At first when the press (no doubt with help from his Democratic opponents) revealed John Edwards paid $400 for a haircut in Beverly Hills, Edwards blithely passed the buck saying his staff got ‘that guy’ to cut his hair. He didn’t know how much it cost. He didn’t even know ‘that guys’ name.

Well, it turns out ‘that guy’ didn’t cut Edwards’s hair just once. He cut it sixteen times. And Edwards flew him to Atlanta, Detroit, Washington, Cincinnati, and Albuquerque for haircuts. (Edwards’ clip and trim in Atlanta, including hotel and air fares, cost him $1250). Which has to be some sort of a record for an anti-poverty crusader (The Washington Post, 7-5-07).

All this just about put an end to Edwards carefully cultivated image as a grassroots populist – and it didn’t help him much with at least one of his supporters either.

‘That guy’ turns out to be hairdresser Joseph Torreneuva, who’s a bit of a legend in Hollywood himself. (He cut Marlon Brando’s hair.) He also a Democrat and cut Edwards’s locks for free – without charging a penny – until Edwards started asking him to fly all over the country. But after dealing with the grace and tactfulness of movie stars Torreneuva wasn’t ready for politicians.

“When he called me ‘that guy,’” he said, “that hit my ears. It hurt.”

The picture of John Edwards that emerges isn’t a pretty one. A rich dilettante flying his hairdresser all over the country. An ambitious politician blaming his staff for his own mistakes. And an arrogant celebrity referring to a man who helped him (in his own humble way) as ‘that guy’.

Being President is about character. John Edwards may be the only candidate for President ever sunk by a haircut.

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