Katrina, two years later.

• Author: Rothschild, Matthew
• Position: Editor's Note - Editorial

I heard John Edwards speak on June 19 at the Take Back America conference in Washington, D.C., and I was struck by how different he seemed from 2004. Back then, he was all smiles, teeth, and energy. This time, he seemed weighed down, understandably, by his wife's cancer, which he alluded to three or four times.

He was quick to renounce his vote for the Iraq War and to demand the withdrawal of U.S. troops. "We need to be bold, to have backbone, to have courage," he said. With a veiled jab at Hillary Clinton, he added that we need "no more pontificating, no more triangulating, no more taking half a loaf."

He talked about his signature issue of eliminating poverty. "This is our life," he said. "This is our cause. This is what I intend to do. I will speak for the poor, the uninsured, the disenfranchised. This is what I'll do as long as I'm alive and breathing."

But it was the shadow of his wife, Elizabeth, that covered the stage. He noted that the two of them had to make a "difficult decision" a few months ago, and he thanked people for expressing their concern about her.

This month, we give you an interview with Elizabeth Edwards, who was kind enough to meet with our political editor, Ruth Conniff. In the interview, Edwards maintains her determination to keep going despite her condition. You'll also discover that she's not afraid to mix it up with the other candidates, even as she made excuses for her husband's initial vote for the Iraq War.

I hope you enjoy this revealing interview.

Katrina is now almost two years old. I remember seeing the horrific scenes unfold. My wife, Jean, and I sat in front of the TV watching Aaron Brown on CNN night after night reveal the criminal negligence of the Bush Administration on a mass scale. "Somebody, help those people," Jean said, as the images came in of residents...