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April 17, 2007
Newz U Can Uze
For some reason, Republicans routinely levy attacks on the costly haircuts occasionally purchased by major Democratic politicians. I've heard it thrown at Clinton, Kerry, Edwards, and occasionally see it tossed at Gore. Here's a useful counterpoint:
Meanwhile, our favorite TV nugget of the day so far came courtesy of Barbara Walters, who matter-of-factly informed viewers that Laura Bush recently had her hair done by famed New York City stylist Sally Hershberger, who charges $700 for a haircut. Just take a moment to think back to the go-go '90s, and try to imagine what the press' hysterical reaction would have been if word ever leaked out that Hillary Clinton had sat down for a $700 trim.
As it turns out, rich people who spend a lot of time in the public eye occasionally blow large amounts of money on personal grooming. It's never been entirely clear to me why this is a problem, but it is, at any rate, a bipartisan one.
Update: There's more.
April 17, 2007 | Permalink
Comments
My reaction to these sorts of things is to not give a good God damn so long as they didn't charge it to the government.
Of course as the descendant of Scotsmen and Pennsylvania Dutch, I can't help thinking it damned silly to spend that much on a haircut.
Posted by: Paludicola | Apr 17, 2007 12:56:59 AM
If a bowl has been good enough for 6 generations of my family (before that generation we couldn't even afford a bowl) and Jim Carrey in "Dumb and Dumber", it should be good enough for our presidential nominee! NO TO JOHN EDWARDS!!!
Posted by: DaveInTheCorn | Apr 17, 2007 1:35:38 AM
Now here's a issue worth choosing a president over: the cost of their haircuts.
Maybe next we will require measurements of the amount of intestinal gas they exhaust daily, and the methane proportion thereof. Global warming, you know. Is it true that Hillary regularly farts in crowded elevators, and then looks around with a grimace to pin it on someone else - any Republican will do?
Or perhaps we will move beyond wanting to know if the candidate wears boxers or briefs (if male) or panty hose or a thong (if female), and ask the real personal questions: do they douche their anus regularly, or use a bidet daily as needed? Surely anyone using a bidet will sellout the country to the French, right?
Posted by: JimPortlandOR | Apr 17, 2007 2:40:50 AM
But upon leaving the salon, she gave coins to the poor, did she not?
Posted by: Dick Durata | Apr 17, 2007 3:14:45 AM
It's the feminization that they're after - look at all this money these Democrat "men" spent at the beauty parlor! They'll do something else with Hillary - like going after a "personal assistant" wink wink, etc.
Posted by: tatere | Apr 17, 2007 3:30:58 AM
I think it's a class/taste issue - it's not serious, but it sort of is. Either you get why someone spends $150, $350, etc on their hair or you don't. I don't care about these things, but it's because I also do that - moreso when I was in corporate America, but I still would rather pay to get it done right. In New York, it's hard to find decent hair sylists under $100, except for chains (like Jean Louis David) or small shops that, I can tell you, get pretty dicey as to quality. Color? Highlights? Forget it, unless you're willling to seriously pay. Some people get this. Others don't. If people want to make an issue of it, fine, but just keep in mind that people who are photographed as public figures know that what looks so "natural" often takes hours of effort and costs a good bit of money. It wouldn't surprise me that Laura spends a lot on her cut and color; she has great hair. It wouldn't surprise that it costs a lot of money to keep Hillary's blonde as natural and streak and root free as it is. You get what you pay for. I don't begrudge the people who are willing to pay extra.
PS one other aspect of this is facing the fact that these people are rich, which many people are really more uncomfortable with than they like to admit; that goes back to America's class issues, the ones we like pretend we don't have.
Posted by: weboy | Apr 17, 2007 5:12:59 AM
I don't really see the Laura Bush bit as an effective counterpoint. Stories about Democratic men getting haircuts are typed up according to the "Democratic men are girlie men" script, with a bit of "they're hypocrites because they spend lots of money on personal grooming while purporting to speak for the working man" thrown in for good measure.
Generally, my take is that the way to respond to these stories is to call out and embarass the pseudo-journalists who type them up -- i.e., work the refs. The most important thing is to stigmatize the content-providers of this kind of anti-Democratic meme -- Maureen Dowd being the prime example.
Posted by: Eric | Apr 17, 2007 5:37:24 AM
If laura bush spends 700 dollars on her haircut you can bet your boots bush, who has been revealed already to spend the maximum imaginable on his s uits, does too. Its not a question of whether deomcratic men are like women, its just the reporting doesn't match up to the reality.
The cost of all this stuff is way out of whack but I like to remind myself that when you are running for office you are either really running or you aren't. Julius Ceasar ran for the office of Pontifex maximus and he had no money to run or to support the job. He borrowed the money to do it figuring that he might as well go bankrupt trying to get it as to never run at all and if he got the job he'd be able to pay back his lenders. And so it was. Anyone who is running for president who *doesn't* care enough to spend th emoney/do what it takes? That person either doesn't exist or is dennis kucinich.
aimai
Posted by: aimai | Apr 17, 2007 7:44:28 AM
Eric is right. This is an exmaple of the "male Dem candidates are 'girls' theme" (this is a family blog, so I won't use the p-word) which is pushed by the RNC and happily picked up by lazy journalists.
Ezra if you really don't understand the reason "Republicans" do this (btw, journalists write stories and editors put them in print, not "Republicans"), may I suggest catching up on Somerby's work.
It's the journalists at Politico who published this Edwards hair story that need to be called out on this, not Republicans/Fox News.
Posted by: Colin | Apr 17, 2007 8:39:51 AM
I think the point has been missed.
The reason why it's newsworthy when Democrats spend big bucks on personal grooming is because they are the ones running around whining about how much more others should give to the poor. It just makes them look more hypocritical after they open their mouths to indulge in this opulence.
Posted by: Fred Jones | Apr 17, 2007 9:06:06 AM
does fred jones ever make any sense? he's about as dumb as captain joke.
Posted by: merlallen | Apr 17, 2007 9:25:13 AM
Find me a single high profile Democrats saying that personal charity is the most effective way to end poverty. You can't, that's what fucking Republicans say.
Posted by: Sam L. | Apr 17, 2007 9:25:43 AM
Fred, how is it "hypocritical" to claim that income taxes for those who use the services of expensive hair stylists should be higher? Seriously, where's the hypocrisy? Rich people who can pay for expensive haircuts can likely afford higher taxes, as can the rich stylists who own high-end salons. They'd still, likely, be able to afford such haircuts and their stylists would still, likely be able to stay in business.
(I might also add that Kerry has his suits made by local, individually owned small-business tailors in Massachusetts, while Bush patronizes faceless corporate tailoring shops like Oxxford)
It's much like complaints about Gore and his house. If Democratic politicians didn't have nice suits and good haircuts, people would say, "look at that grubby Democrat who doesn't know how to take care of himself" (this was used against Howard Dean's wife in an interview with Katie Couric who asked her if she could comapre to the "glamorous" Laura Bush. Glamorous in a "real estate seminar" sort of way, I suppose).
Posted by: Tyro | Apr 17, 2007 9:26:18 AM
Kerry has his suits made by local, individually owned small-business tailors in Massachusetts, while Bush patronizes faceless corporate tailoring shops like Oxxford
Actually, Bush, hilariously, has his suits tailor-made (at a cost of several thousand dollars each) by a long-haired Frenchman called Georges de Paris.
Posted by: ajay | Apr 17, 2007 11:09:27 AM
Sam L. hits it right on the head. No Democrat is running on the platform that society's problems are best solved through individual charity. That's the Republican's idea, and while charity is great, it's not what most of us think of as the most effective and efficient way to solve problems.
Posted by: Ben | Apr 17, 2007 11:50:28 AM
Observation: What Laura Bush paid for a haircut is beside the point -- as she is neither an elected official nor is she running for office. Hillary Clinton is both.
Posted by: FoolsMate | Apr 17, 2007 3:07:12 PM
Dear JimPortlandOR,
Pull my finger.
MikeKC
Posted by: MikeKC | Apr 17, 2007 3:16:56 PM
FoolsMate, there's a logical leap you've left out of your reasoning, namely, that the price a person pays for haircuts is relevant to being a politician. Also, if your goal is to defend the use of haircut prices in national politics, you should probably also provide a justification for why we shouldn't also consider the prices paid for any number of goods or services purchased by a politician. Given that nearly all national politicians are quite wealthy I'm sure there's quite a bit of common ground in expenditures.
Posted by: Ben | Apr 17, 2007 3:30:36 PM
Under Republican governance an absolute platonic price will be set for all haircuts and both rich and poor will be forced to choose from a limited menu at supercuts. That way no invidious distinctions can be drawn between those with income and those without. That's the logical conclusion of toke's position, I take it. That it would be more moral for everyone to have cheap haircuts and that the dems, being less moral, will encourage everyone to choose for themselves how they spend their money.
I'm down with that. Another reason to vote democratic. Free choice, free love, free haircuts. Just say no to the anti-capitalist republican nationalization scheme for haircuts.
Posted by: aimai | Apr 17, 2007 4:11:09 PM
Ben,
I personally don't know what the hell difference it makes or care how much a politician pays for their haircut, suit or whatever. I'd be happy to play Captain Obvious for you though, if you can't see the justification on your own. Many voters value a candidate's ability to relate to their own situation. Stories like these help voters decide which candidates are most out of touch with people like themselves. (More Captain Obvious:) My point was that using stories about Laura Bush as a counterpoint to stories about Edwards, Kerry, Clinton etc. was silly, for reasons I've already stated.
Posted by: FoolsMate | Apr 17, 2007 6:42:04 PM
The thread's probably dead, but your point is taken FoolsMate. I do think potential or actual president's spouses are involved enough in their spouses's politics that it most stories, particularly relating to character and social awareness, relevant to politicians are relevant to them as well. How many stories about Kerry's wife did we get? Should stories about spouses be irrelevant? Probably, but they're clearly not.
Posted by: Ben | Apr 18, 2007 8:54:19 AM
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