NEW YORK -- Philipina Heintzman, 81, drove 130 kilometres across the South Dakota prairie to experience history in the making: a woman running for president, something she never dreamed as a child that she would live to see.
That event, a Hillary Clinton rally in Bath on Thursday, also marked history unravelling.
As Clinton's prospects sink in the Democratic race, Heintzman and many women like her are feeling the poignant letdown of seeing the first woman with a strong chance at the presidency fall short.
"It would hurt my feelings a lot because I think she should be No. 1, she should be president," Heintzman said of Clinton's likely loss to Barack Obama.
"Give a woman a chance to do something good."
From young feminist activists to the grandmothers who embrace Clinton along the rope line at her campaign events, many women who voted in large numbers for the former first lady during the primaries have begun mourning the turn of events.
"For us, getting a woman elected is major," said Laurine Glynn, 72, of New York City. "We've waited, fought a lot for this. I do worry that my generation won't see a female president."
"Women are feeling a lot of sadness, disappointment and some anger as they look back at what happened in this race," said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
And at least part of that anger, Walsh says, is directed at the sexism that some feel seriously harmed the former first lady's candidacy -- from T-shirts bearing photos of Clinton and Obama with the slogan "Bros Before Hos" to Hillary Clinton nutcrackers sold in airports.
-- The Associated Press
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