Former Republican Illinois Governor Jim Edgar is launching a new initiative in which he is bringing 40 Illinois politicians, most of them Republicans, together to learn how to compromise, leading to rumors that the Romney presidential campaign may be seriously considering Edgar for the Republican vice-presidential slot, who served two terms as Illinois's Governor from 1991-1999.
It is quite possible that the Romney campaign may pick an Illinois Republican in an attempt to negate President Obama's home-state advantage, so Edgar, who had a moderate reputation while in office, may be launching this initiative not to actually teach Illinois politicians how to compromise but to impress the Romney campaign into offering him the vice-presidential slot on the GOP ticket.
Edgar would be a very weak vice-presidential pick for the GOP. Romney is perceived as someone who doesn't inspire the GOP base, and Edgar would be even worse at motivating the GOP base than Romney, given the fact that he openly flaunts his moderate reputation from back in the day. Also, Edgar has had heart problems for many years, which is why Edgar didn't run for U.S. Senate in 2004 despite the fact that the Bush Administration seemingly did everything to try to convince Edgar to run. That Senate seat was won by none other than Barack Obama. Additionally, Edgar held his "last" press conference in 2005 to announce that he wasn't going to run for what would have been a third non-consecutive gubernatorial term in 2006 and formally announced the end his political career. Also, Edgar had a couple of notable incidents as Governor: in 1991, he issued a proclamation declaring March 13 of that year as L. Ron Hubbard day, which was seen as an endorsement of Scientology on Edgar's part, additionally, Edgar's largest 1994 campaign contributor, Management Systems of Illinois, was granted a state contract that overcharged Illinois taxpayers $20 million and resulted in a federal probe that led to numerous convictions, although Edgar himself was not charged but was called to testify regarding the MSI case.
I believe there may be hidden intentions on Edgar's part about his attempt to teach Illinois politicians how to compromise, and I wonder if the Romney campaign is pulling the strings on this effort...