spends on a pair of socks. This and Senator Edwards' haircut are surely the most important issues facing our nation. Most of the weasals in the corporate media do not have the guts to address this, not to mention the fact that Richard Nixon had a dog named "Sox."

If the Edwards people indeed read this forum--- maybe, just maybe they'll spot this criticism and not let it happen again.

Look--- I'm a Bob Somerby disciple with regards to media behavior... Most the shit they write is bogus bullshit... this could have been prevented.

to deny the topic oxygen. Then it would only live in the world of republican mold, where no democrat is going to get a single vote.

I know, I know .... I open myself to a counter-punch here, as for several years, I have responded to some of the moldy threads on DU with my advocate's dream: legalize Lonnie Anderson's hair!

Campaign advisor's get paid a lot of money.... this one should have been caught easily...

BTW: What's Lonis middle name?

What is a moldy thread? This was your code for saying I am a troll, or that my thread was a Republican talking point? That was my most 'successful' thread until it got moved to R/T. My thread on Lieberman, although I kicked it 5 times myself, got a whopping one reply.

We have been the ones defending democratic candidates. We have been the ones to spot the hit pieces in the media. We have been the ones that won't let propaganda fly by without shouting how bad it is. Now we want the candidates to be able to control the media about a haircut? Good luck with that. Not gonna happen. The media will attack ALL of our Democratic candidates and will do so successfully unless we band together Clinton/Obama/Edwards/Clark/Gore/... and fight against the personal attacks, propaganda, and any general swiftboating of our candidates. It starts here and ends up in the general election. If we as supporters would just not allow the MEDIA to do this, we will all stand a better chance in the general election. Issues are the important questions, not haircuts, income, or houses. People can try to read into those to determine someones position on issues, but why do you need that when they tell you to your face what their positions are? (you don't)

but I also believe in political smarts.

from here:
http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/us/article/0,2845,MCA_25346_5490350,00.html

quote:"Pink Sapphire co-owner Ariana Franggos said the two payments last month-- $150 on March 7 and $75 on March 20 -- were for doing Edwards' makeup for television appearances. She handles makeup for local television personalities and was referred to Edwards through that connection."

So it's not just a haircut he gets. Either way this is a way by the competition to swiftboat him again for being a pretty man and taking care of himself.

Who cares how much he pays for a haircut or a suit? Would you rather have SuperCuts Bush again?

I'm talking the Beverly Hills guy who cut his hair...that was 800 for 2

To bad it didn't work! :rofl:

:rofl:

Thank you, come again.

:rofl:

Now if Gore jumps in--- different story.

He paid 800 bucks for two cuts at the Beverly Hill salon and 250.00 to the other salon.

Got a link.

Plus--- his stylist said he did it.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/17/edwards.hair.ap/...

His stylist said he only did haircuts?

I just wonder who does his color. I think the cut and color look great. Money well spent.

and also stress the idea that he's gay or girly - going to a women's salon or two.
Edwards needs to spoof the youtube video. Do a parody of the Maria Sharapova Nike commercial. If you have not seen the commercial, it shows Maria leaving her hotel and going to a tennis tournament. As she walks by everyone is looking at her and singing 'I feel pretty ...' and continuing the song. Even the announcers McEnroe and Enberg are singing it and so is the referee and all the line judges. Then she slams a couple, or three forehands and serves and it suddenly gets quiet and McEnroe says 'wow'. The Edwards campaign could copy that except instead of the forehands, it would have Edwards making some substantive, strong statements (except they need to be one line sound-bites.

2. He should know that, right or wrong, presidential candidates are under a microscope
3. It is very easy to get a good, reasonably priced haircut

I like Edwards, he might even be my 1st pick.

for the hairdresser? I really don't care how other people spend their money as long as they share it with the less fortunate, and he does.

He didn't spend his own money... It was from campaign contributions.

How do we know that it's the truth? What if there's a mole in Edwards campaign who screwed around with the expenditures (as in Dirty Tricks).

This sounds so much like the Clinton haircut flap where he supposedly held up air traffic in LA or somewhere to get his haircut which turned out to be a lie that the airport was shut down.

If he really charged his campaign then it was foolish. But, was his campaign charged without his knowledge by a Mole who wanted to do this and leak it to the media?

How will we know the truth of it unless he gets on it right away...or his campaign gets the facts out. :shrug:

I don't know why, but I really don't care what he spends on his haircut or that he uses campaign funds to pay for it. What other things are covered by campaign funds? Hotels? Cars? Food? I don't know, but if so....then a haircut should be OK too. JMCPO.

haircuts and "clothes for campaigning" expenditures are on everyone's FEC filings, it's part of the business.

How many millions does his campaign have, and how far do you think $400 would go towards getting him elected? If the haircut is going to be viewed by people he's courting for votes, it is a campaign expense, especially if he is photographed or videotaped. If you're really bothered by the principle, push for campaign finance reform that takes money out of the election process once and for all.

It's campaign strategy. It's on CNN--- AP put it everywhere---It's on the Huffington Post...etc...

Is it smart campaign strategy to put 2 haircuts at 800 bucks on public record?

NO--- It's rather stupid and me-hopes that they'll learn that simple little mistakes like this will get blown out of the water by the noise machine.

...disappeared in two years? I'll bet Ghouliani drops that for a meal. The fact that everyone's trying to make this look like Edwards is wrong just shows how threatened they must feel by him. That's actually a good thing.

but it ain't me putting it on CNN...

You can only lie to peoples' faces for so long...

I'm not even close to feeling "threatened" by Edwards.I don't even dislike the guy.I don't have to try to make Edwards look wrong.He IS wrong.

Just because I point this out doesn't mean I'm running to my friends and yelling "Hey look at what Edwards did! Don't vote for that asshole." He's one of the only ones who really talks about poverty.I think that's great.I also think it means he should have known better.

And if anyone is worried about the right taking shots at the left we shouldn't be handing them bullets.

Sure, I'd love to have a candidate who gave all of the money he raised to feed the starving and house the homeless, but that person doesn't exist. And if they did, they wouldn't survive a day in our political machine. $800 is more than I've seen in a year except as part of the money I owe. Don't lecture me about how far it can go.

Seeing how it's such a slow month in the news with nothing really going on in the country.

That is the face of a true leader. Dammit! I wish he would run. He leads with or without a title. The man just wants to live his life, use his gifts, for service. I don't have really anything but respect for Edwards but that picture says it all. Real leaders aren't worried about their hair when there is work to be done!

:patriot:

Because he would win....Republicans want either Obama or Hillary...Just get Edwards out of there!!!

was the first thing that came to mind when I saw that story. The second one was, "Who the fuck cares!?"

I understand what you're saying about it being politically stupid though, and agree. But whenever I see stories like these, I try to wait and see if there's more to "the story".

edit to add: aha!!! That $400 was for more than a haircut afterall!
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EDWARDS_HAIR?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
One reason the cost of the cut was so steep even by Beverly Hills standards is that Torrenueva went to Edwards rather than the candidate coming into the stylist's salon a block off Rodeo Drive.

"I go to him wherever convenient," Torrenueva said. He declined to identify where the cuts paid for by the campaign took place.
...

Also, it's a total amount for a number of services--including makeup for television appearances: "Pink Sapphire co-owner Ariana Franggos said the two payments last month- $150 on March 7 and $75 on March 20 - were for doing Edwards' makeup for television appearances. She handles makeup for local television personalities and was referred to Edwards through that connection.

"This poor guy. I'm telling you, I promise he's not in here getting facials and cucumber peels on his eyes or anything," she said."

This "story" isn't about $400 haircuts. It's about an attempt to further feminize John Edwards to the voting public.

The story covered in Harris's book on winning elections, lovingly praises Drudge as our "Edward R. Murrow". He details - with admiration - how Drudge completely made up a story with fakes quotes and all of Kerry spending $1000 to gat his hair cat, highlighted etc. Kerry's office immediately countered it by saying that all it was was a $75 hair cut - presumably paid for by Kerry as they clearly would have made an issue otherwise.

I assume that Al Gore also got his hair cut during the primaries and General elections - other wise the story would have been his shoulder length hair.

its par for the course.

Especially for one who styles himself as all about understanding and alleviating poverty.

Just VERY poor judgment, and that concerns me for the bigger picture.

And now, for all the Edwards detractors, some ***** TRUTH ***** about the haircut...: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x700853