The skeptics and cynics should have been at Boaz and Ruth Tuesday morning as Obama took the oath of office. The North Side community development organization, which focuses on training, life skills, and job placement for recently released prisoners, sponsored a special luncheon at its diner Fire House 15 on Meadowbridge Road. The gathered crowd—white and black, young and old—cheered when it was announced (at high noon) that Obama was now the president, cheered again after the oath of office, again during the speech, and once more after Joseph Lowery’s benediction.

For the crowd at Boaz and Ruth, this was an unambiguous moment of hope and promise that this country might change its direction and become something different in the new century.

But what is it we are to become? For the skeptics have a point: not everything can, will or should change at once. In four and eight years America will still be country that spends vast billions on the military, that still has vast differences in life opportunity between the best-off and the least-off, that still burns too many fossil fuels and releases too much carbon into the atmosphere.

Moreover, in the normal course of events, gridlock and delay are the rules of American politics. This is particularly the case with respect to progressive legislation that aims to contain or challenge powerful private interests. Getting any kind of meaningful health care bill passed, for instance, remains a monumental political challenge. Generally speaking, the capacity of liberal reform to re-shape or alter long-term trends towards greater social inequality is limited.

And yet, due to the variety of crises we face and the public’s hunger for a new approach, the forces of the status quo at this moment are unusually weak. Prospects for passing meaningful progressive reform legislation is now higher that any time since the Congressional session of 1965-66 (in the wake of Lyndon Johnson’s landslide win in 1964). As Obama reminded us Tuesday, nothing is a given, but the opportunity is there to undertake a substantial shift in direction.

Two phrases from Tuesday’s speech stood out for me as indicators of what that shift in direction might look like. The first was Obama’s remark that the strength of our economy is not to be judged simply on the size of the GDP but “on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart.” In the context of an economy in which living standards for persons in the bottom half of the income distribution have stagnated or declined for some 35 years, even as the GDP has grown and grown, that was an important comment to make—one with radical implications, if it were taken seriously.

Extending “the reach of our prosperity” to every “willing heart” should mean supporting and expanding programs like Boaz and Ruth in every neighborhood in Richmond and every neighborhood in America, not simply handing over billions to failed corporate banks. Better yet, it should mean linking a serious effort to rebuild our decaying urban infrastructure with a serious effort to provide good jobs capable of supporting families and stabilizing communities.

The second phrase was Obama’s charge that “we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders,” a comment coupled with a commitment to help the world’s poorer countries “nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds.” The notion that America has a positive moral obligation to assist the billions of fellow human beings living in or near poverty conditions has never been particularly popular among the American public—partly because of “indifference” and partly out of the view that we should help our own first.

But Obama’s statement makes the case that a greater degree of justice at home and movement towards a different relationship with the world can and must go hand in hand. Again, this is a bold claim—if we take it seriously. In reading through Obama’s books in recent weeks, I’ve frequently wondered whether the president still has the same burning desire for social justice evidence in those books, and worried about whether the realities of power politics will dampen or even extinguish the impulses which propelled him into public life in the first place.

Obama’s Inaugural Address, even its rhetorical restraint, provides clear evidence that the passion for justice and commitment to serious social change—on a local, national, and global scale– is still there. To change the way we think about what counts as a successful economy and what a just relationship with the rest of the world is a big deal, and a tall order for any President. But Obama has placed the markers down for all to see of his intent to do just that. In the process he has provided a clear standard for evaluating the success of his presidency. That standard is not one based merely on approval ratings or even winning re-election—but on whether his administration can act consistently and effectively in support of the goals Obama laid out clearly on Tuesday: not just to tackle and solve the urgent problems at hand, but to change who we are as nation.

Two of the top officials in the Obama campaign, Betsy Myers and Ertharin Cousin, gave a talk this afternoon to a group of about fifty volunteers at the campaign’s state headquarters in Richmond this afternoon. Myers formerly worked in the Clinton White House as well as directly for Hillary Clinton, and holds a position at the Center for Public Leadership at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Cousin is a Chicago native and a long-time veteran of presidential campaigns (this is her sixth). Both were among the first staffers hired by Barack Obama when he launched his presidential bid nearly two years ago.

Myers spoke first. She said that when the campaign started, Barack stressed three things: First, he wanted to run the campaign like a business. That meant being frugal and making sure that money raised went into the ground operation where it would make a difference.

Second, he wanted the campaign to be based on respect and inclusion, so that everyone involved as donors, staffers, and volunteers felt respected and felt like it was their campaign.

Third, he wanted a campaign with no drama—i.e. no interpersonal in-fighting, squabbling, faction-forming.

Myers then stressed that what drew her to the Obama campaign was the style of leadership he practices. Myers said that no matter what policy proposals you forward, it doesn’t matter if you don’t have the ability to get them passed. That requires leadership.

So you have to look at the person who has the ability to bring different people together.

She also said that Obama doesn’t budge; he is who he is. He has been the same person all the way through the campaign. In contrast McCain is one way one day and another way the next. Obama has the temperament required to handle the massive changes. He keeps his cool.

When that 3 am call that Hillary Clinton was talking about comes, Myers said, I wanted somebody calm answering the phone. She added that Obama is a great listener and has the capacity to learn from other people which is also important for a leader.

She also cited his selection of Biden and the process by which he made the decision as evidence of his leadership style. He didn’t want a yes man. He surrounds himself with smart, capable people who are not afraid to say what they think.

Myers then stressed that “We can’t listen to the polls.” She recounted the story of being reportedly up 17 in New Hampshire, including up 10 in internal polling, and then losing by 2. With two weeks to go, now is the time to leave no stone unturned.

She closed by reminding the volunteers that there a lot of people out there who are still not engaged. She cited working women holding multiple jobs as an example, people who don’t have time to pay close attention. It’s volunteers’ job to engaged those people.

Second, volunteers act as truth tellers. There is a lot of misinformation about Obama out there, and the campaign is relying on direct voter contact to counter all that.

Cousin then spoke. She started off by talking about the friendships and relationships that get formed in campaigns, including how she had become “girlfriends” with Betsy. She told a story about four women in Nevada who began organizing for the caucuses there a year in advance and became very close friends who look after each other’s children.

She also said that she is used in past campaigns to coming into groups like this and telling volunteers to appreciate that they “aren’t normal,” i.e. most people aren’t in a campaign office on a weekday at lunch making phone calls. But this year, she said, you are normal—people all over the country are engaging in massive numbers.

People believe they own this campaign, and they do. The $150 million that came in in September included 680,000 new donors.

Cousin then discussed some policy issues including Iraq and Afghanistan and the significance of Colin Powell’s endorsement. She also talked about how campaigns get ugly but said that “we have a candidate who refuses to drop to that level.”

In question and answer, it emerged that in the office this week are 6 volunteers who came all the way from London to help out.

One person asked a question about Republican “slime” attacks and the strategy for responding. Cousin pointed out that the campaign now has a rapid-response team capable of responding to false attacks within an hour. She and Myers each stressed though the importance of direct voter contact in counteracting such attacks.

In response to another question, Myers reminded us that when the campaign started, Obama had less than 10% name recognition. But the more people understand who he is and what he stands for, the more they move to our side. In another response, Cousin simply said “this is the leader America needs today.”

Right after the session ended, word came through that Obama will be in Richmond on Wednesday.

As I was leaving, I stopped to pick up a yard sign and heard from a woman living in western Henrico County whose yard sign had been stolen and replaced with a McCain sign. Angered but undeterred, she was back for another sign. That impressed me.

I also had problems getting my sign home, for a different reason. As I was walking home to Byrd Park via Randolph, an elderly woman saw me carrying my sign and asked if I would put in her front yard. I was happy to oblige. Two other cars stopped me and asked where they could pick up a sign of their own.

Governor Sarah Palin was the latest national political figure to make an appearance in Richmond, speaking at a rally this afternoon at the Richmond International Raceway just outside the city limits in Henrico County.

As you might expect, this was an overwhelmingly white crowd dressed (as per the suggestion of the Virginia McCain-Palin campaign) largely in red, to symbolize support for keeping Virginia a red state.

Even though the event was held at a NASCAR track, this was not a boisterously angry, bitter crowd. Yes, there were a few people with some extreme signs, including my personal favorite linking Barack Obama to the Antichrist, another saying vote for the “vet and the mommy, not the socialist and the commie,” and a couple of signs linking Obama to the “Chicago machine.” A few folks also had t-shirts of Obama saying “socialism with a smile.”

But I didn’t see any overtly racist signs, or even the concentration of Confederate flags that one usually sees on these grounds at state fair times. I did see a lot of enthusiastic signs welcome Sarah Palin, including a “Team Sarah” booth linking the campaign to the fight against breast cancer. A lot of families with children were there, as well as many retired-age folks. There were even one or two African-Americans wearing McCain-Palin buttons.

So there was not a lot of frothing of the mouth going on at this rally. Or, perhaps Sarah Palin did not give the crowd enough red meat to stir up hostile emotions; her stump speech didn’t include references to Bill Ayers or imply Obama was a terrorist. She did include a line about “voter fraud” which got a loud reaction, and said she wished just one time Obama would say he wanted to win in Iraq. But she didn’t go after him in the personal way some might have expected after the rhetoric of the past week.

Palin as expected relied on NASCAR metaphors at the start of the speech to claim the race is not over and to expect a close finish, but the more effective tool in connecting with the crowd was her bringing along country star Hank Williams Jr. to sign the national anthem and then an original composition about the “McCain-Palin tradition.”

Hank took the stage and yelled (in the manner of Monday Night Football openings) “Are you ready for some Sarah?” He then delivered a horribly off-key rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner, but few seemed to mind. He got a better reaction with his original song, which attacked the “left-wing media” while crediting Palin with fixing Alaska’s “condition” (rhymes with “McCain-Palin tradition,” get it?)

The funniest moment of the afternoon came as a result of the sound system not being cranked up loud enough. People at the back of the crowd, near where I stood, had a hard time making out Palin’s speech. So the crowd started up a chant of “louder, louder.” Palin paused, then said she hoped those “protestors” at least thanked the military for giving them the right to protest.

In fact there weren’t any protesters inside the grounds at all, and in response the crowd said “no, no!” A pretty funny moment, though the sound did get a little louder after that.

I came half-expecting to find a riled up, rabid crowd, but didn’t. What actually impressed me most about this rally is the though that within this demographic of hard core Republican voters, having a woman candidate to identify with is a breakthrough. The little girls growing up in Republican families now have someone to point to and admire. That particular person may be absolutely frightening to many of us, but Palin’s candidacy might just have unexpectedly positive consequences in terms of the understanding of gender within the more conservative segments of the population.

For the record, I think Norm did a very good job with his side of the argument!

One tidbit I wasn’t able to include in the column: I actually have been to Anchorage, Palmer, and Wasilla, and actually spent the night in Wasilla when Palin was mayor there.

Beautiful part of the world if you like snow (I went in late November). But I didn’t see Russia, or even any Russians while I was there.

I’ll have to look harder next time.