(August 22, 2008)—At the start of the day Friday, there were five apparent finalists for the number two spot on the Democratic ticket including Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware. Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana and Rep. Chet Edwards of Waco, who emerged as a dark horse contender Friday morning.
By Friday night, however, The Associated Press was reporting that Biden had emerged as the leading contender and that both Kaine and Bayh had learned they had been eliminated from consideration.
Additionally, several associates of Obama including some at his campaign headquarters in Chicago said they believed Biden was the choice, although they cautioned they had not been told directly.
Obama’s announcement of his choice of a running mate is now expected Saturday morning, before a scheduled appearance in Springfield, Ill.
His campaign plans to announce his VP choice by text message.
Edwards deflected questions Friday about whether he’s been chosen for the number two spot on the Democratic presidential ticket, saying, “Only Barrack Obama can make that announcement.”
Edwards, in an on-camera interview with News Ten reporter Gus Elliott, would neither confirm nor deny that he’s been offered the vice presidency.
“What I can say is that I have been considered by the Obama campaign for the vice presidency and it’s been a process that has lasted over the last two-and-a-half months,” Edwards said.
“Whatever decision he makes,” Edwards said, “I’m going to respect that decision and going to support him.”
“I didn’t seek this job,” Edwards said.
“Others reached out to me on this.”
He confirmed to AP that he has been in contact with Obama’s campaign through the summer, but offered no specifics.
"I have had interactions with the Obama campaign over the last several months but I will not get into details,” he said
Edwards has been considered a long-shot candidate for the job since June, when U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Newsweek magazine in a video interview that Edwards should be included in the mix of Obama’s potential running mates.
“I do think in the list of considerations there should be somebody from the House of Representatives,” Pelosi said, “and Chet Edwards is a person many of us think would be a good person to have in the mix.”
Watch The Interview
Edwards was among the first Democratic superdelgates to endorse Obama publicly.
He announced his endorsement in mid-February, well before it was clear that Obama was going to derail the expected coronation of Hillary Rodham Clinton as the Democratic presidential nominee.
“By voting for Senator Obama, we can say it is time to turn away from the divisive partisan politics of the past and work together for a brighter future for our children and our grandchildren,” Edwards said in February.
“Now more than ever, we need a leader who can inspire us to do better, to be better. Barack Obama is that leader,” Edwards said.
Click Here To Read The Entire Endorsement Statement
Edwards is a nine-term member of Congress whose district includes the president’s Crawford-area ranch, whose efforts behalf of both active duty troops and military veterans has earned him respect from both sides of the aisle.
He numbers among the ranking members of the U.S. House and serves as a senior member of both the House Budget and Appropriations Committees.
He clearly has clout on Capitol Hill, and he has clout as well in Central Texas, where he has survived a series challenges including a controversial 2003 effort by Republican lawmakers in Austin to carve out a new district designed to ensure a GOP victory.
The remap created a district that stretched from the conservative Bryan-College Station area to the southern suburbs of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
Despite the heavily Republican nature of the new district, Edwards defeated State Rep. Arlene Wohlgemuth by almost a 4 percent margin in a year when George W. Bush carried the new district with 70 percent of the vote.
This year he faces Waco businessman Rob Curnock, the lone Republican to file for the seat.
Edwards is a Texas A&M graduate who earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School and served in the Texas Senate from 1983 to 1989 before winning election to Congress in 1990 in what then was the 11th District of Texas, succeeding veteran Democratic Congressman Marvin Leath.
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