Nowhere in this country is the vote more certain to favor Barack Obama than in downtown Manhttan, where we voted this morning. Here, there are no contested races down-ballot to draw voters to the polls. But the lines in every polling place are the longest I have ever seen – out the door and around the block, hours after most people have gone to work. Many parents brought their children along with them to vote, as we did. The mood in our place was cheerful but subdued, as everyone waits.

If the waiting ends in cheers tonight, then we will owe a deep toast to Obama and his campaign (and to his late grandmother for raising him so well). But as he would be the first to tell you, today’s democratic outpouring represents something bigger than his candidacy: a reckoning that has been coming for a long, long time.

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