I.Obama's inauguration expected to mark new direction, change in tone
Barack Obama of Illinois will take office as the nation's 44th president at noon EST in a simple yet elegant ceremony that will mark a peaceful transfer of power. He does so at a time of unusual peril, with a sputtering economy at home and U.S. troops still in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The inauguration of the youthful and popular new president - and the departure of the unpopular incumbent, George W. Bush - will set off a potentially dramatic shift in direction on policies, from the wars abroad to the role of the federal government at home, and a change in tone, with the rise of a new generation more prone to problem-solving than to ideological conflict.
At the center of it all is the 47-year-old son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas who'll become the first African American to reach the nation's highest office.
Thousands of people poured onto the National Mall on Monday, spreading a festive mood across the capital city among those eagerly anticipating not only the swearing-in ceremony and the inaugural parade but also the start of a new era. They were the vanguard of what's likely to be a million-plus throng there Tuesday. Estimates of how many people are flocking to Washington run to 3 million.
"I had to come," said Teresa Ward, 41, who drove about 13 hours from Jonesboro, Ark.
"Being here, saying I was here, I'll be able to tell my children and grandchildren," said Lydia Clark, 25, a multiracial woman from West Bend, Wis. "Hopefully, I'll be able to tell them this is when change first occurred, and hopefully there will be many more minority presidents to come."
Obama heads to the White House with the great hopes and patient optimism of the American people, according to a new McClatchy-Ipsos Poll. It offers a stark contrast to the crisis of confidence in the economy and government that's gripped the country in recent months.
Obama himself spent his last day as a private citizen Monday in symbolic gestures meant to highlight the deeds of others, including a visit with wounded soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, working with volunteers at a Washington shelter for homeless teens and attending a dinner honoring his Republican rival for the presidency, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
At the Monday evening dinner, Obama lauded McCain for his war record and political independence, saying he hoped their ability to set aside the heated rhetoric of the campaign would help set a new tone.
"Each of us in public life has a responsibility to usher in a new season of cooperation built on those things we hold in common," Obama said. "Not as Democrats. Not as Republicans. But as Americans."
He also urged that the dinner featuring the two major party rivals set a broad precedent for a capital city marked for two decades by angry division.
"I'd like to close by asking all of you to join us in making this bipartisan dinner not just an inaugural tradition, but a new way of doing the people's business in this city," Obama said.
"We will not always agree on everything in the months to come, and we will have our share of arguments and debates. But let us strive always to find that common ground, and to defend together those common ideals, for it is the only way we can meet the very big and very serious challenges that we face right now."
II.Massive security for Obama inauguration
As Barack Obama takes oath as the first black-American President of the US, an unprecedented security ring has been laid across Washington, with 20,000 law enforcement agents on the streets, snipers on rooftops and fighter jets patrolling the skies.
The 47-year-old has received numerous death threats and a number of white supremacists have been arrested on separate occasions earlier for allegedly hatching assassination plots.
More than 20,000 Secret Service agents, police officers and National Guard troops will be deployed while sharpshooters will be manning the rooftops along the parade route.
As Obama delivers his inaugural address and makes his way in a motorcade along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, the security cordon will be the most intense.
Roads and bridges leading into the city will be closed, Coast Guard boats will patrol the Potomac River and fighter jets will fly overhead.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was quoted as saying by ABC News that while there have been no credible threats, Obama's swearing-in may "excite bad acts on the part of a certain small percentage of the population who are bigoted."
Chemical and biological detectors are in place along the parade route and the airspace around the capital, other than for the fighter jets, has been declared a no-fly zone.
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