"I lie in bed, circles under my eyes, my sparse hair sticking in too many directions, and he looks at me as if I am the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. It matters."

...make anyone else want to chop the motherfucker's nuts off? 'Cuz that's the feeling I got from reading it. What kind of hubristic, soulless asshole plays with his dying wife's emotions like that? Edwards deserves a special place in hell, and I'm shamed that I ever even entertained the notion of supporting his candidacy.

yes

I feel the same way.

I voted for John Edwards in the primary. And not in small part because of his family - I'm no "family values" person, and I liked his policy statements, I just liked Elizabeth and as a couple they seemed genuine.

Oh, hell. I guess not, eh?

Elizabeth is a gem, brilliant and beautiful and down to earth. I thought her husband was, too. I'll bet she was sure he was.

And then he does something this stupid. Now, I can understand to a point - people trip up and make mistakes, even repeatedly, before they come to their senses.

But most of them don't then go and try to run for president as a clean cut straight arrow, and put their family - their cancer-stricken wife! - through the hell of secrecy and scandal.

He could have dropped out and told the media it was because of her illness, and no one would have pursued the issue. Someone on the "inside" grabbed those photos of him at the hotel. Someone who was unhappy with his political persona trumping his real behavior.

That wouldn't have happened if he'd stayed home to care for his wife and kids.

It's up to her if she wants to forgive him. She's always shown herself to be strong and independent. So if it works for her, then more power to her.

I couldn't do it.

Some guys like that are REALLY good at giving the puppy eyes on command.

...she was just as willing to risk the Democrats' chance of taking the White House as he was. And her bashing of the "other woman" is pathetic...that woman owes Elizabeth and her family nothing. If it makes Liz feel better to call her names, then Liz has a character problem. Overall, book apparently confirms what seemed likely: Liz cares about being the first lady, period...the rest is a bunch of hurt feelings, big deal.

when she and John were campaigning in Independence and Kansas City, Mo. I thought at the time that I wished it were Elizabeth who was running for office. She seemed smarter, more focused, more human and funnier than the Hairdo.

His subsequent meltdown confirms my earlier opinion. I hope Elizabeth Edwards is doing well. She's a class act.

I thought he was having an affair with Amanda Marcotte, and dumped her after her racist book.

First, it's "grateful". But second:

Why do you attack Elizabeth like that? Sure she wanted to be First Lady because she wanted her husband to win.

But if you bother to read this article, she didn't want him to run after she found this out. So she didn't "just want to be first lady". She wanted to protect her family.

It was her husband who chose to run, and she supported her husband's decision. It's not unheard of.

Elizabeth is a brave woman, far from an opportunist.

She's never asked for our pity because of her cancer, but show some compassion, man.

I have no problem with your choice, it was yours to make. Just dont expect me to have any respect for you.

I feel the same about Hilary.

Neither John Edwards nor Bill Clinton would have had their political careers if not for Elizabeth and Hilary. And their thanks? Public Humiliation. These men dont deserve either one of you. And for Elizabeth to dump on the other woman? Sorry, the blame is on your husband. You let him off easy.

I have 3 daughters. I like to think I raised them not to be abused, physically or emotionally. And that is what Edwards did to Elizabeth. He emotionally abused his wife.

Only the tiniest mind would throw up over an affair.

The modern Cult of the Scarlet Letter massages the pain of natural human failure into an erect and bulging entity climaxing into a nebulous happenstance.

Elizabeth makes a bunch of moolah over something she puked over. Classic American consumerism should eat this up.

The centuries-old rigid social construct rears its ugly head for the boring billionth time. And the same crowd of stiff-backed hussies jubilantly shrieks the same old mad chorus.

It's not the end of the world, for fuck's sake.

Far as I am concerned, if a spouse is inclined toward infidelity perhaps some hard questions should be asked AND answered. If she has gotten too ugly and not terribly interested in sex and the man is attractive and very active let him get a mistress. This way everyone's happy.

Feminism is filled with King James bible clones, I swear.

He emotionally abused his wife.

-- jerseygirl7

Being too restrictive within marriage is also emotional abuse.

Men with high sex drives should always seek an open marriage or an arrangement less prone to domination by morally-rigid females who choose this form of control due to their low sex drive or intense insecurity/jealousy.

Edwards first betrayed his wife with his affair. He then betrayed his supporters by continuing his run for president afterwards. Surely he knew that rumors of his infidelity would eventually leak out, torpedoing his candidacy (or even his presidency). The right would have given him the full-blown hysterical Bill Clinton treatment and that would have been that.

I used to like Edwards. He is charismatic, has some good ideas, and is one of the few politicans who've addressed the growing inequalities in our country. But this matter raised big questions about his judgment and discretion and I'm relieved that he dropped out of the presidential race.

As for Elizabeth Edwards, she's a gutsy person and I have a lot more respect for her than for her husband. It's mystifying to me why she's stuck with him, though, but love is irrational. Perhaps she simply doesn't want to blow her last years on earth wrangling with him in divorce court.