CHICAGO, Illinois – This city is preparing for a very big party. A million people are expected to gather downtown Tuesday night to celebrate, if Barack Obama is elected president.

Chicago prepares for a very big party.

John McCain may be the more qualified candidate and he could still pull off an upset. But polls suggest that the U.S. is very close to making history, electing the first African-American to its highest office. Check out CNN.com's election tools and features

In fact, the campaign has been historic already. Obama has nudged America into thinking about the lingering effects of prejudice in its politics.

Hillary Clinton's candidacy got many of us talking about gender. And after Sarah Palin became McCain's running mate, she not only proved that women really had entered the very top tier of American politics in both parties, they could have a dramatic impact there.

But the top tier isn't the only one that matters.

Months ago, I met a woman named Danyelle America. She's the owner of a beauty salon that she has fashioned out of a derelict trailer in a rundown corner of Columbia, South Carolina.

America told me that her neighborhood is the kind of place where young men sell drugs and young women sell their bodies. She believes that Obama can show them something they need to see.

"Somebody's going to turn on that television and say: 'Man, if he can be the president of the United States, what can I do?' Somebody's going to do something different just because they see someone they can relate to."

This has been the longest and costliest campaign in U.S. history. It has been the most exciting one that most Americans can recall. But above all, this election will be remembered as the time when people in the U.S. realized that a black man, a woman, or almost any American really can hope to be president.

The only thing left for people to do now is to vote.

Editor's Note: International viewers can see Jonathan Mann reporting Live from Chicago as part of our extensive all day coverage of Tuesday's U.S. election.