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If President-elect Barack Obama really wants to provide "change we can believe in," he can start with his own inauguration.

Will he signal a new beginning, the rebuilding of America "block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand" that he promised so eloquently in his election-night victory speech? Or will his inauguration follow what has become a four-year norm, where corporations and lobbyists pony up huge sums of money to curry favor with the new political leaders?

It is Obama's call.

The incoming chief executive appoints the members of the Presidential Inaugural Committee, which then raises money to underwrite activities not paid for with tax dollars, such as security and the actual swearing-in ceremony, and to replenish the party's coffers for the next election go-round. In political campaigns, corporations are forbidden to make direct contributions, and individuals are limited to $2,000. No such restrictions exist for the inauguration, which creates an anything-goes, Mardi Gras financial atmosphere.

The only limits to the amounts individuals and organizations can give is set by the committee.

For President Bush's first inauguration, the self-imposed limit was $100,000 per person or organization; the limit was upped to $250,000 in 2005. Each of the Bush committees raised in excess of $40 million, between 70 percent and 90 percent coming from corporations.

This year, we might witness money-grubbing taken to extremes, with companies lining up to make contributions to the inauguration committee and then scampering off to line up at Treasury for handouts from the $700 billion rescue package.

Special interest donors and politicians deny any quid pro quo -- or, more precisely, quid pro dough -- claiming the inauguration is an apolitical celebration of democracy. To believe that, one would need the imaginative powers of The White Queen, who in "Through the Looking Glass" bragged to Alice that, "Sometimes I can believe six impossible things before breakfast." Americans, scarred and scared by recent realities, are no longer that gullible.

President Bush was criticized for lavish expenditures at the 2005 inauguration. The nation was at war, and the inaugural theme, "Celebrating Freedom, Honoring Service," failed to deflect the hits. The Associated Press carried a story that noted $40 million would have paid for "200 armored Humvees, vaccinations and preventive health care for 22 million children, and a down payment on the nation's debt."

The country is still engaged in a two-front war, and the health care and economic crises are worsening. If Obama succumbs to the temptation of using the inauguration to raise easy money for his party (the Democratic National Committee, despite having the most money in its history, managed to end the campaign $15 million in debt) the criticism from opponents and neutral observers will be as harsh as the disappointment from his supporters will be deep.

There are a couple of hopeful signs. Obama took the Democratic Party to task for excessive and wasteful expenditures at the convention that nominated him, and his transition team is taking steps to keep lobbyists from participating in decisions that could pose conflicts of interest as the new government is formed. On the other hand, fund-raising letters are going out at pretty much the same pace as when the campaign was in full swing, and lobbyists have been invited to participate and apply for jobs.

The euphoria that accompanied Obama's election was due in large measure to a belief that his presidency would move the country away from politics as usual, where corporate interests trump those of average citizens. Thousands, maybe millions, seem poised to answer his call to "join in remaking this nation" and to bring to life the inaugural theme: "A New Birth of Freedom."

The 2009 inauguration should be a call to service, not only in the words of the new president's address but also, and more importantly, in actions surrounding the historic day. Strict limits and total transparency could keep the financial aspects in check; and setting aside part of the day to service activities nationwide would remind us of the situations we face here and abroad -- and of the job that lies ahead, for all of us.

John Guiniven, formerly on the Elon faculty, is associate professor of corporate communication at James Madison University. He previously served as press secretary and counsel to Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va.