The impact of a woman running for office is incredible. It’s like a pebble falling into a lake — the impact spreads far beyond.

—Geraldine Ferraro

The 15^th floor of the New York Times building overlooks Port Authority Bus Terminal and what seems like an endless landscape of fragmented construction sites. At 7:30am, giant, generic cranes stand frozen above a crumbled checkerboard of unfinished foundations and broken buildings. The buzzing crowd of energized, empowered women inside is waiting for NYWICI’s latest event, The Spin Room: Gender, Politics and Media in the 2008 Election, to begin.

The backdrop to our November 13 panel couldn’t have been a more perfect metaphor for our nation and the subject at hand. Now that Barack Obama is president-elect, we wonder about rebuilding the country. Mainly, who will lead the construction and how will it affect us?

This was addressed by the panel, which featured Arianna Huffington, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Huffington Post; Geraldine Ferraro, former U.S. Representative and the first female Vice Presidential nominee; Marie Wilson, President of The White House Project; Lesley Jane Seymour, Editor-in-Chief of More magazine; and Carol Jenkins, President of Women’s Media Center. And in discussing sexism, media, politics, gender and the future, nothing was more crucial than exploring the political and cultural conundrum American women face in the aftermath of the election.

“She isn’t going away,” Seymour said of Governor Sarah Palin. “There is a group of women out there who love her, who think she’s a feminist; she thinks she’s a feminist. Listen to her talk. She is a post-feminism feminist in many women’s eyes.”

“Women are hungry to see people fight, to see people be confident, to see people stand up and say things,” Huffington continued. “Even women who deserve confidence don’t have it.  So, when a woman stands up like she did at the convention and speaks with confidence fearlessly and also has children, it’s very appealing.”

Of course, the panelists stressed that we must remember Palin’s true anti-feminist nature, but the conversations about her did not end. There is something very significant in the fact that Palin dominated a discussion at an event of educated, motivated feminists and it begs the question: Is Sarah Palin setting the agenda for modern feminists?  When did we go from leading the movement to reacting to it? And ultimately, where does the feminist movement stand in 2008?

When the discussion turned to Senator Hillary Clinton, the commentary remained somewhat unsettling. “The way Hillary gave her final speech of the primary was very significant because it showed women, who are so terrified of failure, that you can fail magnificently, that you can fail and still succeed in so many ways,” Huffington revealed. “When she said that there was no resentment or bitterness, despite whatever she may have been feeling, she came across as somebody who was ready to move on and be in the future.”

While it’s true that Clinton’s conduct spoke to women and set new standards, how did she become an example of graceful failure and how is Sarah Palin considered bold, confident and still trying to win?

“This is the culture, this is much bigger than the media,” Wilson pointed out. “The issue isn’t really how you’re going to change sexism in the media; it’s how you’re going to change it in the culture. This is what keeps women from moving up.”

“Women are going to be in power. It’s obvious. We are going to have power, we are going to get to lead,” Wilson declared.

Yes, women are going to be in power. It’s an exciting thought. But Wilson herself has argued time and time again that it’s not the number of women in power that matters, but that women bring other women along. When we look to the future, will the women leading the country be the Hillary Clintons and the Valerie Jarretts or will they be the Sarah Palins?  What will that mean for women here and abroad? Is this an accomplishment of the feminist movement, or is it a conflict?

Whatever you believe, this event spoke to the urgency and relevance of feminism in 2008.  The panel proved one thing — that truly feminist, intelligent women must be involved in drawing up the country’s blueprints and maneuvering the cranes of change in the next four years. Donning political and cultural hard hats is the new feminist imperative. This is our chance to build a future, where all people can flourish equally. And it’s about time to get to work.

— Kristen Dolle

Read more about the event in Fortune Magazine and at NBCNew York and view more photos by Maryanne Russell Photography Inc. of the event here.

What’s your take? Continue the conversation here.