Reply #40: Spot on! The attack is aimed at scaring Democrats into not voting for Edwards in the primary.

[AdHocSolver]

I was asked this past weekend by some very liberal Democrats about which candidate I favored for president. When I said that I thought Edwards was the best choice and added that I believed Edwards had the best chance of winning, each of them jumped on me with the same harangue: "How can you say Edwards can win when he made that mistake of having his campaign paying $400 for a haircut?"

When I pointed out to these "Liberal Democrats" that, in the grand scheme of things, it was not such an important issue and that Edwards had dealt with it right away, they came back with the same almost verbatim retort that it would prevent him from beating a Republican. I am almost ashamed to admit that I lost my cool and blew up at them pointing out that the Republicans supported Bush who started an unnecessary war that cost thousands of lives, has nearly bankrupted the country with huge spending programs, war costs, and tax giveaways to the rich, has destroyed the morale of the military, and earned the U.S. the enmity of large parts of the world, and "you're worried about a stupid $400 haircut that Edwards paid for himself?..." At this point, each of them walked away from me, one of them practically running.

I immediately realized that the "$400 haircut" attack was aimed, not at Republicans or independents, but at liberal Democrats like these two guys, in order to scare them into voting for someone other than John Edwards in the primaries. It also occurred to me that if the Republicans are attacking Edwards even before the primaries, then he is the candidate that they most fear to face.

This experience has convinced me even more that John Edwards should be the Democratic candidate, as he has the best chance of getting the most Republican and independent crossover votes. Our candidate needs a large enough margin so that the Republican dirty tricks won't be enough to steal the election as happened in 2000 and 2004.