Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards should have learned from the verbal gaffes and goofs that cost Dan Quayle his hopes to become president when he became the brunt of jokes.
Edwards' effort to look like the common man is turning into a comedy of errors.
His staged announcement of his presidential candidacy in a Katrina-wracked New Orleans neighborhood, wearing jeans and open-collar shirt to affect the working-man look and promising to attack poverty, may have been all for naught.
First, Edwards' construction of a $5.3 million, 28,000-square-foot mansion in North Carolina made news that surely put him out of touch with Middle America voters struggling to meet mortgage payments and hold on to jobs that are vanishing overseas.
Now his election committee reports using campaign funds for two $400 Edwards haircuts by a trendy Beverly Hills stylist and another $225 and $250 for visits to spas and salons in Iowa and New Hampshire for professional makeup.
Meanwhile, the Internet is alive with a videotape spoof of Edwards combing his hair with background music, "I Feel Pretty." All this on top of the nickname given to Edwards by Republican spin-doctors, "The Breck Girl," referring to the glamorous models used in Breck hair shampoo commercials.
Sure, as a wealthy and successful trial lawyer, Edwards can afford the mansion.
But when his campaign committee pays for fancy haircuts and makeup, instead of Edwards using his own money or sitting in a barber's chair in a small town for a $25 clip, voters who've sent in small checks surely feel they've been had—by an imposter.
