WNYC Radio’s Brian Lehrer — who has a powerful forum in New York — is interviewing the presidential candidates and he asked John Edwards about the YouTube election and that video.

A transcript:

Brian Lehrer: Is this going to be the YouTube election?
John Edwards: YouTube’s going to play a role, I can tell you that. There’s a lot happening out there happening on the net, including YouTube, outside the control of candidates and that’s not a bad thing….
Lehrer: Do you think the political content on sites like YouTube is good for democracy, bad for democracy or mixed?
Edwards: Very good for Democracy.
Lehrer: Why?
Edwards: Because we believe in a country where everyone can express their opinions. There shouldn’t be, with very rare exceptions, any limit on people’s ability to express those opinions. It’s a marketplace of ideas and a new opportunity for grassroots activism, which is so critical to strengthening democracy.
Lehrer: But people can also do attacks that are not vetted or just low blows. Somebody has a video up there of you fixing your hair for two-minutes plus.
Edwards: They’re entitled to do that. Listen I’m running for President of the United States. My fans can put up video of me doing something they think is extraordinary: walking through Ugandan villages. And people who are not my fans or just want to poke fun can do that. Listen, it goes with the territory.
Lehrer: That video of you and your hair is No. 2 right now on YouTube when you search ‘John Edwards.’ That doesn’t demean your presidential candidacy?
Edwards? No, no, I’m human like anybody else.