Around the web today

Richard Baehr looks at the state of election 2008 now that we're about 7 months out from the first voting.

Amity Schlaes reports on a study that shows that the ownership of a newspaper has less to do with bias than the zipcode of where the newspaper headquarters is located.

John Edwards' hair stylist, Joseph Torrenueva explains how he has been doing Edwards' hair for about four years when he first got invited to a stylist planning session to pick the best colors and clothes swatches and hair style for the candidate. Torrenueva was offended when Edwards pretended that he was a stranger.

"I'm disappointed and I do feel bad. If I know someone, I'm not going to say I don't know them," he said. "When he called me 'that guy,' that hit my ears. It hurt." He paused and then added, "I still like him. . . . I don't want to hurt him."

And that $400 price tag - that was just because he had to leave his shop to do Edwards' hair. Normally, it would have been just $175. Oh, that makes a big difference. Of course, one time it did cost $1250 in 2004 when he had to fly out and missed two days of work. You think Mr. Torrenueva might be a little ticked at his former client to reveal all this information? And all this still doesn't address why multimillionaire John Edwards used his political campaign funds to pay for his haircut. I wonder if all those individuals who contributed their hard-earned money to the Edwards campaign appreciate having it go to dress his tresses.

Daniel Henninger argues that 2008 will still be an election about terrorism, not the economy.

James Taranto ponders what possibly could be the common thread among the British terrorists after the Associated Press noted the "diverse backgrounds" of the people arrested.

Mike Murphy and Mark Mellman, Republican and Democratic political operatives, explain how the Heisenberg Principle afffects political campaigns this far out from the election.

Meanwhile, the press ignores Heisenberg's principle — that the measurements themselves, printed in bold type on Page 1, create their own distorted results, inaccurately advantaging some while disadvantaging others. By creating a potentially illusory sense of momentum or of failure, these pseudo-measures affect the extent of media coverage, fundraising, endorsements and the willingness of volunteers to engage.

The result is a cycle. Early national polling is used to declare winners and losers. Those declarations affect the flow of money and coverage, which is then reported as winners and losers, part two, thereby driving the next polls.