John Edwards for president?

As I've posted elsewhere, my ideal candidates who can win the presidency in 2008 are:

President - John Edwards
Vice President - Barack Obama

With Hillary Clinton as Senate Majority Leader.

So I find the following interview fascinating.

BBB

AP Interview:
Edwards Says Obama Should Run For President
November 20, 2006

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards isn't yet willing to commit to another run for president, but the 2004 Democratic nominee for vice president said Sunday that Illinois Sen. Barack Obama should get into the race.

"I hope he runs. I think he should run," Edwards told The Associated Press. "This is such an important job that I would urge anybody who can make a serious contribution to the campaign and the dialogue _ either in our party or the other party _ to run."

Obama was still a candidate for Senate in 2004, when he delivered the keynote address at Democratic National Convention that sent Edwards and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry onto the general election against President Bush.

Should he enter the race, Obama _ along with New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Edwards _ would be among the favorites for the party's nomination. While none of the three have said for certain they are planning to run, Edwards said Sunday that anyone with something to offer should get into the race.

"America ought to have a choice among the best possible people to be president of the United States. And I trust the judgment of the voters."

But Edwards, who sought his party's nomination for the White House in 2004 after a single term in the Senate, said whether Obama _ or any other candidate _ enters the race will have no bearing on his decision to make a second run for president.

"I honestly don't have any timetable," Edwards said. "If you were in my house listening to (wife) Elizabeth and me talk, you'd know I don't have a timetable. Obviously, at some point over the next weeks and months, I have to make that decision."

Edwards has been traveling the country in the past year promoting programs to combat poverty, while also making several trips abroad _ most recently to Uganda.

Edwards said that the freedom to travel and work with others to fight poverty is something he wouldn't have had if still in office in Washington, and it would be hard to give up.

"You'd lose freedom. You'd lose the ability to travel a little less conspicuously," Edward said of becoming president. "But if you're doing it for the right reasons _ to serve _ you create an enormous opportunity for service."

On Sunday, he was in South Carolina to promote a new book he edited on childhood homes, "Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives." While there, he touted his proposals to reform education, promote universal health care and pull troops out of Iraq.

His book tour also has stopped in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada _ all key states in the presidential nominating process.

"It gives you a better capacity of understanding what's happening on across America," Edwards said. "Instead of listening to what the Washington crowd has to say, I've been hearing from regular Americans all across the country. It's hard to imagine I would have spent my time in a way that makes me feel better."

Edwards said his youngest children _ 7-year-old Emma Claire and 5-year-old Jack _ have some worries about dad running again. They were able to travel with Edwards and his wife Elizabeth during the last campaign, something he said would be harder now that they are in school.

Elizabeth Edwards has been on the road herself in recent weeks, promoting her own book _ "Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers" _ that in part chronicles her recent fight with breast cancer.

"I need to make final decisions about what I think the president needs to be doing starting in 2008, and whether I think I'm well-suited to accomplish that," Edwards said. "And, on a personal level, how my family fits into it."