Many people I know are flabbergasted that I am not partaking of any of the official inaugural activities, even though I live pretty close, as the crow flies, to the inaugural parade route and swearing in ceremony for Barack Obama.
I know families who are going to venture down to the Mall just to be able to say they were “there” on such an historic day, regardless of how close they can get to the Capitol steps. I’m happy enough to enjoy the wonders of seeing it up close on television where I don’t have to worry about possible below freezing temperatures and making sure I have enough toilet paper in my coat pocket in case I need to head for a port-a-potty.
I didn’t make an effort to snag any inaugural ball tickets, though there are two lovely ladies who have been trying to convince me to accompany them to some of the festivities!
So what’s PunditMom’s problem? While I am VERY happy that George W. Bush will not be darkening the doorstep of the Oval Office anymore and I am elated that a Democratic president will be taking over the show, I was never a Barack Obama-ite. And, truth be told, once I was on the Hillary bandwagon, I really became invested and excited at the prospect of the first woman president.
Obama was my third candidate during the campaign, after I supported the failed efforts of John Edwards and Hillary Clinton. By the time it came down to Obama, I had run out of steam and enthusiasm, though there was no question I would definitely support and vote for Obama as the Democrat over any Republican any day of the week.
So in light of my low-level of inaugural excitement, I decided that if I was going to ever attend an inaugural event, I would save myself for Hillary. I have to believe that she will run in 2016 — it’s in her DNA. She won’t be able to help herself. Not that there’s any guarantee that she’d be a show in — that’s what she thought this time.
At this stage of my life, if I’m going to deal with spending hours outside in the freezing D.C. weather to watch someone I don’t even know take the presidential oath, and hopefully snag some tickets to a fancy ball so I could find an excuse to buy that red gown I saw at Nordstrom’s last week with a pair of Christian Louboutins, then I think I want it to be for the first woman president. I don’t mind waiting for a few more years.
January 19th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
I give you total credit for being 100% true to yourself, because really, at the end of the day, what else is there?
January 20th, 2009 at 12:44 am
Yeah, it’s historic and all, but only for minority men. Women are still second class citizens. I will wait and hope for better days.
I wish Obama the best of luck, ’cause he’ll need it, but I would have been over the moon had it been Clinton.
January 20th, 2009 at 10:13 am
It is historic, but I have never been one to go to big events like this when I probably can get a better view from my living room. I don’t want to be out in the cold and it’s not like I would be talking to him or shaking his hand personally anyway so *what* would I be losing?
January 20th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Hillary 2016!!! Hillary fascinates me, I don’t care what people think of her laughs. I was and still am a Hillary support from the get go, my second choice was Barack Obama and unless I had tickets to the inauguration, I wouldn’t be standing on that cold just to say “I was there”. He still has all my support though.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:47 pm
If I don’t stick to some things I believe, then I’ll totally lose myself.
January 24th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
You’ve expressed my thoughts exactly here. I watched the inauguration on my new large screen HDTV, with two dogs on my lap keeping me warm.
I did venture out on Sunday, however, to see Hillary at the EMILY’s List event. She was as wonderful as ever!
BAC