Supporters and opponents react to President Obama’s second inaugural address.
Some big-time political shenanigans in Virginia today. State senate Republicans surprised everyone in Richmond by pushing through a mid-decade redistricting plan that is likely to improve their chances in the 2015 Senate elections — but here’s the kicker. They were able to get it through the evenly divided (20-20) Senate only because one Democratic senator, a well-known, 79-year-old veteran of the civil rights movements, was in Washington for President Obama’s second inauguration. Evan McMorris-Santoro reports. Read More
TPM Reader BK reports in on his inauguration experience: Read More
As mentioned earlier, seizing on the absence of a Democratic senator who happens to be a veteran of the civil rights movement and was in Washington, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, for the second inauguration of the country’s first black president, Republicans in the evenly split Virginia state Senate pushed through a surprise mid-decade redistricting plan to try to gain decisive control of the body in the next election.
We’re not done yet.
At the end of this wild day, the “Senate adjourned in memory or (sic) General Thomas J. ‘Stonewall’ Jackson,” according to the minutes of the session. Jan. 21 is the Confederate general’s birthday.
After the White House’s Death Star smackdown, I thought Michelle Obama’s smackdown to Romulan dress uniform was positively inspired. Read More
A fun, little vignette about the photo shoot for Obama’s first official portrait.
I’ve seen a number of mentions that Mitt Romney is the first losing presidential nominee not to attend the inauguration in 24 years. But that’s not really fair. By my count, he’s the first losing nominee since Michael Dukakis (24 years ago) who didn’t have a current elected position in DC when he was running. Bush (92), Dole (96), Gore (00), Kerry (04), McCain (08). In other words, the other guys basically had to be there, as presidents, vice presidents or senior members of the Senate.
Late Update: Charlie Savage notes that Dole had actually resigned from the Senate in the middle of the 96 campaign. So that slightly breaks the model. But it’s Dole who’d been there forever and lived at the Watergate. And constitution may actually say he’s still in the Senate despite resigning. In any case, same basic logic applies I think.