When Hillary was on a losing streak, I saw emails, blogs, and articles about how this was just another example of the long history of injustices in this sexist world. These were very detailed and elaborate messages, but I couldn't understand why the authors couldn't see what seemed blatantly obvious to me - exchange race for gender, and the same could be said about Barack Obama. I wanted Hillary, or Barack, or better yet both, to remind their constituencies that yes, of course racism and sexism have existed, do exist, and will continue to exist, but the fact of this presidential race is an enormous leap forward on both fronts! We should be celebrating this, not whining about it.

Then came Reverend Wright. It broke my heart to hear his hateful words, not because I thought that didn't exist, but because I thought it meant the end of our chance for a truly great president. It may still mean that. I wanted to see Barack Obama's heart broken as mine was, but instead I heard him say he hadn't heard the Reverend speak these words - a statement that struck me as utterly ridiculous. When Obama condemned the statements without condemning the man who spoke them, I assumed he had some deep seated reason for standing by him; I needed to know what that reason was.

Three days ago he explained that reason. I didn't hear it in it's entirety until yesterday. The speech in Philadelphia was a demonstration of the kind of greatness I knew Barack Obama was capable of. I didn't expect to see it so soon, but if he does lose this race, he has already shown us what a great leader is.