Edwards Touts Red State Electability

ABC News’ Raelyn Johnson and Rick Klein report: Former senator John Edwards’ campaign is sharpening its argument that Edwards provides the Democrats the best chance to win in Republican states, in a new fundraising appeal signed by red-state Democrats that claims that only Edwards can "expand the map" for Democrats in 2008.

Today the Edwards camp announced a new online campaign called "Expand the Map." Campaign manager and former representative David Bonior said  they are trying to elect the candidate that is the most electable Democrat. 

The letter was co-signed by Democats including the House minority leaders in Oklahoma, Georgia, Virginia, Texas, and North Dakota — all states that voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004.

"We believe that we have the best chance, in some areas, the only chance, of ensuring Democratic control throughout this country with John Edwards leading the charge for Democrats next fall," wrote Bonior in an e-mail to supporters. 

"Donate today to support the one Democrat that Democrats in red and blue states like ours all across the country know will help sweep Democrats across the country to victory in 2008—John Edwards," according to the johnedwards.com donation page.

The fundraising appeal comes one day after Edwards won and "e-primary" conducted by the Texas Democratic Party. Some 8,000 Democrats participated in the online forum, and 38 percent supported Edwards, compared with 21 percent for Sen. Barack Obama and 20 percent for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"John Edwards is committed to a 50 state strategy," says Bonior. "Results like those in Texas show his strength in rural red states, and he is already focusing on intermountain states like Utah and Montana."

The electability argument has been a constant narrative in the 2008 race, where both a black man and a white woman have taken center stage in the road to the White House.  Edwards, unable to tap into the energy and excitement that Obama and Clinton have both enjoyed, has told crowds across the country that having a Southerner at the top of the ticket will put more states in play in the presidential election — and give a boost to Democrats nation-wide.

"John Edwards is the candidate who can campaign and win in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky — places where Democrats can and should compete," Edwards said in a speech in Pittsburgh last week, after receiving a union endorsement. 

Edwards made the argument even more directly through his travel schedule; last week, he became the first Democrat in the 2008 race to campaign in Montana.