In the past week, candidates have been dropping like the young and elderly in a central African Ebola outbreak. THUD. There goes Fred Thompson. THUMP. There goes Rudy Giuliani. CRASH. There goes John Edwards.For the Republicans, the most wide-open field in recent memory is now essentially a two-man race, with Mittens playing catch-up against McCain. Whatever. The real story today is that the nation will be deprived of any more TV time for the warm, bubbly sweetheart that is Elizabeth Edwards.Jeri Thompson may some day become our first woman president and Elizabeth Kucinich may generate more google hits, but Elizabeth Edwards was probably the best spouse on the campaign trail in recent memory. While her husband could come off as cocky and a little detached from reality, Elizabeth was always on hand with a cheesy but still authentic joke. Like when she called her husband’s campaign “Seabiscuit,” or when she called up Ann Coulter while the Coultergeist was doing an interview on the set of Hardball. She was just a sweet lady.But at least we still have Ann Romney.UPDATE: Ezra Klein has an old interview with Mrs. Edwards on his site, and it’s a good one. Not only is she extremely likable, but a smart cookie to boot.