Elizabeth Edwards

In 2004, I voted for the Kerry–Edwards ticket.

And, knowing what I now know, I would still vote for Kerry over Bush — in spite of John Edwards' presence on the ticket.

But I don't want to think about John Edwards today. I think I made my feelings about him pretty clear in this post nearly a year ago.

At that time, I acknowledged that I had been one of Edwards' supporters in 2008. If I had the chance to make that choice again, I would choose someone else. I don't know if I would have supported Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton in the primaries, but I wouldn't have supported John Edwards.

And I feel that, if he had the opportunity to make that decision all over again, John Kerry would choose someone else to be his running mate.

On the surface, of course, North Carolinian Edwards failed to deliver any Southern states for the Democratic ticket. If he had, he might be vice president today.

And, as we have all learned in recent years, Edwards simply lacked the moral fiber that Americans expect from their leaders.

I have heard of presidential tickets in which voters complained that the nominees should have been reversed, that the nominee for vice president should have been the nominee for president and vice versa.

In hindsight, that doesn't really seem to be the problem with the Kerry–Edwards ticket.

The problem may have been that the wrong Edwards was nominated for vice president. His spouse possessed all the qualities — with the exception of a political resume — presidents want from their vice presidents.

But we will never know if she might have been up to the job.

Edwards' wife, Elizabeth Edwards, died of cancer today at the age of 61. She first learned she had breast cancer on Election Day 2004.

For awhile, it seemed Edwards had beaten the cancer. But then I heard it had returned and had spread to her bones.

Then, yesterday, we were told that she had halted her cancer treatments. Medical science had done all it could, we were told, and her prognosis appeared grim.

But her death did not appear imminent.

I always admired how she dealt with the ordeals she had to live through — which included her husband's infidelity, the loss of her oldest child, her cancer diagnosis.

And the only thing I have left to say, besides "Rest in peace," is to remind you of something you've probably heard before.

It isn't too early to start screening for breast cancer, especially if there is a history of breast cancer in your family. Early detection can save your life.