The XX Factor: What women really think.

Goodbye to All That

Dana, I also noticed the lack of any mention of Hillary in Barack's speech. There was another notable absence, too. Early in the speech, Barack spoke about how last night's results were an "answer" to those who doubted America's democracy. He then said: "It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled." Well, hello. How odd not to mention "women and men" in this list, since that division speaks to the only other historically significant part of this election year: Namely, a woman almost became the presidential nominee. Granted, Obama later spoke about Ann Nixon Cooper's having borne witness to not only the advent of civil rights but the suffrage of women. Still, I wished that he had given a nod to women in that early part of the speech—especially since his message all along has been about unity and healing.

That's the only kvetching I'll do. Last night, I stood in Grant Park with hundreds of thousands of other Americans and found myself experiencing a wave of patriotism and pride as never before. When CNN announced Obama had won, strangers hugged and kissed; black men and white men shook hands; and when the speech was over the crowd rolled down Michigan Avenue, slightly dazed and narcotized with joy. Spontaneous cheers broke out ever few minutes, whenever an El train went by, with the energetic unity Whitman described in his healing paean to democracy, Song of Myself, a poem written at a moment of cultural divisiveness rivaling the one we just lived through.