I have to say, there’s something compellingly tragic about John and Elizabeth Edwards. The loss of their eldest son, Wade, their decision to have two children to try to live again, John’s decision to run for President as a testimony to his son, and now his wife’s struggle with breast cancer.

These are people who have faced adversity, who fight to survive on a daily basis. Republicans who attack Edwards as a wealthy “trial lawyer, often forget that he was a child of the working class, a man who has always been faithful to his wife of thirty years. He has been successful, but he worked for that success. Of all the candidates on either ticket, John Edwards most represents the experiences of the average American.

Hearing his decision to continue his run despite Elizabeth’s illness fills me with great hope for his candidacy. I liked him last time, but opted to support the more exciting campaign of Howard Dean. This time, I have no choice but to support John Edwards. Of all the candidates, he is most in tune with real Americans, he is the guy who gets what we’re going through, because he has experienced it himself. I believe he has the temperment and the values of a President. Even if Al Gore enters the race, I will support Edwards in the primary.

While Hillary and Obama snipe at each other, creating an almost inevitable sense of mutually assured destruction, John and Elizabeth are out there addressing the issues of regular people. Anyone who has written him off thus far are sorely mistaken. Edwards can beat the two top-tier candidates, and he can win the presidency.