It was like a big inaugural hug

Many thanks to the local news outlets that have provided extensive coverage of the inauguration of our 44th President of the United States Barack Obama with live reporting by KSL, KUTV, KTVX, FOX13, KUED, KUER, KCPW, the Salt Lake Tribune, and too many others to name with smaller audiences like Salt Lake’s Spanish language paper La Prensa.

They allowed all of to be a part of the day’s historic events.

I want to highlight stories from the Deseret News that show what motivates those of us who labor daily in politics. It is not only the partisan argument about the manner in which our society may progress, however invigorating that can be, but the coming together as citizens after the campaign season to actually move our nation forward. The Deseret News reports:

Rob Miller, vice chairman of the Utah Democratic Party, is going [to Washington DC], as might be expected. But two guests he chose to invite to share his tickets to the swearing-in ceremony are a bit unusual: Republican Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and Todd Weiler, vice chairman of the Utah Republican Party.

"This is an American president. I wanted to have a bipartisan feel to the delegation from Utah," Miller said.

Shurtleff said he jumped at the chance, and explained about Obama, "He's the president. I want to support him, and it's historic."

Weiler also was thrilled to accept the offer for tickets. "I decided to go because I am at heart a political junkie. Although I savor the Republican side of the aisle, this is an incredibly historic event with the nation's first inauguration of a black
president. It was an offer I couldn't refuse."

He adds that with the challenges the country is facing, even though Weiler is a Republican, "I sincerely hope that Barack Obama will be the greatest president we ever had. I am an American first and a partisan politician second. We need great leadership."

As for the event itself:

Todd Weiler, vice chairman of the Utah Republican Party, had adventures, including being crushed by crowds and seeing people climb trees and porta-potties to try to get better views of the swearing-in.

"And these were people with the good tickets," he said.

He said he followed the printed directions to get to the entrance of his section. "And I stood in a crowd of about 10,000 people that never moved for about two hours. It was a dead end but nobody knew it and nobody could get out."

He said, "People were literally being crushed and injured. They brought four ambulances through our crowd, and we were crushed even more. At one point, I had my arms over my head and I couldn't lower them."

He finally worked his way out of that crowd and arrived at the real entrance just when the ceremony was beginning. He found his section was full, with thousands more with tickets trying to enter. "That crowd crushed in and did the same thing. It was like a big inaugural hug," he said.

"There were actually people standing on top of porta-potties to try to see, and people climbing trees trying to see over the crowd," he said. "Even to see the Jumbo-tron, people would have to push and shove."

But, he said, "Even with all of that, I'm glad I was here. It was an historic day. The most poignant thing for me was seeing literally hundreds of thousands of African Americans here who are just so proud of the country today, and I am proud with them. And it's Obama-mania."

As someone who has been to these events before, I can attest that indeed this is a true picture. The whole process is a hassle, but Oh! What a glorious thing to see the peaceful transition that brings us all together. Just seeing all three branches of government sharing the stage, representatives from both major political parties, and the sustaining witness of the Amercian people is affirming that our American ideals still bring hope for a better tomorrow.