The peaceful transfer of power

Monday’s inauguration is a huge affair, but of course the real inauguration – as required by the Constitution, was Sunday at the White House.

It took exactly 33 seconds and was followed by the shortest inaugural speech on record, delivered to his daughter Malia, “I did it.”

If you listen carefully you can hear her say “You didn’t mess up.”

Of course this being a re-election, he’s peacefully transferring it to himself, but in this case that might be more significant than it seems. By all accounts the Obama of 2013 is not the Obama of 2009. The old Obama had this quaint idea about no red states or blue states, just the United States. The new Obama, according to former adviser Van Jones, is feeling more comfortable with power and partisanship

Said Jones, “I think he had a “come to Jesus moment” at some point in that presidency, where he said you know I’m going to stick with those who brought me.

And as Republican consultant Alex Castellanos said on CNN, he faces a much weaker Republican party, “In two years he’s got that same awesome machine he just had that helped him get elected president. He could use that, possibly, to win the House. He could run the table.”

So this inauguration may not be a “transfer” of power, but you can bet the president’s supporters are hoping it signals the re-discovery of how to use it.