Barack Obama gets a little gray on the campaign trail
Barack Obama’s youthful image may have helped propel him to the Democratic presidential nomination, but as he prepares to formally become his party’s standard bearer in the November election, Obama’s closely shorn hair appears to be increasingly gray.
A little salt in the pepper might come in handy for a candidate who faces questions about whether he has enough experience from Republican rival John McCain, who turns 72 on Friday.
On the campaign trail in recent weeks, Obama tells supporters the new hue is from the rigors of spending long months on the road stumping for votes.
“I’ve been running for president for 19 months, which explains the gray hair,” the 47-year-old says.
Zariff, a Chicago barber who goes by one name and who has cut Obama’s hair for about 15 years, said he first noticed the gray about three years ago.
“It has showed up a little bit more, especially in the past year,” said Zariff, who has worked at the Hyde Park Hair Salon and Barber Shop for nearly two decades.
But he demurred when asked if campaign stress might be the cause.
“Well, if he’s under any stress, I don’t notice it. He’s pretty smooth when it comes to that,” Zariff said.
Obama’s haircuts are unlikely to become a political liability.
Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who tried to cultivate a populist image before he dropped out of the presidential race, paid $400 for a haircut; Zariff charges $21.
Zariff said he cuts Obama’s hair once a week.
“Mostly, he comes right here to the shop, where he’s been coming for a long time,” he said.
“If he’s on the road for too long, I make sure I get out there” to where he is.
Zariff said Obama is a generous tipper, but declined to name the amount. “That’s personal,” he said, adding, “I’ve never complained.”
-- Seema Mehta
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Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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Oh please. It's called "Touch of Gray" and it comes in a bottle. It's part of Phase II of this marketing of a president fiasco. It makes undecideds instantly believe he is wise and experienced.
Posted by: Live to vote another day | August 27, 2008 at 05:07 PM
"Live to Vote" - do you tend to pretend that you can know what it inside people's hearts and accuse them of sin when you've never even met them before? You're not only accusing Obama of lying, you're accusing this barber you've never heard of before of lying too, and over a really lame issue, I might add.
Posted by: Jonathan | August 27, 2008 at 06:21 PM
Why are comments activated for this topic? Seems that all of the non-issue posts get comments, and then when I actually want to speak up on an issue comments aren't available.
Posted by: Tyson | August 27, 2008 at 06:52 PM