Politics | Elizabeth Edwards divorce Why the Edwards Split Bums Us Out For some reason, we can't cheer Elizabeth's departure By Kevin Spak Posted Jan 28, 2010 12:57 PM CST Copied Former Sen. John Edwards, right, arrives with his wife Elizabeth, for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy's memorial service at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston, Friday, Aug. 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) The peanut gallery cheered when Jenny Sanford left Mark, and it’s been urging Elin Nordegren and Silda Spitzer to follow suit. But for some reason, the Edwards divorce has been greeted as sad news. “No two marriages are alike,” writes Belinda Luscombe of Time. This one had survived so much—the loss of a child, the cancer diagnosis, the affair—that it “had people rooting for its survival.” Edwards had always seemed such a doting husband that “it seemed plausible that he had made a mistake of weapons-grade stupidity” and was making amends. Besides, this is about the future. Jenny Sanford projects the image of a smart woman embarking on her own career, and we can imagine “gorgeous, alimoneyed Elin Nordegren fending off flocks of suitors with a 9-iron.” But Elizabeth’s a single mom with cancer. Downer. Read These Next It started with failure to say 'thank you,' ended with murder. Freak accident kills a woman as she cleans her car. It landed on the 4th try. There wasn't enough fuel for a 5th. Texas execution for 'shaken baby' death is put on hold. Report an error