The Associated Press

BATON ROUGE - Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin W. Edwards, serving a 10-year federal prison sentence on corruption charges, told CBS Evening News he's not holding out hope that a petition drive for clemency will work.

"I'm not optimistic."

A group calling itself The Committee, which includes Edwards' political loyalists, has gathered a reported 100,000 signatures on a petition asking President George W. Bush to grant him clemency, reduce his sentence, send him to a halfway house or allow him to serve home incarceration.

Edwards also said though he cannot vote, he is paying close attention to the Louisiana gubernatorial race and was impressed that voters narrowed a crowded field to two unprecedented candidates - a woman and an Indian-American man.

"I think it's a testimony to the diversity of thinking in the state."

Asked if he thought he had been treated unfairly, Edwards responded: "Oh, absolutely, I mean I have to just say, frankly, I never did think what I did justified a 10-year prison sentence and most people in Louisiana feel the same way."

Edwards, 76, is almost at the end of his first year behind bars and has at least seven and a half more years to serve, meaning he won't be a free man until he's 84.

"To my critics out there, I want them to know that they're getting what they wanted. I'm suffering. But to my friends, I want them to know I can handle it."

Edwards was convicted in May 2000 of extorting applicants for riverboat casino licenses in Louisiana.

At the close of his interview, he proved he hasn't lost his infamous sense of humor. When a reporter asked if there is anything else Edwards wanted to mention or discuss, he responded: "Where's the key?"