The Second Obama Inauguration: Crowds Decrease, Tweets Increase - More of the Meaningful and Meaningless

Garnering an invitation to a Presidential Inauguration used to be a sign of the recipient's importance. And in 2009 at President Obama's first inauguration, there was lots of commentary about who was on the dais behind the podium.

But it's 2013. Whether you're there - or not - is less important than whether you are texting or tweeting about it.

The National Park Service and the Washington Police Department are saying attendance at the 2013 event is down a bit from 2009. Like, we care? Tweets are WAY up! Over a million (1.1 mill for those keeping score at home) vs a paltry 82,000 or so back in the Dark Ages before Facebook went public or Lady Gaga put on weight. And never mind all those skeptics who claim no one even knew what Twitter was four years ago. As if knowledge matters. There has been a ginormous increase in Tweets about it, so it must be cooler than it was then. Period.

There has also been some commentary about the corporate sponsors of the event. President Obama sorta broke with tradition by explicitly soliciting financial support for the event. To save public funds (of course). Most corporations preferred the old implicit support days: it was less expensive and you didnt have to declare it. But hey, if transparency is the price of influence, so be it. The primary sponsors are an interesting group: Bank of America, Coca-Cola and Microsoft.

This has not engendered the level of outrage some predicted. Bank of America is already into the taxpayers for so much lucre that having them give some back in the form of paying for fancy lunches and swag seems only fair. And it's not as if the American people have any illusions about the banking industry's political influence.

With Coke, well, we kind of expect them to sponsor everything: the Super Bowl, Nascar, the Fourth of July, obesity or contra-obesity, whatever. If there's an American event, Coke is there. As for Microsoft, they are the Ghost of Inaugurations Past. Like some of those old guys with comb-overs, hearing aids and canes elbowing each other out of the way to get in a photo with the Pres; ostensibly harmless but they've been around so long it seems mean to not let them in on the fun.

There are some others as well, who, the reports are quick to point out, spent in total $283 million lobbying during the first four years of the Obama Administration. Given that the government delivered tens of billions in financial bailouts, tax abatements and government contracts during that period, it appears that these companies got a very handsome return on their lobbying dollar. Perhaps they will offer free seminars on the most efficient, effective and productive approaches so more of their fellow Americans can get a piece of the action.

Other than that, Michele Obama's new hairstyle and her daughters' clothes dominated the substantive news coverage. All in all, it was a pretty normal day in Washington - and for that we should probably be thankful. JL

Jillian Berman reports in the Huffington Post:

President Obama’s second welcome into office is being brought to you by Bank Of America, Coca-Cola and Microsoft.

Other corporations donating to fund the president’s pomp and circumstance include AT&T and FedEx. Organizations with lobbying arms that are backing the inauguration -- which include labor unions in addition to major corporations -- have spent $283 million lobbying since Obama first took office, according to an analysis from the Center for Public Integrity. Obama banned individual lobbyists and political action committees from donating to his inaugural festivities; they can’t even buy inauguration swag online, according to the Washington Post.

The corporate-backed inauguration is a departure from Obama’s first-term policy. In 2009, the president shunned corporate donations for his inauguration and instead raised the $50 million to cover the festivities from other sources, according to the Wall Street Journal.

This year though, Obama’s individual donors are worn out. The president won reelection thanks to the most expensive campaign in history, which clocked in $1.4 billion. After the pricey campaign, committee officials were concerned that they wouldn’t be able to raise the necessary funds for the festivities and so they opened it up to corporations, the New York Times reported in December.

Of course Obama isn't alone in accepting corporate donations for his inauguration. Many of the company's backing this year's festivities -- including Coca-Cola and Microsoft -- donated to George W. Bush's first inaugural committee in 2005, according to the Washington Post.