Our Choose or Lose Street Team ‘08 honcho, Liz Nord, was at Hillary’s big event last night with lots and lots of other women. She filed this report from the scene.

NEW YORK — This has been a contentious primary season for the Democrats, but there’s one thing everyone agrees on: Many new and formerly disenfranchised voters have come flocking into the fold. Barack Obama’s energetic campaign is largely responsible for this positive phenomenon, especially among youth and minority voters. However, if there is one thing I learned at Hillary Clinton’s speech last night, it is not just Obama who has inspired new voters to come out to the polls.

Women of all ages, shapes, sizes and colors lined the sidewalks before the event, clamoring for one of the coveted bleacher spots. As a young woman in a male-dominated industry, I have to say that it was inspiring to see so many women feel empowered by Hillary’s campaign.

Nairoby Otero, 25, a Clinton supporter, was literally jumping up and down, screaming “I’m so excited!” before her candidate spoke. “I am just excited that this is possible,” she enthused, “No matter what happens next, women from age 5 to age 90 will never understand the word ‘no’ again.”

Indeed, the crowd inside was teeming with parents and their young daughters. Twelve-year-old Amanda Benjamin, sporting the brown Hillary tee, was among them. I spoke with her just after she had met Clinton, who she said is an “amazing woman.” Benjamin has been to several Clinton events with her father.

The arena setup was one row of bleachers piled high with press from all over the world, facing another set of bleachers for the Hillary supporters, with her podium in the middle. I was among the gaggle of journalists who spent several hours waiting for Hillary’s speech, and what I overheard during that time kind of shocked me — but also strengthened my feeling that Hillary’s campaign was a positive thing for women everywhere. I was seated right beside two “good ol’ boys” from a major network. Their chatter was peppered throughout with blatantly sexist commentary, including calling a young, female journalist who walked by a “hot little package.” My role as an impartial journalist aside, I wanted to stand up and shout, “You go, girl!” during Hillary’s speech, just to spite them.

Admittedly, the speech itself lacked some of the punch that was expected after rumors about its contents were circulating wildly throughout the media all day long. However, Nairoby Otero was still excited. So excited, in fact, that she jotted down a hastily written note and thrust it right into the hands of Bill Clinton himself. The note read, simply, “Hillary, You MUST keep fighting.”

It’s Hillary’s famous fighting spirit that has kept her in the campaign so far, and no matter what happens next, her legacy will certainly include having little girls all over the country believe that “Yes, we can.”