You don't usually get advance warning that history is going to be shown live on TV, but yesterday I stayed at home and watched Barack Obama's inauguration proceedings for much of the day. (It was cheaper than going to Washington DC, and warmer).
I don't remember paying much attention to previous US presidential inaugurations so I think that the 10 week gap between the election of a president and the time when they actually take power initially came as a surprise (back in the UK the winners assume power the day after the election). Although I suppose it's intended to smooth the transition from one administration to the next, it seemed to mean that George Bush more or less disappeared from view after November (the odd shoe-flinging incident aside) while Obama has been warming up on the sidelines, not yet in the game.
I really enjoyed watching yesterday's inauguration events and the carnival atmosphere that surrounded it - on TV the crowds were so large that the colours were strobing on the small screen in Kyle's bedroom - and I'll admit that I also clapped and whistled along at home. As with all these formal state occasions there are certain traditions to observe and rituals to be performed, and I had some interest in seeing the mechanics of the transfer of power (for example, I learned that the transfer occurs at 12 noon regardless of when the incomg president is actually sworn in). But what I found more than a little thrilling was to actually see those rituals come to life, and to feel the oath of office become something more than just words spoken by the latest successful job applicant. I can't compare it with previous years but yesterday with Obama it felt like a powerful connection was made with the past, all the way back to the origins of the United States, that the presidency is not just a job, it's a calling.
Something else that struck me again was just how historically significant the election of a black man to the office of president really is here; I don't know if I would have really appreciated how strongly people feel about it if I hadn't spent time here. But aside from that I think that Obama is someone special. I find his speeches really inspiring - he appeals to great ideals - but I also sense that he is a pragmatist: he seems to recognise that there is a real opportunity now to move forward by laying aside blame for past mistakes (whoever made them) and instead looking together for how things can be made better.
I like that he is pushing the responsibility to make a difference back onto the American people, treating them as adults and reminding them of the role that they have to play to fix the mess that everyone is in now: the greater world is made through individual actions and decisions. If the previous administration made people feel powerless over the course of their nation then I think Obama sees his first job as reversing that, to make people feel that what they do matters again.
Today is Obama's first real day in office and so we finally get to see him in action, and see how he lives up to the expections that people have placed on him. To me Barack Obama feels like a very different kind of politician, someone who sees politics and the office of president as the medium through which he can achieve greater good, rather than being ends in themselves. I hope that as a result we'll ultimately see a model of a very different kind of politics, although it won't happen overnight (if ever). It's an exciting prospect.
