Because of this decision, John Edward's character, ethics and capacity for family love have been hotly debated over the last few days. He has been labeled both callous and courageous, and has been blasted for his seemingly insatiable ambition.
Those disapproving of his staying in the race ask angrily, "Now that Elizabeth is ill and her life almost certainly shortened, how can her husband not offer her relaxed, private time?" Others state just as emphatically, "This decision is the test of the man. Despite everything, he shows grit - he persists."
What these reactions have in common is that neither tells us any more about John Edwards than we already know. What they do is reflect the fears, dreams and longings of those who hold them, especially if they were to find themselves in the Edwards' very complicated shoes.
They are about how someone with an incurable illness would want to live. And about how that person would want loved ones to act. They also shine a very bright light on the nature of the Edwards' marriage, what attracted them and what has remained their glue.
Every marriage is unique - and the factors that hold one together can be totally different from the ones that provide the glue for another. For public couples, in the power and fame departments, the spouses can differ greatly in how much each desires and can tolerate.
Often, there's conflict when one partner craves fame while the other yearns for privacy. Such is not the case with the Edwardses. From their public personas, it seems that they'd both be lost without the pursuit of power and the public stage. It propels and energizes them.
Elizabeth and John Edwards met as law students, and he has always relied on her strength and intelligence. Elizabeth has said she was attracted to the sweetness John showed when he kissed her forehead on their first date. No doubt she was also a woman who loved being needed by a man with a formidable future. Unlike Hilary Clinton, who has effectively sought power separate from her husband's, Elizabeth Edwards has sought power exclusively for them as a couple.
Elizabeth has remained John's closest and most devoted adviser. She is soft-spoken and exceedingly likable - also tough and formidable. Four years John's senior, her instincts and judgments were essential to her husband's vast financial success in personal-injury law. In each of his political campaigns, she has been a leading force in determining strategy and positions.
Another key factor in their marriage was the death of their son Wade in an auto accident at the age of 17. To pull her husband out of relentless despair, Elizabeth, in middle age, went through risky hormone therapy that led to the arrival of Emma Claire, now 8, and Jack, now 6.
No doubt this decision brought joy to their family - but it was, psychologically, also the only way to ensure the continued success of their shared ambition.
I've known many ill women who became deeply disappointed when their husbands didn't curtail their personal and career activities to offer them intimate time. I've also known men whose wives' illnesses frightened them so much that they avoided the physical intimacy and emotional closeness that had always been there.
Such is not the case for the Edwardses. When asked how the pace of their lives allowed time for passion in their relationship, Elizabeth said that the most important quality of their marriage was compassion. She says emphatically that she is committed to "our life's work," and that she refuses to give cancer control over her life.
Elizabeth also says she doesn't want her legacy to be that she deprived our country of her husband's talents and service. What is both obvious and consistent is that she wants him to be president as much as he does.
Those who criticize Edwards' decision to continue his pursuit of the presidency at this critical time for his wife don't understand the Edwards union. A shared and determined quest for power has ever been their glue.
And their glue it will remain, in sickness and in health.
'Til death do them part.
