It's not how you look, it's how you present yourself

WASHINGTON -- Of all the videos produced by the Democratic candidates for last week's YouTube debate, John Edwards's was perhaps the biggest sensation. It was intended to rebut the controversy over the former North Carolina senator's $400 haircuts and last spring's hit YouTube video of the candidate primping to the tune of "I Feel Pretty."

Edwards's video runs to the tune of "Hair," the Cowsills' hit from the '60s musical of the same name ("long beautiful hair, shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen . . . ") and shows crazy hairstyles juxtaposed against real-world catastrophes such as the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina, and workers holding signs that read "Honk for Healthcare."

"What Really Matters?" crawls across the screen at the end, followed by "You Choose."

It's a great political spot, in that it hits many of the key themes of Edwards's campaign with a mix of humor and gravity. The song was written as an ironic comment on the Vietnam War era, and 40 years later it strikes exactly the chord that Edwards wants. The video effectively skewers what Edwards's website calls "the chattering class" -- political pros, the media, even YouTube renegades -- by blaming them for the mindless focus on Edwards's hair.

"Haircuts or health care? asks Edwards's website. "Distractions peddled by Washington insiders and the chattering class that insult your intelligence -- or the real issues we face as a country like Iraq, global warming and poverty?"

This is a good line of attack for Edwards, but it's significantly undercut by the fact that the current issue of Men's Vogue features an Annie Leibowitz glamour shot of . . . John Edwards.

Edwards probably isn't responsible for the timing of the magazine cover, but he posed for the picture wearing a trendy fall coat, and his campaign adviser Dave "Mudcat" Saunders did an online chat accompanying the article.

There may be some truth to the prediction that this YouTube-saturated presidential race will be the "authenticity campaign" -- that candidates won't be able to control their image using traditional TV ads because of all the unauthorized videos out there, so the best strategy is for them to simply be themselves at all times.

But the truth is that candidates haven't really been able to hide themselves in the past: Character weaknesses like Bill Clinton's truth-trimming and philandering were endlessly analyzed during his campaigns. Many people consider George W. Bush's compassionate-conservative campaign of 2000 to have been a ruse, but they forget how much his real character issues -- his smirking, his cockiness in defiance of his inexperience -- were also discussed in 2000.

Could it be that Edwards is portrayed as a vanity case because he is just a little vain -- or at least overly attentive to appearances? Even as he was proudly presenting his "What Really Matters" video at the YouTube debate he couldn't resist making a catty comment about Hillary Clinton's pink jacket.

Asked what he liked and disliked about his New York rival, Edwards praised "what Senator Clinton has done for America," but added, "I'm not sure about that coat."

Edwards isn't alone in denying his vanity while displaying it in countless unguarded moments. His metrosexual match in the Republican party is, of course, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. And it's telling that Romney couldn't resist harping on Edwards's high-priced haircuts last spring.

"You know, I think John Edwards was right," Romney quipped last April. "There are two Americas. There's the America where people pay $400 for a haircut and then there is everybody else."

Romney admitted paying $50 for his own 'do -- perhaps a bit more than "everybody else," though a lot less than Edwards. The following month, however, Romney shelled out $300 for makeup before the first Republican debate in California.

At some point soon, Men's Vogue may put in a call to the Romney campaign. If so, here's a memo for the candidate: Congratulations on the fact that the fashion pros have noticed your excellent appearance. But as much as you are justifiably proud of your looks -- the flattest sexagenarian stomach this side of Sly Stallone, the way you removed the corporate flash from your suits to convey an all-American look, that perfect mix of salt and pepper in the hair -- stay out of the magazine.

Let America love you for who you are, not how you look.

Peter S. Canellos is the Globe's Washington bureau chief. National Perspective is his weekly analysis of events in the capital and beyond.

(Correction: Because of an editing error, a photo caption on yesterday's Nation page accompanying Peter S. Canellos's National Perspective column about videos on Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards incorrectly implied that Edwards made the "I Feel Pretty" video on YouTube. The video was posted on the website by a contributor using the name Roger Rmjet.)