Jenice Armstrong: She's crazy for President Obama: Tracey Brown plans to go to his second inauguration

THE REST of the world may be suffering from fiscal cliff burnout and gloom-and-doomitis over the political gridlock in Washington, D.C., but Tracey Brown of Francisville is not - because President Obama's second inauguration is on the horizon. Brown, 47, was born the same year that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed, and Obama is her main man.

On election night 2008, she was out on Brown Street banging on a pot with glee. When she reminisces about that historic election, I have to smile recalling the joy that so many of us felt on the eve of the first inauguration of the nation's first African-American president four years ago, as America prepared to make history.

Brown is one of the few people I've spoken with lately who seems really psyched about next week's second inauguration. She's rented a bus to drive 55 friends and relatives and friends to Washington, D.C., for the public swearing-in ceremony scheduled for Jan. 21.

Once you see her house, this news probably won't surprise you.

Brown has never met an Obama memento that she didn't feel the need to incorporate into her home decor, including two life-size cardboard cutouts of the president, and one of the first lady, displayed in her living room.

Hanging above her fireplace is a large, framed, HOPE poster by artist Shepard Fairey. Most of the artwork lining her walls - and there is a lot of it - features images of the president and the first lady. My favorite is a gorgeous photo of the two of them dressed formally and dancing together on inauguration night.

In the dining room, Brown has set up an "Obama shrine" - a lighted curio filled with books, trinkets, childhood photos of the president and all kinds of presidential merchandise, including a rhinestone-studded knit Obama cap.

She owns more posters and newspapers and magazines with big write-ups about the Obamas than she even knows what do with. Visitors to her home pass under an Obama flag hanging from the front of her house.

She doesn't care what people think.

Brown grew up in North Philly at Uber and Parrish streets, the daughter of a construction worker and a City Hall housekeeper. Married to her longtime love, Charles Horton, she's a stay-at-home mom with seven children (two adopted), including some with special needs.

Brown is in awe of the president not just for becoming the ultimate black success story but for championing the Affordable Care Act, which among other things, ensures that children with pre-existing conditions can't be denied insurance coverage. "[There are] so many things about this man that I love. Not only is he for his people, but he's for all people," she told me.

On election night this November, she wore a shirt custom-made for her with an Obama-print fabric. She handed out cardboard Obama novelty eyeglasses and CDs with snippets from the president's speeches set to music. Dessert was a sheet cake with Obama's face on it.

As Brown sees it, celebrating his success and turning her six-bedroom rowhouse into a memorabilia showcase for the president is the least she can do.

While tasteful, her trove of Obamacentric knickknacks and memorabilia may border on overkill. But wherever you come down on the aesthetics of it all, her openhearted enthusiasm is a refreshing reminder of just what an amazing turn of events his election in 2008 was for America.

Even the chill January winds couldn't dampen spirits at that first swearing-in ceremony in 2009. The air in Washington was electric. A record 1.8 million people turned out, setting a record for an event held in the nation's capital.

Nobody's predicting a repeat of that or anything close to it this year. Turnout is never the same for incumbents, even if this time around there is the delicious symbolism of Obama's public swearing-in taking place on the federal holiday commemorating the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (One of the two Bibles that will be used for the ceremony was owned by the slain civil rights activist.)

"I'm going regardless," Brown told me. "We have some people [on the bus] who've never been to an inauguration before."

Of course, the shopping possibilities for Obama merchandise should be pretty awesome, too. In 2009, it was eye-popping how many things people were selling with Obama's face on it - everything from refrigerator magnets to key chains. Stores and street vendors lining the sidewalks along K Street turned downtown Washington, D.C., into a veritable Obama bazaar.

Brown would be happy to see that scene repeated. She wants to fill another display cabinet.

Blog: philly.com/HeyJen