I ran my first marathon a couple of weeks ago; I had only observed one before, the Marine Corps Marathon in October, which a couple of my friends ran. That itself was a new experience, seeing how many people were out there, giving their support to their friends and family starting off on their lengthy trek so early in the morning. But when I actually was out there running, my admiration and intrigue turned to awe and thankfulness. It was not just the support I was getting from thousands of people I did not know, but also the instant comradery that I felt with the other runners, as we chit-chatted, or just made eye-contact as one passed another - we were all there with common purpose and determination; we all had the same goal. We were about three miles into the race when I turned to the friend I was running with and said, "This brings out the best in people."

To some extent, we had that same feeling on Inauguration Day. People came from all over the country, united in purpose, and hope, and fear, all wanting to see the same thing. But there were dark clouds, too, not only indicative of the times on which the pilgrims are truly dependent, but also clouds of their own making. In some areas, the weekend was like a great rendition of the Wizard of Oz's "Ding Dong, The Witch is Dead" (which also had pre-recorded music tracks). The nights before the ceremony saw revelers chanting "Move, Bush, get out the way" to the always warm and friendly rhythm of Ludacris. Endeavors of Hope should move us to be more positive and honorable than that, even when Change has a tendency to be more abrupt.

There are two main schools of thought about President Obama that had not changed much between Election Day and Inauguration Day: either he can do no wrong, or he can do no right. What would otherwise be a third category of the "wait and see" crowd doesn't truly exist; by and large, those are people who would be in the "he can do no right" crowd if they were not petrified about their job security and the economy as a whole.

But the President's numbers are quickly starting to normalize: his approval rating dropped 15 raw points in a week, as reality took hold and he assumed real responsibilities. Even his fairy tale honeymoon with the press corps is starting to wane, as they finally wake-up to his opaque access and restrictive information control policies, and as a new press secretary tries to cut his teeth in the most perilous of times.

The position President Obama and the Democratic Congress find themselves in is quite unenviable. Many Republicans are thankful that they have essentially no responsibility whatsoever for national policymaking, and most Americans probably wonder why the Democrats even wanted it. Hoping that the members of the majority party ran for the right reasons and maintain their noble intentions now that they are determining the direction of the country, I say a genuine kudos to them - somebody had to step up. That the Republicans were not getting the job done nor staying true to their platform principles is what lead to their downfall in 2006. That election was theirs to lose, as was the most recent one. And because of that, it was often said (only semi- facetiously) that if the Democrats did not outperform themselves last November, they might as well have just disbanded the party.

As it is, they still did not live up to their electoral potential. And if it turns out they also fall short on their policies (both in name and what they purport to do), Eric Kantor will likely become the next Newt Gingrich within the next few election cycles. Just as Republicans have complained over the past several years when defending President Bush that the American public has a short and selective collective memory, that memory is non-partisan. Democrats, too, will become victims to it, and if they do not make the sort of progress they have promised us, it will be quite a task indeed to remind all but the die-hard faithful that the problems we are having are generally ones they inherited.

Many of those chanting in the streets last week may well keep their blinders on and continue to blame President Bush for whatever ills we may have when President Obama is running for re-election (let's pretend that hasn't already started), but President Reagan's timeless "are you better off than you were four years ago" remains fresh in the minds of many Americans. The President will have to work with what he has. That's certainly not a rosy situation, but the most effective type of change will be making sure that the buck stops somewhere. Those who criticized President Bush for years about not accepting that he made mistakes would do well to maintain their watchful eye on Washington as the country tries to rebound from this mess. Historic moments do not always make for good history.

For that matter, the days since the new President assumed office have been awash with emotions. Jenna and Barbara Bush's open letter to the Obama daughters did more to humanize their father in the eyes of Americans than anything else in the past four years (or longer). And race relations certainly remain the big elephant in the room. One can only hope that three and a half years from now, with Inauguration Day well behind him, that we will have become a more color-blind nation, and that, as historic as his inauguration was, it will not be the highlight of his time in office.