Rep. Edwards hopes that Obama sees history, military experience

Every successful Democratic presidential ticket since Franklin Roosevelt has included at least one centrist Southerner to balance out the party’s more liberal reputation.

It’s a historical tidbit that Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas) knows well. And he’s likely hoping that Barack Obama is thinking about it as he weighs his selection for vice president.

{mosads}If Edwards has a chance of becoming Obama’s running mate, that is where his appeal rests.

By any measure, it’s a long shot. What public consideration he’s gotten stems from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) determination that a House member should be in the vice presidential mix.

Edwards’s supporters acknowledge that he’s not well-known and probably couldn’t deliver his home state. But a single concept emerges as they make their case: balance.

Obama — a big-city Northerner with a liberal voting record and little military experience, is the exact kind of candidate who needs a Chet Edwards.

“A moderate Southerner with experience with veteran and defense issues really fits the bill,” said former Texas Democratic Rep. Martin Frost, now a Washington lawyer and president of America Votes.

Edwards represents possibly the most Republican district currently held by a Democrat. In what would be a delicious irony for Democrats, his most famous constituent is President Bush, whose Crawford ranch is smack in the middle of his district.

He is, as they say, telegenic. Trim and square-jawed, Edwards has the reassuring face of a small-town anchorman.

For years, he represented Fort Hood, the largest Army base in the world. As chairman of the Military Construction and Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee, he has built up expertise and valuable connections in military issues. And last year, he shepherded one of Pelosi’s top priorities, a record increase in veterans’ healthcare funding.

That experience will be on display again this week as he manages the veterans’ affairs funding bill on the House floor in the wake of Obama’s visit to Capitol Hill.

For his part, Edwards is staying quiet. He won’t discuss whether he’s been vetted, and has discouraged supporters from calling the Obama campaign.

Perhaps because of that, his stock has failed to soar in the mysterious marketplace of vice presidential chatter. Of course, silence itself can be a strategy.

“He’s very sensitive about not looking like he’s promoting himself,” said a senior Democratic congressional staffer who believes Edwards has been “looked at very carefully” by the Obama campaign.

Edwards was elected in 1990 and built a conservative record for a Democrat, voting for elements of the Republican “Contract with America,” like the balanced budget amendment, along with drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and a ban on same-sex marriage.

{mospagebreak}It’s not just his conservative votes that contradict Obama. He’s also been a staunch supporter of the separation of church and state, criticizing Bush’s support for faith-based groups and leading opposition to constitutional amendments on school prayer.

In 2004, he was the only targeted Democrat to survive then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s (R-Texas) redistricting plan. Bush won 70 percent of the vote in Edwards’s district in 2004. In 2006, Edwards got 58 percent.

“If Bush is getting 70 percent, and he’s getting 58, then he’s doing something most people across the country haven’t been able to do, Republican or Democrat,” said Jim Dunnam, a Democratic state representative in Edwards’s district.

{mosads}This year, Edwards was an early supporter of Obama, who stumped for him in the hotly contested Texas primary. He’s also reached out to Hispanics, and speaks Spanish at campaign rallies.

In 2002, he voted for the authorization of the use of force in Iraq. Many of the higher-profile contenders made the same choice. But Edwards’s chief appeal is his work on military issues, so it will get extra scrutiny. And he has a ready answer.

“I was wrong, Sen. Obama was right,” he said on a recent day, after a surrogate appearance at Democratic National Committee headquarters. “My decision was a good-faith decision. One key judgment is, What do people learn from their mistakes?”

That’s enough for Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), one of the most stridently anti-war and liberal members of the House.

“He represents Crawford, Texas,” says Woolsey. “He wins. He stands for what he believes — choice, the separation of church and state.”

But DailyKos founder Markos Moulitsas indicates Edwards would not be readily accepted by the netroots, which are already irritated with Obama about his support for wiretapping legislation and his general drift to the center.

“If Obama wants someone to reinforce his narrative of change and good judgment, Edwards wouldn’t come close to meeting that threshold,” said Moulitsas, who also writes a column for The Hill, in an e-mail. “Nothing against Edwards, who represents one of the toughest districts in the country for Democrats, but he’s not veep material.”

Republican criticism of Edwards so far stems from GOP frustration with his success. If he doesn’t get selected, they will seek to hang Pelosi’s support around his neck in the fall.

“Chet Edwards, like every liberal Democrat in a conservative district, votes with his liberal leadership in Washington, then comes home and tells his constituents he’s like them,” said Hans Klingler, spokesman for the Republican Party of Texas. “His greatest liability is that he’s being pushed by Nancy Pelosi.”

But supporters say it’s not liberals and Texas Republicans that Edwards would be called upon to deliver. It’s about wooing constituencies within the battleground states, like veterans and Hispanics in states like Colorado and New Mexico.

“Most of the people being considered are from solidly red or blue states,” said a supporter. “Is Evan Bayh [the Democratic senator from Indiana] going to help with Hispanics in the Southwest? Edwards puts voting blocs in play in states that are in play.”