"Mom," Amy said in her most serious tone, "I have to get dad to run for president. That's the only way I'm going to meet the Jonas Brothers."

Amy and I had been watching Monday night's televised "Kids' Inaugural: We Are the Future," a live concert hosted by Michelle Obama, Jill Biden and the Obama Inaugural Committee at Washington's Verizon Center. Working with the folks from the Disney Channel, they put on a tween extravaganza and somehow in the process managed to connect the dots between the presidency and the nation's most popular teenage idols - Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the Disney franchise managed to insert itself into this week's historic presidential inauguration. Disney is a lot of things, but dumb isn't one of them.

Neither is the Obama team. By hosting a "Kids' Inaugural" concert, the Obama folks reaffirmed our new president's stronghold on the country's youth as a bloc of unconditional support.

The event for children included lots of good things. With a focus on presidential trivia, as well as several kudos to military families, the show struck a decidedly patriotic note.

The theme, "We are the future," gave plenty of opportunities to use the catchwords of the Obama campaign: dream, hope and change. Even the Obama campaign slogan, "Yes we can," (perhaps borrowed from the "Little Engine That Could"?) resonated with the children and families in the audience.

Two thoughts struck me as I watched the show with my daughter.

First, Mrs. Obama looked like she may have been feeling the way I imagine I would have felt if I were in her place, which is to say, tired. There she was on the eve of her husband's inauguration to the presidency, and rather than enjoy one last night of peace and quiet, she was forced to endure a string of tuneless and tedious pop songs with memorable lyrics such as "I'm not a supermodel, I still eat McDonald's, Baby, that's just me." Continued...