GOP candidate Mike Huckabee Pokes Fun at John Edwards, Asks Donor to Contribute Cost of Last Haircut

It was the joke that landed Mike Huckabee on every nightly news program in America: "We have a congress that spends money like John Edwards at a beauty shop," Huckabee laughed during the South Carolina debates.

Democratic candidate John Edwards has been criticized for spending $400 on a haircut. Now the Republican presidential candidate is attempting to parlay the joke into fundraising momentum. According to a press release from the Mike Huckabee campaign, individuals are being asked to donate the same amount as their last haircut.

Huckabee's goal is to collect 400 such donations by 5 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, May 26. With two days left in the fundraising drive, a countdown meter on Huckabee's official website show that 350 people have donated since the Tuesday kick-off.

According to the press release, Huckabee says, "A joke I used in the last Republican debate comparing Congressional spending to John Edwards spending money in a beauty shop seems to have gone over pretty well. While I used humor to illustrate my point, the fact is, most hard-working Americans have to budget for everyday expenses such as getting a haircut. Perhaps if Senators and Members of Congress were more in touch with the real concerns of average Americans, they would be more responsible with the money of their constituents."

The press release also quotes Huckabee as saying that, "connecting with average Americans is critical to the Republican Party's prospects" for retaining control of the White House.