Obama Thinks the Breck Girl is "Kind of Cute"

Barack Obama has some interesting praise for John Edwards:

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) slipped in a compliment — of sorts — about a fellow 2008 hopeful during his appearances on the Iowa stump last weekend.

“I want to wait and hear what John Edwards has to say, he’s kind of good-looking,” Obama envisioned Iowa caucus-goers from the small town of Clinton telling themselves. During an appearance in West Burlington, Iowa, the phrase appeared again, this time with Edwards as “kind of cute.”

One Edwards supporter was nonplussed by the reference, coming as Obama stresses rising above petty politics and chafes at press attention to his own good looks.

“Substance is what makes Edwards stand out from the pack,” the supporter said. “Amid the hype, he’s proven time and again to be the candidate with substantive ideas, and that’s what matters most to caucus-goers.”

Obama’s campaign declined to comment on his curious praise for the 2004 vice presidential nominee. An actual poll on the issue, conducted in 2004 by the online journal Nerve.com, found both Obama and Edwards running behind former President Bill Clinton on the hot-or-not scale.

Hmmm. Ann Coulter may have had the wrong guy...