“I surprised myself by turning to him and saying, ‘Thank you. Thanks for the chance, the chance to continue to serve.'”

— Vice President Joe Biden, quoted by the Washington Post, recounting what he said to President Obama as they left the inaugural platform.

Dan Balz: “President Obama has never lacked for confidence, but rarely has that attribute been on display as clearly as on Monday in an inaugural address that underscored the distance he has traveled after four contentious years in office. This was not the politician who campaigned in 2008 on themes of transcending the divisive politics of the past, though there were ritual calls for the country and its political leaders to seize this moment together. Instead, it was a president who has accepted the reality of those divisions and is determined to prevail on his terms.”

Ezra Klein: “In 2009, Barack Obama came to change Washington. Today’s speech showed how much Washington has changed him.”

“It was a fine speech, but I didn’t hear any conciliatory remarks. I didn’t see any specific reference like, ‘I reach out my hand to the other side of the aisle.'”

— Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), quoted by the New York Times, on President Obama’s second inaugural address.

Bloomberg reports President Obama and his family arrived at St. John’s at 8:35 am ET and the service ended at 9:39.

Obama personally sent this tweet at 9:25:

I’m honored and grateful that we have a chance to finish what we started. Our work begins today. Let’s go. -bo

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) January 21, 2013

Andrew Sullivan: “If you have long believed, as I have, that this man could easily become the liberal Reagan by the end of his second term… then this speech will not have surprised you.”

James Fallows: “I was expecting an anodyne tone-poem about healing national wounds,
surmounting partisanship, and so on. As has often been the case, Obama
confounded expectations — mine, at least. Four years ago, when people
were expecting a barn-burner, the newly inaugurated president Obama gave
a deliberately downbeat, sober-toned presentation about the long
challenges ahead. Now — well, it’s almost as if he has won re-election
and knows he will never have to run again and hears the clock ticking on
his last chance to say what he cares about. If anyone were wondering
whether Obama wanted to lower expectations for his second term … no,
he apparently does not.”

Ezra Klein: “In his first term, Obama changed policy. In his second, he wants to change minds.”

Chris Cillizza: “This was a speech that could only be given by someone who knew that he would never have to run for re-election again… This was Obama unbound. Distill Obama’s speech to a single sentence and that sentence is: ‘I’m the president, deal with it.'”

Ta-Nehisi Coates: “There was a time when merely stating the ideas Obama put forth would have gotten you killed.”

E.J. Dionne: “Some will no doubt think (and write) that Obama should have sought more
lofty and non-partisan ground. The problem with this critique is that it
asks Obama to speak as if the last four years had not happened.”

Greg Sargent: “Today, Obama all but declared ideological victory.”

Matthew Continetti: “It is of course possible that the inauguration of a reelected president is his moment of maximum triumph. It is of course possible that Obama’s second term may turn out like George W. Bush’s, when the lyricism and passion of the second inaugural collided with the realities of strategic miscalculations and unexpected events. I have my doubts. What I do not doubt is that the generation of conservatives and Republicans who return one day to power will be forced to reckon with the consequences of the Obama revolution, just as a generation of defeated liberals were forced to confront and in some cases accept the revolution of Ronald Reagan.”

Here is the full text of President Obama’s second inaugural address on Jan. 21, 2013, as prepared for delivery:

Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, Members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:

Each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the
enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our
democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the
colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our
names. What makes us exceptional – what makes us American – is our
allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two
centuries ago:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of
Happiness.”

[Read more…]

“You didn’t mess up.”

— Sasha Obama, quoted by NBC News, whispering to her father after he took the oath of office yesterday.

President Obama’s public swearing-in ceremony begins at 11:30 am ET today. He officially started his second term yesterday with a private ceremony.

First Read: “Looking back at some of the most recent second inaugural addresses, they’ve typically been a continuation of that president’s first-term message (and re-election theme). For Bill Clinton, it was preparing the country for the 21st Century. For George W. Bush, it was security and freedom. And if that continuation theme is any guide, expect Obama to talk A LOT about rebuilding the middle class. After all, it was the central theme of his re-election campaign.”

Associated Press: “Inaugural addresses are not typically partisan, and White House aides
say Obama doesn’t intend to call out his political opponents. But they
say he will stand up for his values and vision that were supported by
the majority of voters in the November election. Obama’s prepared text
notes that spirited debate is a hallmark of a vibrant democracy, aides
say, but that the country’s leaders can’t let disagreement prevent them
from finding common ground to move the country forward. The president
also plans to encourage Americans to continue making their voices heard
to shape the debate as policy is made, aides said.”

Carrie Dann: “From drunken speeches to dead canaries, a guide to our quirky inaugural history.”