Congressman Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, and wife Gina pose for a photo below the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20 while attending the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
From Congressman Salud Carbajal’s perspective, the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris was smaller and shorter than usual but inspiring and focused on the future.
Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, personally attended the inauguration ceremony Jan. 20 but sat at a socially distanced location below and about 20 yards in front of the podium, rather than above and behind it where members of Congress would normally be seated.
In general, he described a ceremony attended by an optimistic crowd, encouraged by Biden’s speech outlining the new course along which he hopes to steer the country, but also where heavy security was an obvious presence.
“It was very exciting and exhilarating to see yet another peaceful transition of our presidency and to see the Biden-Harris administration seated,” Carbajal said shortly after the ceremony, noting it was not only different but also historic in many ways, including the inauguration of the first woman and first person of color as vice president.
Another break from tradition was that not all the still-living former presidents attended the inauguration.
Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton were there, Jimmy Carter stayed home because of his health, and outgoing President Donald Trump chose to leave Washington, D.C., early rather than acknowledge his election loss.
Salud Carbajal, a Santa Barbara Democrat re-elected to the 24th District seat in the House of Representatives last November, poses with then-Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California, who was elected the first female, first African American and first Asian American vice president in the same election.
But Carbajal also pointed out how the event, where the National Mall was filled with colorful flags rather than people, was affected by “the COVID pandemic raging at an all-time high.”
“This inauguration felt smaller … obviously in terms of the number of people who could attend and participate … and in the length of the ceremony,” Carbajal said.
“The speeches were a lot shorter than most [inaugural] speeches,” he said, noting Biden’s “brief but substantive” remarks focused on the important issues facing the nation.
Carbajal called Biden’s top priority of formulating a strategic plan to distribute COVID-19 vaccine “a must-do, immediate” goal in order to get the economy going and get people back to work.
He said other important points in Biden’s stated goals included creating racial and economic equity, dealing with climate change and improving health care.
“I really appreciated and resonated with his call for unity,” Carbajal added, pointing particularly to his statements about “what binds us together and his appeal to all of the country to work together, not as Republicans and Democrats but as Americans” to solve the nation’s problems.
“I think he said, ‘Hey, look, I’m going to be president for everyone.’”
But Carbajal said the ceremony also felt different from previous inaugurations because of its increased security as a result of the Jan. 6 riot and invasion of the Capitol by Trump supporters.
“Security was pretty robust and in-your-face,” he said. “There was no misunderstanding of the security that was put in place.”
In addition to additional officers from the Washington, D.C., and Capitol police departments and agents from the Secret Service and FBI, about 25,000 National Guard troops were brought in to assure order.
Carbajal credited the heightened security for extremists’ threats of violence in the nation’s and states’ capitals failing to materialize.
“I think they quickly got religion and realized Americans will not put up with [that],” he said.
Carbajal said that while Biden called for unity, he also emphasized “the need to address white supremacy — not only address it but defeat it.”
All of those elements were tied together in 22-year-old Amanda Gorman’s poem “The Hill We Climb” that she read during the inauguration and in which she attempted to “capture the moment” without glossing over recent events.
“Oh my God, I think she encapsulated through her poetry of where we are today and moving into the future,” Carbajal said. “I think she touched on the fact that our democracy is a work in progress.”
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Santa Maria resident Candida Reyes marks her ballot Tuesday night at the Radisson Hotel Santa Maria with her daughter in tow.
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At one of Santa Maria's polling places at Tommie Kunst Junior High School, resident Cristal Espindola casts her vote in the 2020 general election Tuesday afternoon.
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Santa Maria resident Jason Cassaro casts his vote in the 2020 general election Tuesday afternoon at Edwards Community Center, one of the city's seven polling locations.
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The Gallardo family, including Luie, left, his mother, Eva, center, and his wife, Tina, right, all voted in the 2020 general election at Tommie Kunst Junior High School on Tuesday afternoon.
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Martha, an election official who didn't give her last name, working at the Radisson Hotel Santa Maria polling location, sanitizes a table after it was used by a voter Tuesday evening.
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Making their voices heard is in crucial local and congressional races for Santa Maria voters Alyssa, left, who declined to give her last name, and Augustin Alvarez, who show off their "I voted" stickers Tuesday afternoon after dropping off their ballots at Edwards Community Center.
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Voting booths await voters Tuesday afternoon at the Tommie Kunst Junior High School polling location in Santa Maria.
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Voting booths await voters Tuesday afternoon at the Tommie Kunst Junior High School polling location in Santa Maria.
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An Election Day voter places her ballot in a box outside the Mission Club polling place in Vandenberg Village on Tuesday morning.
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Ana and Mike Waliser arrive ready to vote Tuesday morning at the Dick DeWees Community Center in Lompoc.
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Voters arrive in the fog at 7 a.m. on Election Day at the Mission Club polling place in Vandenberg Village.
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Terry and Sue Becker walk in to the Mission Club polling place in Vandenberg Village as the first voters there on Election Day.
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Poll worker Stephanie Hernandez waits for the 7 a.m. opening of Election Day voting outside the Mission Club polling place in Vandenberg Village.
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David DeRouen finished voting on the morning of Election Day at the Mission Club polling place in Vandenberg Village.
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An poll worker signals that a booth has been sanitized as Sue Becker, right, votes on the morning of Election Day at the Mission Club polling place in Vandenberg Village.
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Election worker Lorraine Villegas, right, helps a voter the morning of Election Day at the Mission Club polling place in Vandenberg Village.
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Voters walk up to the the Mission Club polling place in Vandenberg Village at 7 a.m. on Election Day.
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A Santa Barbara County worker prepares for voters on Election Day at the Mission Club polling place in Vandenberg Village.
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Jeremy Ball, candidate for Lompoc City Council’s District 4 seat, talks with supporters John and Pam Hudson at South Side Coffee Co. on Tuesday night.
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Jeremy Ball, shown at South Side Coffee Co. on Election Night, won the District 4 seat on the Lompoc City Council. He defeated incumbent Jim Mosby.
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Lompoc City Council member Gilda Cordova, who ran unopposed for her District 1 seat, poses Tuesday night with one of her campaign signs.
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Lompoc City Council member Jim Mosby poses for a picture with one of his campaign signs on East Ocean Avenue as early election returns come in.
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Lompoc Mayor Jenelle Osborne, right, looks at a computer screen showing her early lead over challenger Victor Vega, as supporters Ashley Costa, Kacey Drescher and Cindy Wiemiller watch, during an Election Day party at the Old Town Kitchen and Bar.
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