Flores offers to pay for town hall event for Edwards, Obama during president's Texas visit
| President Barack Obama is coming to Texas next week, but you won’t see him in Rep. Chet Edwards’ congressional district, one of the most Republican-leaning districts represented by a Democrat in the country.
But Monday, Edwards’ Republican opponent sought to link the two men, challenging Edwards to stage a public event with Obama, whom Edwards endorsed while the president was taking on Hillary Rodham Clinton in the 2008 primaries. A press release issued Monday by Bryan Republican Bill Flores challenged Edwards to “hold a public town hall with President Obama in the 17th (Congressional) District.” Obama is headlining fundraisers in Austin and Dallas this coming Monday, two of six such events across the country this month. Obama is not scheduled for events in the state’s two most competitive congressional districts or with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White. This comes with little surprise, given the president’s low approval numbers among Texas voters in a recent poll. Flores — who frequently peppers speeches with mentions of Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and who launched a website and bought billboards playing up the endorsement — seized on the president’s Texas jaunt to play up Edwards’ past support of Obama. “If President Obama can spend his time rasing money in our state, why not also take a moment to stand with one of his staunch supporters, Chet Edwards, and hear directly from Texans in our district?” Flores said in the release. The release also highlighted Edwards’ support of the economic stimulus and “an irresponsible 2010 budget.” Edwards spokeswoman Megan Jacobs brushed aside the Flores campaign’s challenge as a “cheap publicity stunt.” In an e-mail, she said Edwards’ relationship with the Obama administration shows his independence. “If Chet believes what a president is doing is right for our district and country, he will work with him, but if he feels what (the president) is doing is not right for our district and country, he will respectfully disagree,” she said. For example, she added that “Chet has supported President Obama’s increased troop levels in Afghanistan but opposed the health care reform and cap-and-trade bills.” There’s no indication Obama would come to the 17th Congressional District, but Flores’ statement said that if such a visit were to materialize, his campaign would “cover the reasonable cost of the venue.” A spokesman for Flores said he didn’t have an estimate for the venue cost of a presidential visit, but “we would consider it were something proposed.” Presidential visits are more logistically complicated and pricier than the average political event or town hall |