NBC debate  moderators can't get past Edwards haircut story, despite
 
Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:38:04 -0400

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<p><b>NBC debate  moderators can't get past Edwards haircut story, despite
acknowledgment it's  "silly" </b></p>
<p><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200709270011?src=item200709270011">http://mediamatters.org/items/200709270011</a></p>

<p>During the September 26 Democratic 
presidential debate at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, 
moderator and NBC News Washington bureau chief Tim Russert asked former Sen. 
John Edwards (D-NC): "Your campaign has hit some obstacles with revelations 
about $400 haircuts, half-million dollars working for a hedge fund, $800,000 
from Rupert Murdoch. Do you wish you hadn&#39;t taken money in all those cases or 
hadn&#39;t made that kind of expenditure for a haircut?" Russert&#39;s question about 
Edwards&#39; haircuts marks the second time a moderator from NBC News has asked 
about the topic during a debate since the story "broke" in April. As <i>Media Matters for America</i> <a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200707200001?src=item200709270011" title="http://mediamatters.org/items/200707200001">noted</a>, NBC&#39;s <i>Nightly News</i> anchor Brian Williams asked 
Edwards about the haircuts during an April 26 <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=item200709270011&http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18352397/1/displaymode/1098/" title="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18352397/1/displaymode/1098/">debate</a>, 
despite having <a href="http://mediamatters.org/columns/200705010001?src=item200709270011" title="http://mediamatters.org/columns/200705010001">acknowledged</a> three days 
earlier that the story was "silly."</p>

<p><i>Politico</i> senior 
political writer Ben Smith first highlighted Edwards&#39; haircuts in an April 16 <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=item200709270011&http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0407/The_Hairs_Still_Perfect.html" title="http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0407/The_Hairs_Still_Perfect.html">blog 
entry</a>. A July 17 <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=item200709270011&http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/07/17/273256.aspx" title="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=item200709270011&http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/07/17/273256.aspx
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/07/17/273256.aspx">post</a> 
on NBC News&#39; First Read blog -- an analysis of the day&#39;s political news, from 
the NBC News political unit -- advised readers to "look for Edwards supporters 
to use this as a test to see if the MSM covers [Republican presidential 
candidate Mitt] Romney as harshly as Edwards was." However, as <i>Media Matters</i> documented, NBC <a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200707200001?src=item200709270011" title="http://mediamatters.org/items/200707200001">seized</a> on the Edwards 
story but completely ignored disclosures that Romney&#39;s presidential campaign 
spent $300 on makeup. </p>

<p>From MSNBC&#39;s 9 p.m. ET broadcast of 
the September 26 debate:</p><blockquote>

<p>RUSSERT: Sen. Edwards, you mentioned 
candor with the candidate -- a president -- with the American people. <b>Your campaign has hit some obstacles with revelations 
about $400 haircuts, half-million dollars working for a hedge fund, $800,000 
from Rupert Murdoch. Do you wish you hadn&#39;t taken money in all those cases or 
hadn&#39;t made that kind of expenditure for a 
haircut?</b></p>

<p>EDWARDS: Well, first of all, I think 
if you look at my entire life, I am proud of what I&#39;ve spent my life doing. I&#39;m 
not perfect. There&#39;s not a single person on this stage who&#39;s perfect. But I came 
from a family -- I was born into nothing. I was brought home to a two-room house 
in a mill village. I have spent my entire life fighting for the kind of people 
that I grew up with, that worked in a mill with my father, and I don&#39;t apologize 
for the fact that I&#39;ve worked hard and built a life, which I hope will make life 
easier for my children. I&#39;m proud of that. I&#39;m not ashamed of that. 
</p>

<p>And I&#39;m proud of having stood up for 
the people that I grew up with. It&#39;s what I have done my entire life. I did it 
for 20 years as a lawyer; it&#39;s what I&#39;ve done every minute that I&#39;ve been in 
public life. It is the reason that I&#39;ve been walking -- going around the country 
helping organize workers into unions. It is the reason we started a 
college-for-everyone program for low-income kids. It is the reason Elizabeth and I started an 
after-school program for kids who otherwise would have no chance to go to an 
after-school program, having access to technology. I&#39;m proud of what I&#39;ve done 
from -- with my life, and I do not apologize for 
it.</p></blockquote><table width="100%" style="background: #e8e8e8; 
border: 1px solid  #ffffff; font-size: 80%" cellpadding="1">
<tr>
<td style="border-right: 1px solid  #ffffff;" 
width="40%">
</b> Contact: <br />
<b>Tim Russert</b></td>
<td valign="top"><a href="mailto:mtp@msnbc.com">mtp@msnbc.com</a></td>
</tr>
</table>
<table width="100%" style="background: #e8e8e8; 
border: 1px solid  #ffffff; font-size: 80%" cellpadding="1">
<tr>
<td style="border-right: 1px solid  #ffffff;" 
width="40%">
</b> Contact: <br />
<b>MSNBC</b></td>
<td valign="top"><a href="mailto:viewerservices@msnbc.com">viewerservices@msnbc.com</a>
<br />MSNBC TV
<br />One MSNBC Plaza
<br />Secaucus, N.J. 07094
<br /><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3303518/">MSNBC contacts</a></td>
</tr>
</table>
<table width="100%" style="background: #e8e8e8; 
border: 1px solid  #ffffff; font-size: 80%" cellpadding="1">
<tr>
<td style="border-right: 1px solid  #ffffff;" 
width="40%">
</b> Contact: <br />
<b>NBC</b></td>
<td valign="top"><a href="http://www.msnbc.com/news/435157.asp#nbc">NBC News</a>
<br />NBC News
<br />30 Rockefeller Plaza
<br />New York, N.Y. 10112</td>
</tr>
</table>



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