Edwards Has a Lot of 'Hair' -- Advocates Rapid Iraq Pullout

Like many people, I have not picked a candidate for 2008, but if I see one more reference, from Republicans or GOP news outlets, such as Fox News, about John Edwards' "$400 haircut," I just may scream -- or send him a $400 donation. The hypocrisy is just so absurd: complaints about a couple of $400 haircuts coming from people who may routinely pay $400 for a limo ride, or $4000 for a country club membership, or $40,000 for a luxury car, or $400,000 for a vacation house. We won't even mention $4 million executive salaries. And at least Edwards (as shown again today, quite powerfully live on CNN during the "Candidates Bowl," or whatever they called it) is talking about helping the poor, which hardly anyone else is doing.

Meawhile, tonight in The New York Times, Michael Gordon reports that Edwards has taken the strongest position of any of the leading candidates in urging a rapid pullout in Iraq. His report opens: "John Edwards says that if elected president he would withdraw the American troops who are training the Iraqi army and police as part of a broader plan to remove virtually all American forces within 10 months.....In one of his most detailed discussions to date about how he would handle Iraq as president, Mr. Edwards staked out a position that would lead to a more rapid and complete troop withdrawal than his principal rivals, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, who have indicated they are open to keeping American trainers and counterterrorism units in Iraq." Gordon, as you would expect, then cites a number of reasons why some feel Edwards' plan is way too wild.