Inauguration Trip: Final thoughts

The dot on the right side of the picture is President Bush leaving D.C. on a
Marine helicopter following the inauguration on Jan. 20.

Well, Barack Obama has been our president for exactly one week. How's it going?

I'm pretty sure he hasn't solved all of our problems yet. I'm also pretty sure he hasn't ruined the country yet, either. (People will probably disagree on both points, but so it goes.)

Looking back on the inauguration, my biggest surprise was how unemotional the day was. Yeah, I've seen the pictures of people crying and read the stories of how meaningful the day was. No doubt it was a truly historic moment for many people.

But I don't think that was the story of the inauguration. I don't even think Obama was the story. It was all about George W. Bush.

Obama's big nights came when he won his first primaries, won the nomination and then won the presidency. Through that whole time, Obama's election was in doubt and his victories led to tremendous releases of excitement from his supporters.

The inauguration was different. He'd already won, named his cabinet and was working on a stimulus plan. Obama taking the presidential oath was inevitable, and inevitability doesn't make for compelling theater.

Nope, the inauguration was a villain's tale. Long before the ceremony began, I realized people were going to boo President Bush. I hoped they wouldn't, but you could feel the animosity building as Carter, Bush Sr. and Clinton walked in. When Bush finally appeared, the crowd hammered him.

It was a sad, classless moment. But I don't blame the crowd. The economy is in ruins, we have two forgotten wars and the planet pretty much hates us. It takes real effort to create so many grave problems in such a short amount of time. Bush and Cheney earned those boos.

The inauguration wasn't about swearing in our nation's first African-American president. It was about saying good-bye to one of the most unpopular presidents in our nation's history.

The moment I'll most remember from the inauguration is standing on the National Mall after the ceremony and seeing a green helicopter appear over the Capitol and fly west toward the Lincoln Memorial. Scattered groups of people waived their hands and shouted good-bye to George Bush as the Marine helicopter carried him away.

Who knows what lies ahead for President Obama. It maybe a similar exit in the wake of a Republican hopeful elected to reshape the nation for the better. But for one moment, the empty rhetoric of change felt real as standing on the ground. A week later, it's faded, replaced by politics, infighting and growing unemployment.

Obama isn't our first African-American president. He's our president, and that entails. Feel-good emotions ended Nov. 2. Now, it's time for everyone to get down to work.

Report from the swearing-in ceremony

It's been a long, exhausting day, so this is a short report. But here's a few things we saw:

1. The crowd was huge. Everywhere we went today was packed with people. The Metro stations, the streets, the National Mall ... everywhere. From what we're hearing, no president has ever turned out a crowd like this for an inauguration. That makes point No. 2 even more impressive ...

Photos from Tuesday's Inauguration

2. No one got hurt. No one got arrested. Police and ambulances were cruising everywhere, but there no serious incidents. Given the sense of chaos, particularly on the streets, that's an impressive accomplishment for Washington DC.

Jumbotron held their attention during the swearing-in

3. Tickets don't mean much. We had tickets to stand just behind the reflecting pool outside of the Capitol building, but that filled up long before we got there. There are some reports that people with tickets got in line at 6 a.m. and were turned away. We left at 7:45 a.m. and got standing room spots just north of the Washington Memorial with an obstructed view of a jumbotron. It was still worth being part of the moment, but a little disappointing that we ended up so far back. Then again, with a million people in town, it's not a big surprise plans went awry.

4. The whole ceremony was historic. The crowd was excited and happy, everyone hugged and cheered as Obama took his oath, and the speech landed with a gravitas that underscored the dire situation our nation faces. From my perspective, Obama was moving past the celebration of being the first African-American president, and focusing on being president. The truth is he's not going to profoundly change the US or the world in a few months, even years. Everyone is expecting a lot from him, so he's bracing people for the reality that he won't live up to expectations.

5. The crowd booed President George W. Bush and Sen. Joe Lieberman. They cheered everyone else. The biggest cheers, in descending order:

1. Barack Obama
2. Michelle Obama and the girls
3. Bill and Hillary Clinton
4. Joe Biden
5. Oprah

6. Aretha Franklin was cool, Yo Yo Ma boring. Pastor Rick Warren was bizarre, particuarly pronouncing Sasha and Malia's names.

Inauguration Diary: Monday afternoon

We got our first taste of Obamamania Monday afternoon at the Greenbelt Metro station. Marie and I parked the car at Baltimore's airport and rode a bus to the Metro station to head into D.C. It was chaos. At least 1,000 people were packed around the card machines you need to get a pass to ride the train. Everyone was waiting in line to get a Metro card with Obama's picture printed on it.

Click here to see inauguration photos from Monday in DC

After waiting in line for a half hour, Marie spotted a machine with no one in line. We asked about it and found out it would give us a card to jump a train, but the card wouldn't have Obama's picture on it. No-brainer, we skipped the line, got the standard Smartcard and headed to the city.

Once there, we quickly learned we would not be lacking for Obama souveniors/kitsch/propaganda. Vendors are everywhere selling T-shirts, hats, scarves, signs, buttons, puppets, bobbleheads, watches, paintings, and on and on. You name it, you can get an Obama on it. (Even an Obama muppet, left.)

After dropping our bags, we headed to the Capitol to scope out the scene. Conor Sweeney, Rep. Paul Ryan's press secretary, had sent an email offering to hand deliver our tickets once we got in line outside of the House office building. He ran out as soon as we got there and saved us an hour-plus long wait in line. It was a generous offer, much appreciated.

That gave us plenty of time to walk along the Mall and take in the scene. Folks, it's remarkable. Tens of thousands of people walking around, celebrating and generally enjoying the moment. We met one guy from the Bahamas who stood in front of the capitol waving his national flag and bragging he represented the 350,000 members of his island nation.

Huge monitors line the National Mall in preparation for tomorrow's ceremony. On Monday, the monitors replayed Sunday afternoon's concert in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Out of all the performers, Garth Brooks stole the show with a rousing rendition of "Shout." Even Monday, thousands of people threw their hands in the air when Brooks' performance was replayed.

Barrel Drummers provided entertainment

To get out of the cold (it's in the 20s), we went to the National Archives. It's an amazing thing to see the hand-written Declaration of Independence and the Constitution that laid down the rules for our nation. While we were there, a middle school teacher from California ushered his class around urging them to take in the historical importance of these pieces of paper. The kids ate it up, pulling out their cell phones and trying to capture pictures for their class projects.

In all, the foundation is set for a remarkable occasion. We'll be out early tomorrow morning to claim our standing-room spots behind the reflecting pool outside the Capitol. Hundreds of thousands, if not over 1 million, people are expected for tomorrow's ceremony. We wondered aloud what it will be like for Obama, staring out over that mass of people. There's so much hope on this one man. Let's hope he can meet even a fraction of the expectations placed on him.

Earlier Inauguration Diary entry here.