I’m unsure whether it might be the bleak weather currently shrouding the Northeast or the fact that I watch far too much political news coverage, but this morning I’m finding myself exhausted by the emotional firestorm and soaring genuflection surrounding this Tuesday’s inaugural festivities. I get a similar sense from Bloomberg’s Hans Nichols in his article discussing how the big party is both inviting and straining comparisons to Abraham Lincoln.

In ways big and small, Obama is trying to summon Abraham Lincoln’s spirit to the proceedings.

Obama will roll into Washington’s Union Station today by train, duplicating part of Lincoln’s railroad journey from Illinois for his swearing in. The president-elect is to appear at a concert tomorrow at the Lincoln Memorial, and will take the oath of office Tuesday with one hand on the Bible that Lincoln used in 1861. Inaugural planners drew so many ties between the Illinois legislators-turned-presidents that Obama may risk straining the comparison.

“Everyone wants to be Lincoln,” says Harold Holzer, who has written or edited more than 20 books on Lincoln and the Civil War. “Is Obama overdoing it? Maybe.”

Before you break out the poison pens, let me first say, I get it. Ok? I really do. It is an historic event of a magnitude not seen in my lifetime. I recognize and understand it. But I also know that we spent a year anticipating it up through election day and have been dwelling on it every since. I may be one of the early victims of Obama Exhaustion Syndrome.

This Tuesday all of the arguments and deflections about how there is only one president at a time will be silenced when Obama places his hand on that Lincoln Bible and repeats the words that all new presidents must say. And then? Well, it’s time to get to work. President Obama will still be black. He will still be the product of a broken home and an early life which made his ascent so remarkable. But he will need to get to work and the challenges facing him are many and daunting.

What would I like to see out of this 21st century phenomenon?
Obviously I would like to see good policy and successful solutions to the problems facing the nation. I hardly need to list them all for you here. But what I would most like to see is President Obama walking the walk that he talked so well during the election. I’m foolish enough to still hope for a new era of bipartisan cooperation and government that works together, rather than battling itself, toward achievable goals using good ideas no matter who suggests them. The stimulus package is probably the first, best example. Will he be willing to listen to some of the cautionary voices from the GOP side of the aisle and not let the chants for unlimited deficit spending send us crashing over a cliff? He is in a unique position where he can influence the Democratic leadership and move with caution and restraint toward a sound solution.

During his first term, President Bush was often criticized for being little more than a rubber stamp for the congressional GOP majority. Will Obama prove to be little more than an analog of Bush, but for his own party’s goals? Or will he truly listen to all voices and act as a hand of restraint on excess? I do believe that solutions exist for the challenges ahead and they are likely to be found on both sides of the aisle. That’s what I’ll be watching for as I hopefully recover from Obama Exhaustion and express my sincere hopes for a successful 1st term for our new president.