When she finally stepped out onto the stage and waved to the adoring crowd, how many of us felt just a little bit sad? Here was the passing of a dream for women. The just-missing of the 200-meter record. I would have been very critical of her as she moved through her first 100 days, but it still felt oddly a bit wrong to see her giving a speech at the DNC on Day 2 rather than 4; so odd, in fact, that, for a moment, as she waved to her throng of devoted supporters, I honestly couldn't decide whether we had made the right decision or not.

Obviously, I came around, as did many of her devotees. In the post-speech analysis the prevailing sentiment was gratitude that she "did what she needed to do" to "unify the party" and get as many undecideds on board with Barack.