Chalk it up to sleep deprivation, but I honestly feel a wee bit sorry for John Edwards. This video of him fussing with his feathery Breck hair before a TV interview will undoubtedly be the laughingstock of the blogosphere and beyond today.

Yeah, he’s prissier than most. Waaayy prissier. But if you secretly taped almost any other male politician or talking head before a studio appearance, you’d see the same unnatural, unmanly acts: hair-primping (or comb-overing for those less follicularly blessed), hair-spraying, nose-powdering, and up-to-the-last-minute-mirror-glancing. I’ve seen Washington power players from both sides of the aisle in TV green rooms fussing over flyaways and daintily removing their makeup with aloe baby wipes.

Ewww.

It’s all icky creepy. But that’s TV for ya. I don’t hold it against John Edwards that he cares about how he looks when appearing in a visual medium. Every one of the politicians running for high office (with the possible exception of Ralph Nader) does. Big deal.

And before Bush supporters get carried away with the Edwards video, remember that this is a cheap Michael Moore-ish tactic. He used the same kind of clandestine footage of President Bush preparing for a televised speech–as well as similar outtakes of Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice, and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz getting ready for TV interviews –to mock the Administration in his crockumentary, Fahrenheit 9/11.

If you want to have a fair laugh at Edwards’ expense, forget the hair video and just watch his debate performance again.