Edwards sounds neat, I wouldn't call him a conservative aside from the heartbeat ban part (which, and maybe this is me projecting my own position on the matter, but I think you can appeal to a majority of progressives without going full-on "subsidize third trimester abortions, life begins at birth"). Actually, he's basically a time-displaced New Dealer. I also doubt the electorate would react to Fifth Party System-style candidates
that strongly, the parties they're heading and downballot races wouldn't change around them. On environmentalism, for instance, Democrats will be associated with green energy no matter what Edwards or Baker say and West Virginia, Montana, etc. will turn out for Baker.
A few question marks- what's his stance on immigration and Cuban relations? He's probably strong enough to counteract Democrats' post-Farm Crisis bleed in the Midwest for at least one more election, but I doubt he has the hawkishness necessary to win Cubans and Venezuelans and therefore Florida back over. I'm guessing he has a Sanders-style position on immigration, where he sees it as a symptom of neoliberalism that hurts both domestic labor and exploited immigrant laborers. Probably a wash for Nevada and Arizona in that he's not super keen on Mexican-American outreach but he doesn't alienate them either.
Basically, back to 2012.
Senator Todd Edwards (D-IA) / Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) ✓
Governor Charlie Baker (R-MD) Governor Eric Holcomb (R-IN)
