It is hard out there for a Democrat in Texas
Washington Post:
Edwards is running about 20 points behind Flores in the GOP poles and will not say what his own polling indicates, but the fact that he wont say is telling. Flores has done a good job of connecting Edwards to Obama and Pelosi while Edwards touts the votes he made against them. Those votes are probably ones Pelosi let him off on to protect his seat and voters seem to be wise to that game.
It's tough these days for Democratic incumbents all over, but nowhere more so than here, where Rep. Chet Edwards is - once again - fighting for his political life.There is more.
Of all the House Democrats running for reelection this year, none represents a more deeply red district than this one. It is ranked the 19th most heavily Republican in the country by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Among Edwards's constituents is former President George W. Bush, who is registered to vote at his Crawford ranch.
Conservative Democrats used to be the norm in Texas, but Edwards finds himself one of the last of a most endangered species.
Over two decades in the House, Edwards has been able to survive by carefully tending to the moods and the desires of the conservative voters back home.
Edwards has frequently broken with his party on high-profile votes, including opposing such signature Obama administration initiatives as the health-care overhaul and the cap-and-trade climate bills. He boasts of his endorsement by the National Rifle Association and his recent "guardian of small business" award from the National Federation of Independent Business.
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"The anger is stronger this year than before - similar to 1994," Edwards said in an interview, as he prepared to march in a Founders' Day parade in this small town just west of Waco. "There's a lot of frustration with hyperpartisanship in Washington. There's a sense that government tried to overreach."
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In addition to Edwards, Democrats are nervous about the seats of such longtime House members as 17-term House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton in Missouri; 14-term House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt in South Carolina, and nine-term Rep. Earl Pomeroy in North Dakota.
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Edwards is running about 20 points behind Flores in the GOP poles and will not say what his own polling indicates, but the fact that he wont say is telling. Flores has done a good job of connecting Edwards to Obama and Pelosi while Edwards touts the votes he made against them. Those votes are probably ones Pelosi let him off on to protect his seat and voters seem to be wise to that game.
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