Political lines are blurred in Bush country

CRAWFORD, Texas, Oct 12: The Congressman who represents US President George W. Bush's home district is a good old Texan who goes to church, likes to hunt and opposes same-sex marriage.

While these traits are normally associated with Bush's Republican Party, Chet Edwards is in fact a Democrat who has been in Congress for 16 years -- a fact that highlights how easily the standard party lines are blurred in the South.

As the November seven elections that will decide who controls Congress heat up, the House race here is not a simple one between a liberal Democrat and a conservative Republican.

In this neck of the woods, where the days simmer and folks speak with a southern drawl, there aren't many liberals.

''I'm a George Bush man but I'm also a Chet Edwards man so I don't vote a straight Republican ticket. Chet's a good Texan,'' says Jimmy Don Holmes, a barrel of a man who crafts intricate metal signs and figures for a living in Crawford.

The Bush family ranch is a few miles from here down a narrow country road.

This is cattle country and the churchgoing people in the vicinity are supposed to paint Crawford a bright Republican red.

But Edwards signs seem to outnumber those of his Republican opponent, Van Taylor, an Iraq war veteran who says illegal immigration from neighboring Mexico -- a major national issue in this election year -- is the main local concern.

''People here are talking a lot about immigration ... They are unhappy about illegal aliens that commit crimes,'' Taylor told Reuters in a phone interview.

Reuters