Presidential hopeful John Edwards got quite a bit of flak a few months back when he spent $800 of campaign funds on two haircuts. Today, The Washington Post tells us the rest of the story.

For four decades, Joseph Torrenueva has cut the hair of Hollywood celebrities, from Marlon Brando to Bob Barker, so when a friend told him in 2003 that a presidential candidate needed grooming advice, he agreed to help.

The Beverly Hills hairstylist, a Democrat, said he hit it off with then-Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina at a meeting in Los Angeles that brought several fashion experts together to advise the candidate on his appearance. Since then, Torrenueva has cut Edwards's hair at least 16 times.

At first, the haircuts were free. But because Torrenueva often had to fly somewhere on the campaign trail to meet his client, he began charging $300 to $500 for each cut, plus the cost of airfare and hotels when he had to travel outside California.

Torrenueva said one haircut during the 2004 presidential race cost $1,250 because he traveled to Atlanta and lost two days of work.

Edwards is a wealthy man. If he wants to spend his money in this fashion, then he's well within his rights to do it.

However, when the basis of your public persona and presidential hopes is "two Americas" and exploiting the divide between the rich and the poor -- spending $1,250 on a haircut is, at the very least, poor form. The question is: Who among his Democrat foes can hit him with this inconvenient truth? Hillary probably can't -- her hubby suffered from a similar faux pas -- but her slam against President Bush on the Libby pardon proved that she either has a poor memory or an overabundance of "chutzpah."

Obama may be able to use it, but Edwards trails him and he need to be trying to reel in Hillary. My guess is that this would be a good move for Gov. Bill Richardson -- a way for him to vault into the top three.

For the record, I haven't paid for a haircut in several years -- a set of clippers and a mirror are all I need.