Edwards for VP (Chet not John)

Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, to discuss the House's accomplishments on behalf of veterans. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)

by Frank James

When Speaker Nancy Pelosi mentioned yesterday on "This Week with George Stephanopolous" that she hoped Sen. Barack Obama would consider Rep. Chet Edwards as a potential vice presidential choice, a lot of people undoubtedly asked who? even though Pelosi has been talking up Edwards for weeks.

Edwards, whose district's most famous constituent is Crawford, Tex. resident and POTUS, George Bush, is one blue Democrat who has been able to survive in very red Republican world. His district, for instance, went 70 percent for Bush, 30 percent for Sen. John Kerry in 2004. Edwards won a narrow victory -- 51 percent versus 47 percent over a well-known and financed Republican challenger.

As Pelosi said:

... Chet Edwards, for years, our colleagues have said to him, why don't you run for president? He is an extraordinarily talented person. He is the champion for veterans in the Congress. He has -- under his leadership we have passed, included just on Friday, the biggest increase in funding for veterans' health benefits and other benefits in the history of our country. He's a master of the needs of our military and their families. He understands the issues of nonproliferation. He has been a champion in the Appropriations Committee and the Congress. He's from South Texas. He represents -- or he's from Crawford, Texas -- represents President Bush in the Congress.

Edwards is not one of the conservative Democratic Blue Dogs, but he certainly upholds the Blue Dog spirit, voting often enough with Republicans and not with his more liberal colleagues in the Democratic conference.

Last year, he opposed Rep. John Murtha's efforts to put military-readiness requirements in a supplemental defense-spending bill which helped to kill Murtha's efforts, according to the Almanac of American Politics. And while beforehand he questioned whether the U.S. military surge in Iraq could be successful given the amount of religious violence, he deferred to the commander in chief, the almanac says.

Edwards not only shares a district with Bush; he also got a Harvard MBA like the president. For some that might be enough of a disqualifier.

Pelosi's recommendation of Edwards is an interesting one since if Obama selected him, House Democrats would likely have trouble retaining his 17th CD seat since it's such a Democratic district.

But Pelosi, a political pragmatist, is signaling that the kind of Democrat she believes Obama needs is one with proven red state electability.

She's also sending the message that her style of leadership is less ideological than many people might have expected. She's maintained good relations with the aforementioned Blue Dogs to the extent that she has frustrated some liberals. Pushing Edwards for veep will no doubt add to those frustrations.