Supporters gather in Minden to watch inauguration

Two dozen Douglas County residents watched the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, in Minden on Tuesday.

"I think it is a windfall for the nation that we're going in a new direction," said Paul Belt.

Belt and fellow Democrats gathered at their party headquarters for the inauguration ceremony.

Gardnerville resident Lennie Price said she was proud of Obama.

"I think today the country lived up to its potential," she said. "It is a great day for this country."

Genoa resident Michael Crossley toasted the new president.

"What a great moment," he said.

Gardnerville resident John Durst videotaped the event for the Democrats You Tube site.

He said he's starting an online video channel for Nevada liberals.

On camera, former county commission candidate Nancy Epstein said she felt Obama's speech stressed bringing people together.

"I see him bridging the differences we have so we can come together," she said. "We have so much more in common than our differences."

Belt said he was impressed by Obama's speech.

"It's one of the best speeches I've ever heard," he said.

Obama won Douglas County's caucus in January, but did not take the county in the general election. However, the nation's first black president did poll higher than any other Democrat in the county.

Enthusiasm for the election drove the number of Democrats in the county to nearly 10,000, or about 30 percent of the total. Republicans still dominate the county's political life with slightly more than 50 percent of the electorate.

"It's kind of like a trout swimming upstream," Belt said of being a Democrat in Douglas County.