Oh, how pathetic. John Kerry snipes at Edwards' youthful appearance. John Edwards is 50 years old for pete's sake!

[Kerry:] "When I came home from Vietnam in 1969, I don't know if John Edwards was out of diapers then yet or not, I'm totally not sure. I don't know." Kerry then appeared to rethink the issue, and said, "He was by then, it was earlier."

A few minutes later, Kerry appeared to regret the initial comment, saying, "I think the difference [between the candidates] is the level of preparedness and experience to be able to get the job done, and I truly don't want to be negative about anybody. That comment I made was not meant to be negative. I don't want to go that road.

Bah. Edwards had a good response:

"I have tremendous respect for Senator Kerry's service to our country in Vietnam," he said in a written statement. "The truth is, in 1969 my family spent a lot of time sitting around the kitchen table trying to figure out how to pay for me to go to college, as so many Iowa families do every day."

I have been saying to V for awhile now that I think part of Edwards' lack of traction is that he looks like he's 30 years old. It's really too bad.