Chet Edwards on Senate run: No. Well, maybe.

Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, has been getting quite the rush these days. First, there was that Nancy Pelosi-push to be considered as Obama's running mate. Then, there was a lot of chatter about Edwards, the chairman of a key subcommittee on veterans' affairs, being in the cabinet as Obama's secretary of veterans' affairs. Edwards, attending a ground-breaking in Fort Worth for the country's largest VA clinic, said, by golly, he would be interested. But then, under terrific pressure from Texas Democrats, who did not want to lose their most powerful House member, Edwards bowed out with a statement taking himself out of consideration.

But what about the U.S. Senate? Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, may make an early exit in the next six months to run for governor, giving a high profile lawmaker like Edwards a chance to move up. "That's highly unlikely," Edwards told the Star-Telegram of the likelihood that he would run. "I love my present job representing my district and leading the fight for veterans." . . . But, he added, "My mother taught me to say 'never say never.'"

-- Maria Recio