Because I can't help but think that we all won.

No matter who got the most votes.

Sure, the increasing hostility between the Obama and Clinton camps, and the distracting focus on trivial issues, has bred some disenchantment with the process.

And some people are predicting - wrongly, I believe - that the clash between candidates spells Armageddon for the Democratic party in November.

But whether you're celebrating or mourning the outcome of yesterday's vote, all of us should be savoring the exhilarating experience this has been:

For Philadelphia, which impressed the world and overcame the habit of self-destructing under the glare of the national spotlight.

For Pennsylvania, which was admirably represented by our popular governor.

For the historic nature of the candidates, whose diversity forced a different civic conversation.

And mostly for the electorate, which is engaged, enthusiastic and enlisted in a process of being educated rather than entertained.

Who can forget 2000, during the GOP National Convention here, when protesters were arrested en masse and a police beating was caught on videotape?

Or 2003, when a frame collapsed at the opening of the National Constitution Center, injuring Mayor Street and nearly beaning former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor?

Or the other times the city shot itself in the foot?

This time? No mishaps. Nothing but kudos.

"There's been a ton of media exposure," said Meryl Levitz, characterizing her appearance on the "CBS Early Show" on Monday as a "great big kiss to Philadelphia."

Levitz, head of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, said that a task force of tourism officials made sure that the state wasn't "Michigan-ized or Ohio-ized, portrayed as a struggling rust-belt state."

And it worked.

"Pennsylvania was portrayed as the epicenter of American democracy and a state on the move."

Thanks, for sure, to the constant coverage given to Gov. Rendell and Mayor Nutter as well.

It didn't hurt the city's image that Comedy Central's Steven Colbert broadcast from here, either.

"It was a wonderful way of telling Colbert Nation that Philadelphia is youthful and hip and engaged," Levitz said.

Indeed, last week's presidential debate attracted nearly 11 million viewers, according to press reports of the Nielsen ratings. Incredibly, it beat "American Idol" here and in three other cities.

But it was Obama's and Clinton's historic candidacies - a momentous reality that often got eclipsed in gotcha politics - that aroused a somnolent public in a state that suddenly counted.

We breached the taboo of race, we openly discussed gender, we debated the meaning of "change." The agenda was no longer dictated by the concerns of white males.

So that's the point of diversity.

"You see a lot of indicators that, after 30 or 40 years of declining interest, suddenly people are interested again and hopeful," said Zack Stalberg of the Committee of Seventy.

"I think a lot of that has to do with race and gender."

Stalberg was concerned, for instance, about recruiting a large enough troop of volunteers to be troubleshooters on Election Day. Last year, for the mayoral primary, there were 550 - which was a record, he said.

Yesterday, there were more than 800, on a day when "Clinton and Obama were competing for bodies."

The most compelling example of an engaged electorate for Stalberg, though, was the dinner-table conversation at his house.

His 15-year-old son, "who either doesn't talk to us at all or only talks about sports," asked questions about superdelegates and the election, Stalberg said, with a laugh.

Pennsylvania voters had to work hard to avoid the candidates, since the state's primary mattered for the first time in decades.

"Pennsylvania was given a little gift here; we got a little bit of New Hampshire and Iowa," said political consultant Larry Ceisler.

"Anybody over these last six weeks who wanted to meet and hear one of these candidates had the opportunity."

Both candidates, for instance, came to Washington, a Southwestern Pennsylvania town of 25,000 where he grew up, Ceisler said - and so did President Bill Clinton.

Meryl Levitz was deeply moved by it all.

"I realize it sounds corny, but I really feel that when the founding fathers, right here, pledged their lives and their fortunes and their sacred honor, this is what they had in mind," she said.

"This is the Democratic process at work. It may be messy, but in the end, it works."

Win or lose, what a magical journey it's been. *

E-mail porterj@phillynews.com or call 215-854-5850. For recent columns:

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