Inauguration Day

A Democratic President, a Democratic Senate and a Democratic House. We’ve been waiting for this for fifteen years – that’s half my lifetime. And it’s finally here. Wow.

58 thoughts on “Inauguration Day”

  2. The last time the Dems controlled all three branches from 1992-1994, they were a highly divided party.  Part of that was just bad Congressional relations on the part of the early Clinton administration, et cetera.  But a big factor was that the Old South was still a core component of the Democratic Party.  And I mean OLD south — we still had a fair share of ex-segregationists in our ranks at that time.  One Senator re-elected in 1992 was Fritz Hollings, an ex-segregationist who had made his early political career opposing the civil rights movement.  And Remember “Democrat” Richard Shelby of Alabama, re-elected in 1992 as a Dem (switched to R in 1994)?  Even outside the South, I think 1992 was also the year Ben Nighthorse Campbell was first elected as a Dem (switched to R in ’95).  

    Anyway, my point is, 15 years ago, it was not at all clear what Democrats stood for.  We were an awkward coalition party, the remnants of the New Deal alliance between Northern cities and Southern segregationists combined with elements of the progressive movements of the 1960s from civil rights to women’s rights to anti-Vietnam war dissent.  Democrats were a real mishmash.  And that was reflected in Bill Clinton’s inability to corral his majorities in both houses into actually passing that much of his legislative agenda.

    Today it’s different.  Barack Obama has an actual progressive majority in both houses.  The distinction between D’s and R’s is much sharper than it has been in some time.  With seasoned legislative leaders like Tom Daschle, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton on his team (and as a former Senator himself), Obama is in much better shape to actually make the most of this moment of unified Dem control.

    That was a bit long-winded.  But my point is: I think we’ve been waiting WAY longer than 15 years for the stars of Washington to align in this particular way.

  5. When I saw all the former Presidents along with President Obama, it suddenly occurred to me – when was the last time we had more living Democratic Presidents than Republican Presidents?  Since Roosevelt and Kennedy died in office, and Johnson soon afterward, I suspect you’d have to go back quite some time.

    Does anybody know?

  13. Been watching MSNBC all day. Sooo glad that Tweety isn’t running for Senate. Some of his views on race are just precious.

  14. Public opinion is on the side of the DEMOCRATIC party, and firmly. We just witnessed the most amazing campaign in my lifetime, possibly ever in the history of our republic.

    I do not recall an incoming President having ever enjoyed such high numbers going into the job.

    Now it’s our job as DEMS to be responsible, transparent and willing to sacrifice. For the sake of the growth of this party, for the sake of US-americans of all stripes, this must be the first priority. For those numbers and the trust behind them can fall rapidly, as history has taught us.  Enough of a democratic party that is excellent at shooting itself in the foot and snapping defeat out of the jaws of victory – it is time to be prudent, responsible, adult in discourse, and also a unified front, for I doubt the right will wait long before the mud is flying, and in large quantities at that.

    That is my message to fellow DEMS of all persuasions.

  15. The first thought that came to mind is,”That’s the closest he’s gonna get to FDR.”  The second was more appropriate: the mad scientist played by Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove rising from the wheelchair and saying “I’m coming, mein Fuhrer.”

  16. which convinces me that he is in fact a fallible human.  and that’s ok with me, good to keep it in all our minds.

    so any word on when gov paterson will drop the bomb?

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