As a young woman and former intern for the Equal Rights Advocates of San Francisco, I was inspired by Sen. Hillary Clinton’s speech Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention. It was the speech of her career thus far in politics, and a bad night for Hillary-haters everywhere.

Clinton’s speech left me (and many others) wondering why she is not the presidential nominee, let alone on the ticket with Sen. Barack Obama.

She is clearly a strong woman who could easily have been the next president. She did, after all, earn 18 million votes. From the very beginning, Clinton was subjected to the vitriol of the media and blogosphere, demonstrating that we may be making strides against racism, but sexism is as rampant as ever in our society, and just as detrimental.

Pundits on every major news outlet complained that she wasn’t compassionate, and if she did show emotion, she was dismissed as inadequate.

Hillary Clinton personifies the ideals that every young girl and woman alike holds dear: to be treated fairly and equal to men in every endeavor. That is why this whole process has become bittersweet for many Clinton supporters.

Voters must now do what is best for the country. Not only did Clinton endorse Obama, but she did it in a way that was positive and uplifting, showing her effort to unify the Democratic Party. We need to focus on what is really at stake in this election and the ramifications that our votes will ultimately have on the American people. We need to get this country back on track.

It will be hard work, as Clinton said, but it will be impossible if John McCain is in the White House. We must move away from the policy that the Bush administration has set forth over the past eight years. It is up to Obama to make the case for his presidency to any wayward voters and maybe even more than a few McCain supporters.

Clinton ran a campaign to be proud of, and her legacy will live on.

• Katrina-Kasey Wheeler is a 2000 Tracy High School graduate. Upon graduating from the Jesuit University of San Francisco in 2004, she has worked as a freelance journalist for several online publications and lives in Tracy.