A Man and His Flat Top
And now, we bring you the first in a semi-regular style series on the freshmen senators -- where they dine, where they shop and, of course, where they get their hair done.
Sen. Jon Tester is all about his flat top. The Montana Democrat used his hair as a tool in his successful campaign to oust Republican Conrad Burns. His buzz cut - the emblem of his down-home, populist style of politicking - was such a central element of his platform that he ran a television ad about it.
Sen. Jon Tester
Tester takes meticulous care to keep his hair perfectly spiked and flat. He won't entrust that look to just any stylist, which is why he can't quite bring himself to brave the Senate barbershop just yet.
Instead, he tells us, he goes every two or three weeks to see Bill Graves, his barber of 15 years back home in Great Falls. You really get to know a lot about a guy from talking to his barber, which is why we gave Graves a call this morning.
Graves might be proud of Tester for making it all the way to the U.S. Senate, but he isn't impressed.
"He's just a common old ordinary farm boy from Montana," says Graves, who has had the same barbershop for 44 years. "He's just like every guy on the street. If there's two guys ahead of him, he waits his turn. We just b.s. and laugh and joke."
(Sen. Tester isn't Graves' only famous customer. The barber also has clipped the locks of football great Ryan Leaf. Leaf, the former quarterback for the San Diego Chargers, went to high school in Great Falls.)
When Tester was state senator, he would ride his motorcycle the 40 miles from his farm in Big Sandy to the barbershop. Now he drives, or has someone drive him. He pays the going rate of $8, according to Graves, who adds "and he gives me a tip usually."
It's hard to say whether Tester will become a trendsetter among Washington's well-coiffed luminaries. His spokesman, Matt McKenna, says, "There are certainly a few senators on the Hill with flat-top envy."
In Washington, Tester has found a favorite restaurant. He and his flattop like the Daily Grill, where he says "they got a lobster pad thai that you can kill for. It just about floundered me."
But if he had his druthers, Tester would order prime rib, hands down, any day of the week. It's his favorite meal. That does seem more the flat-top man than pad thai.
Although the senator may want to heed this bit of wisdom from his barber, who noted: "He wasn't quite as big as he is now when I met him. Politics has been good to him."
By Mary Ann Akers |
March 2, 2007; 2:45 PM ET
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Posted by: KEVIN SCHMIDT, STERLING VA | March 2, 2007 3:23 PM
Oh, come on, get a life. She's just posting the equivalent of a newspaper feature story. Is it breaking news? No. Is it interesting anyway? Sometimes. Articles/postings like this one help humanize the people who make laws.
Posted by: Tom Crawford | March 4, 2007 7:32 AM
Concerning "a lobster pad thai that you can kill for. It just about floundered me". In my country boy slang, flounder should be founder, a disease in horses and cattle caused by eating too much. Otherwise, an interesting piece. Thank you.
Posted by: Marion Storm | March 5, 2007 3:10 AM
Was that sarcasm about Ryan Leaf being a great football player?
Posted by: Kevin Doyle | March 5, 2007 10:39 AM
Without regard to politics, Tester seems like a nice guy. He's better watch that cholesterol, though.
Posted by: Silent Cal | March 5, 2007 12:27 PM
To the first poster, you've obviously missed the purpose of the column: it's insider gossip, personalities, anecdotes, etc. Bet it's a well-read column in DC, too... If you're one of those complaining from page to page, looking for more of the "what's wrong with GWBush today" reporting, then you might try other parts of the paper or other blogged resources, in general.
Posted by: hurricanewarningdc | March 5, 2007 1:27 PM
Ryan Leaf? Great? Who's drinking this Koolaid? The man was a bum as a person and a flop as a football player. Check your sources.
Posted by: Jim Shea | March 5, 2007 3:29 PM
Satirical journalism has been part of us for generations.
Just imagine a society that cannot look back, reflect and laugh at itself. Our leaders are part of us and we have a right to know who they really are.
This is a piece you could classify under the genre of human interest feature.
The first poster should look for better excuses to exosise his misgivings.
Posted by: Herbert-Jean Awuor | March 6, 2007 4:15 AM
While the online media fascinates me, the sheer vapidity of your column puts me in mind of a quote by Henry David Thoreau. As the great American writer put it,
"We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph...but perchance the first news that will leak through into the broad flapping American ear will be that Princess Adelaide has the whooping cough." ~Thoreau,
Walden
You seem like an educated person. Have you really nothing more valuable to write about than haircuts? Either you have nothing to say, or you are determined to say nothing interesting. Why not volunteer to teach children in Latin America? I'm sure it would be a far more rewarding experience than this column could possibly be. I'm not trying to insult your integrity, but seriously, take a couple of years off and see the world. It might give you a deeper perspective. You seem young for such cynicism and sarcasm. But perhaps, as power corrupts, Washington corrupts even the best and the brightest. Good luck. Mike
Posted by: Mike | March 6, 2007 10:23 AM
Being an interested outsider (I in England) it is nice to see a journalist take some time to find out about someone in the public eye rather than tearing them to pieces just because they are in the public eye! I now feel as if I have learnt abit more about this man.
Posted by: Steve Weekes | March 6, 2007 12:21 PM
Hay, Your article on the flat top was neat. How on earth did it inspire such nasty responses? You've found a tool to reveal angry people: humor.
Posted by: Tom Hayfield | March 6, 2007 10:34 PM
Hay,
Does the healthcare even/matter anymore/up there? Is a storm story developing?/On the hill it just rains/on the Democratic mis-thatched roofs/Who will fix our leaky roofs/and don't Republicrats have roofs,too?/The Republicrats have aloof over their heads/and not that half-thatched porous roof over their heads/the staff turnover will get their their hair wet,too./If the Republuicrats have that/cool-cat-look like /our new flat topper-western hero Tester/they'll be dancin' like a hippie dupster/trying to cool down on/a new Orleans tin roof!/COOOOOL CATSSSSS!!!!!
Posted by: Tom Hayfield | March 7, 2007 12:27 AM
Why on earth do some of you bother to complain about what is supposed to be a funny, light-hearted piece?!?! Read the effin' title and you know its not hard news. God, it's called entertainment, douche bags...
And Ryan Leaf was a great QB...in college. Sorry, I'm a WSU alum...
Posted by: DRizzle | March 7, 2007 2:23 PM
hit the gym
Posted by: Fat Boy | March 7, 2007 10:11 PM
Well, I think it's a refreshing change from hearing about Nancy Pelosi's outfits. It's fluff but at least it's man fluff.
Posted by: Sharquanna | March 7, 2007 11:35 PM
GREAT human interest log.My local newspaper(the San Diego Union)would try to spin it as a threat to ALL things American.
Those that didn't "get it"-are most likely people that do not even read ANY newsprint-but,still claim that Dubbie is the greatest.
Posted by: Richard Wm. Narlian | March 8, 2007 8:20 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Is this the new WaPoo strategy, reporting on the irrelevant, irreverant and inane fringes of the real news? Say good-by to the rest of your dwindling circulation, both in print and online editions.