CNN

(CNN) - As part of the unprecedented format, CNN and YouTube asked each Democratic presidential contender to submit his or her own 30-second YouTube video.

Senator Christopher Dodd's video was the first of the eight videos to air during the debate. In his video, Dodd pokes fun at his full head of grey hair.

"What's with the white hair?," a man asks Dodd in the video.

"I don't know why you bring that up," Dodd respponds. "Bill Richardson, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and I are all about the same age."

Dodd goes on to explain that his white hair was the result of "hard work."

"It took me 7 years to pass the Family and Medical Leave Act and I helped end wars in Central America and bring peace in Northern Ireland. I'm ready to be president," Dodd says in the video.

The point is clear. Dodd, one of the lesser known Democratic contenders, is using his grey hair to signal his experience even if he lacks the national profile of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards.

When the video ended, Anderson Cooper couldn't resist adding his own post script. "Sadly, my age is catching up with my hair," said Cooper.

- CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart