Re Edwards, image matters but you'd better damn well not let anyone know that image matters.

There's been a great deal of discussion regarding John Edwards $400 haircuts. That coupled with a devastating video on You Tube of him primping in a makeup room to the tune of "I Feel Pretty" have made this a very bad week for the Edwards campaign.

Every politician has negative perceptions about him that he has to battle. In Edward's case it's, unfortunately, that he's a lightweight--a pretty boy. Edwards has gone to great lengths to change that perception. His policies are the best thought out and defined in the field. His reaction to his wife's cancer announcement was well handled. He came off as a real person. He's moved from the "I will not support" column to second in the "I could support" column on my personal primary list.

Now, I don't care how much John Edwards pays for haircuts or whether he indulges in facials and body wraps but billing it to the campaign, an expense that had to be made public was stupid, plain and simple, especially for this candidate. If it was revealed that Joe Biden dropped $400 on a haircut no one would care except to say that he was robbed. Also, whoever let Edwards in a makeup room with a video camera should be keelhauled. I read on another thread that this was old footage but still, it's not good--if this shit's out there you have to be even more careful. Anyone remember what happened when someone found old footage of Howard Dean saying what he really thought about the Iowa Caucuses and blowing up when a bunch of reporters stormed into his office--by the time the caucuses rolled around many Iowa voters had already cast him as a hot headed loose cannon. The oft repeated scream was just icing on the cake.

All politicians spend a great deal of thought and money on image and creating a persona but in our culture male politicians are not supposed to show that they care about looks. Barack Obama's visits to a local barber shop on Chicago's South Side help give the impression that no matter how high he rises he still hasn't lost touch with his roots but I doubt very much that he buys his suits off the rack at KMart. Nancy Pelosi always looks fabulous--it's easier for a woman--voters would ignore any woman who did not pay attention to her looks unless she was playing the outspoken grandma like Bella Abzug. If Hillary Clinton got a $200 facial people would say "Good for her, she takes care of herself." If Bill Richardson were to get one (not a bad idea for a middle aged man who lives in a dry climate and enjoys riding his horse out in the desert) people would wonder about his manhood. Yes it's a double standard, it's unfair but it's unfortunately very real. The folks who think it's cool for a middle aged man to get a facial are probably already voting Democratic or are wealthy businessmen firmly entrenched in the Republican party.

It's possible to create an image. Karl Rove turned George Bush from a Texas oilman (albeit a none too successful one) into a brush chopping, pickup driving cowboy because American love cowboys and hate oilmen. I'm sure if Rove could have gotten him on a horse he would have, but this ran into certain technical difficulties, in order to ride a horse a person must be smarter than the horse, no doubt this could cause considerable embarrassment if the horse were to discover the intellectual shortcomings of it's rider in front of the TV cameras.

This was successful image creation that fed into a beloved American icon and most Americans believe to this day that George Bush is just a cowboy at heart .

I'm not saying that Edwards should transform himself into Paul Bunyan--it's too late for that--but Edwards legitimately belongs to a very real American icon category--the poor boy who made good. He's used that image and used it well. The problem is that in America it is possible to have made it too good. Americans demand a certain appearance of humility and genuineness from their political leaders--even when they are in truth arrogant frauds like Bush.

I would suggest that Edwards use a little humor (door prizes for $400 haircuts at campaign rallies anyone) to deflect this episode and also bring out Elizabeth as much as possible. Hopefully he can ride this out and get back on the real issues. Like I said before, he is one of the most substantive candidates out there.

LOL--- Your descriptions a little goofy there.

Edwards has already laughed off the video and the haircut mix-up. If ONLY "concerned" DU'ers could, too.

The voters Democrats have to win unfortunately are those who ARE going to be focused on the trivial. If Edwards comes off to them as something less than strong and forceful, they are going to dismiss his very fine ideas even if they bother to learn about them.

Unfortunately this description fits.

that gets the attention.

Which gets more views on You Tube - the "I Feel Pretty" video in which he is primping, or the one set to "If I Had A Hammer" of him working in New Orleans.

On the other hand, knowing the perception he must overcome, John Edwards should be extra careful about feeding into it.

However, cultivating an image is a tricky thing. Remember the picture of Dukakis in a tank because he was trying to shore up his military credentials? So, it has to be partially genuine.

Let's see, Edwards is a runner - maybe he could run in a competitive race that raises money for a charity. Not a marathon, but a 5k or something. That would be true to Edwards. If he placed, it would show he's not just a whimpy pretty boy. Even if he didn't place, he would be raising money for a good cause. Seems like a win-win to me.

Just make sure he gets good and sweaty and his hair gets messed up.

The biggest breast cancer run out there--the Susan G. Komen one--is run by Bush Pioneers.

You think the symbolic color of breast cancer is pink? Wrong--it's red, as in Republican red. All those people raising all that money so Big Pharma can find better ways to "treat" the disease (and charge a pretty penny for its treatments) rather than just get rid of it altogether. If a means to prevent breast cancer were actually found, the Komen Foundation would have to go out of business. They'd much rather stay in business and keep breast cancer "survivable" rather than try to get rid of it.

I learn something like this. Wow.

Edwards' voting record is pretty bad - he's generally favored job-obliterating 'free' trade, evil bankruptcy bills, and so forth.

by NAFTA. His father worked in the mills, and so did he growing up.

But I do like the idea of the marathon. Edwards was on the cover of Runner's Magazine back in 04, IIRC. Looking good ;-)

His voting record on trade is mixed. I don't want some one who is completely anti-trade - don't you want to help those in developing nations? Trade just has to be done in the right way so all will benefit.

Also, Edwards has a 100% rating from the AFL-CIO. So somehow, all his trade votes weren't enough to counteract that.

http://www.ontheissues.org/John_Edwards.htm#Free_Trade

http://www.ontheissues.org/John_Edwards.htm#Jobs

He voted for a bankruptcy bill that didn't pass, for some reason. But I think only Welstone voted against more free trade bills, and he supported NC workers at every single turn.

of his "pretty boy" image after his first go-round with Kerry. He should have guarded against any further perpetuation of this image in the media. Instead, he opened himself up to it even more--not very astute. His handlers should be fired. Candidates need to know their own vulnerabilties, and how to keep from exposing that soft underbelly to the wolves. Hillary, for one, knows how to play up her strengths and downplay her weaknesses. So does Obama--his perceived problem is lack of experience, but you don't get a sense of it when he speaks--at least I don't. Edwards needs to get better staff, because a pretty reliable campaign-killer is to be personally mocked. Once people start laughing at you (Gore, Hart, Dukakis), it's hard to regain respect.

or covered in paint from painting his own walls at the new house.........or covered in mud from planting new rose bushes.

Something, anything that regular people do. He's got an indoor pool -- give us pool hair dammit! :)

No one would care if the candidate spent his or her own money for this kind of thing. It's when they write it off on the campaign expense chart that it gets exposed to public criticism.... and rightly so. If Edwards were to choose to get $400 and pay out of pocket, that's fine - he's obviously got it to spend. But if he chooses to have the campaign write it off for expense? It must be itemized and the receipts on file in case of later scrutiny by the FEC.

FWIW, I once served as a congressional campaign treasurer and filed FEC reports. Mind you that was a while ago, when I was younger and had more time on my hands (it's pretty much a full-time job to keep track of the finances for a high-profile, very busy campaign).

to impeach, or absent that, his Cabinet to grill in Congressional hearings, and in addition, a White House and Constitutional republic to revivify.

I think those are the big landscape issues, and I think we need to concentrate on them.

his suits, his toothpaste, his swimming pool, his summer house, his airplane, his boxers or briefs, his table manners, his manicures, his French novels, his hunting rifle, or his golf handicap.

I care that he is the most Progressive of the top 3 potential nominees. If the republics didn't see his Populist message as a threat, they wouldn't be making issues of trivial details.