Politics Put on Hold at O.C. Inaugural Gatherings

In Santa Ana, tears and philosophical observations punctuated a gathering of about 300 Democrats who watched the televised presidential inauguration.

In Yorba Linda, about 300 high school students assembled at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace, a Republican shrine, to hear a discussion of presidential transition.

Other inaugural gatherings Wednesday in Orange County were less formal. People watched TV in homes, workplaces, restaurants and bars.

Whatever the event, or wherever it occurred, Orange County residents of all political persuasions found history as the common ground in watching and discussing the swearing in of a new Democratic President and the departure of a Republican chief executive.

Emotions clearly showed.

Tears welled in the eyes of Gene Jacobson of Irvine as she watched Bill Clinton take the oath of office. She stood against a wall at the Casa Santa Fe banquet room in Santa Ana, where county Democrats had large-screen televisions to watch the inauguration.

Quietly weeping, Jacobson tried to explain how she felt.

“I was a kid the last time I had some hope,” she said. “I was 16 when Kennedy became President. Now I have two college-age kids. And I’m so happy that they can get the kind of inspiration that I had from President Kennedy. I couldn’t have gotten through a lot of the years without that inspiration. Now President Clinton will be providing that same kind of spirit. I think he’s offering the same sort of inspiration to our young people that President Kennedy offered.”

A few feet away, Bonnie Clouse of Mission Viejo, clutching a small American flag as tears streamed down her face, said she was overwhelmed by a sense of history.

“I’m so touched by this I can hardly talk,” she said. “It’s very emotional. I didn’t even vote for Bill Clinton. I voted for Ross Perot, and before that, I had always been an admirer of George Bush. But today I’m hoping we can all come together. I hope this whole country can come together. We’ve been so divided.”

Another at the Democrat-sponsored breakfast, Consuelo Nieto of Seal Beach, said she was encouraged by what President Clinton said.

“What this means to me is the word inclusion ,” she said. “We are going to have an Administration that includes everyone. I believe Clinton is someone who believes that people are what is important and that all people are equally important. This is going to be a democratic Administration, with a small d .”

Steve Barker of Santa Ana, who had been a volunteer for the Clinton campaign in Orange County, said the inauguration “is culmination of what we all worked for. This was a great election for Orange County. The election proved that people in Orange County aren’t as closed-minded as many had thought.”

At the Nixon Library, high school students watched the inauguration on television and listened to talks by political science professor Mark Petracca from UC Irvine and commentator Bruce Herschensohn.

Petracca told the students that inaugural addresses “celebrate the democratic process” and are used “to shape an incoming Administration, arouse feelings or to send a message to foreign nations.”

Herschensohn, a Republican who last November lost a close U.S. Senate race to Democrat Barbara Boxer, said an inauguration has deep meaning for the American system of government.

“This isn’t the celebration of a man; it’s the celebration of a system,” he said. “What we’ve just lived through today is absolutely remarkable.”