By DAVID HERBERT
Three days after the Purple Tunnel of Doom KO'd the inaugural dreams of thousands of Obama supporters, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, head of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, is talking reparations.
The California Democrat announced this morning that the aggrieved parties will be getting packets of commemorative programs and glossy photos of the president and vice president to make up for the long lines and faded dreams. But that may not be enough, some purple ticket holders say.
Stuart Hess works part-time at a Dunkin' Donuts in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The 35 year-old cut back his hours to volunteer for Obama's campaign and then worked overtime to afford the bus fare to D.C. -- all to stand in the Third Street tunnel from 4 a.m. onwards watching people vomiting and defecating.
"I feel robbed," Hess said. "I believe proper reparations would be a handshake from President Obama, a thanks for my hard work, and an apology for what I sacrificed."
Time hasn't healed these wounds either. The Facebook group "Survivors of the Purple Tunnel of Doom" boasts more than 4,600 members, is attracting dozens of new registrants every hour and has more than 1,200 posts from angry ticket holders.
At the Washington Post's inauguration blog, the plurality of voters in a running Internet poll believe a dinner at the White House would be the best way to compensate those who couldn't use their passes.
Mauro De Lorenzo, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, thinks a special event with the president for himself and other aggrieved ticket holders would be nice, but he's also concerned that future events revolve less around security and more around openness.
"Major national civic rituals can't be declared to have achieved their purpose just because a bomb [didn't go] off," De Lorenzo wrote in an e-mail to NationalJournal.com. "I'm less concerned about someone being 'held accountable' than in seeing real discussion about how we're going to integrate civics and security better in the future."
Barack Obama's first public act as president went over well in the eyes of NationalJournal.com's poll of top political bloggers. Asked to grade Obama's inauguration speech, left-leaning bloggers gave, on average, an A-; right-leaning bloggers were more mixed, giving a B-.
"Not a stemwinder, but a speech to savor," said Mark Kleiman of The Reality-Based Community, one of two left-leaning bloggers to give the speech an A+. On the right, David Kopel of The Volokh Conspiracy gave Obama a B, saying, "Excellent use of history, combined with solid patriotism for the 21st century. Some of his policy ideas, including the prominence of the global warming issue, bode ill for America's economic future."
NationalJournal.com also asked experts on presidential rhetoric to dissect Obama's speech. They offered their takes on how Obama's speech compared to his others, how it compared to previous inaugural addresses and what passages will prove most enduring.
"By allowing his middle name, Hussein, to be used in the oath of office, and by his extension of this verbal olive branch, the new president seemed to be signaling to the Muslim world that their concerns will not be ignored by the new administration," former Clinton speechwriter Terry Edmonds wrote in an e-mail. Ted Sorensen, a speechwriter and top aide to President Kennedy, summed up the scene: "I believe any objective measurement would show that the excitement and enthusiasm... was even greater than it was 48 years ago for the Kennedy inauguration."
(Credit: Pete Souza/The White House via Getty Images)
In a Poolitzer Prize first, Wes Allison of the St. Petersburg Times has snagged his second award for one day's work thanks to his reporting on President Obama's second swearing-in Wednesday night. More than 1.8 million spectators watched Chief Justice John Roberts bungle the wording of the oath of office, but Allison was one of a handful lucky enough to see the just-in-case ceremony.
The winning pool report, edited only for clarity, follows:
At 7:35 p.m., Roberts administered the oath of office again to Obama in the Map Room. Robert Gibbs said the White House Counsel, Greg Craig, believes the oath was fine Tuesday, but one word was out of sequence so they did this out of a "an abundance of caution."
"We decided it was so much fun," Obama joked while sitting on a couch.
Obama stood and walked over to make small talk with pool as Roberts donned
his black robe.
"Are you ready to take the oath?" Roberts asked.
"I am, and we're going to do it very slowly," Obama replied.
Oath took 25 seconds. After a flawless recitation, Roberts smiled and said, "Congratulations, again."
Obama said: "Thank you, sir."
Smattering of applause.
"All right," Obama said. "The bad news for the pool is there's 12 more balls."
By AMY HARDER
According to a USA Today/Gallup poll out today, 62 percent of respondents echoed one of the primary buzzwords of the campaign, telling pollsters they were more hopeful following President Obama's inaugural ceremony. That's nearly 20 percentage points more than the poll recorded immediately following George W. Bush's second inauguration in 2005.
An Associated Press/Knowledge Networks poll [PDF], conducted in part online, echoed Gallup's findings. A full seven in 10 respondents said the inauguration made them feel hopeful. Not surprisingly, Democrats felt more positive about the inauguration than Republicans. It wasn't all fun and games for the winning party, though. While only 6 percent of GOP members felt overwhelmed, nearly a quarter of Democrats said they felt that way.
Former presidential speechwriters contacted by NationalJournal.com after Obama's address generally gave him high marks on his performance, a judgment the public seemed to share. More than 90 percent of those polled by AP and just over 80 percent in the Gallup rated the new president's speech as either good or excellent.
By DAVID HERBERT
Security brought in metal barricades to keep the overflow Youth Ball crowd at bay at the Hilton Washington on Tuesday night. (Credit: David Herbert)
The hundreds of inaugural Youth Ball ticket holders who were shut out of the main ballroom at the Hilton Washington on Tuesday night for "safety reasons" may yet get justice, according to President Obama's inauguration committee.
"As sometimes happens at large events, a determination was made by the fire marshal to temporarily stop letting people into the ballroom for safety reasons," said Presidential Inauguration Committee spokeswoman Melanie Roussell. "We are in the process of determining a response to ticketed guests who were unable to attend."
Roussell declined to say who might be eligible for restitution or what that might entail.
After the ballroom doors were closed, a crush of tuxedo-clad 20-somethings pushed forward to no avail, imitating soccer hooligans by cheering "Ole, Ole, Ole" and shouting down law enforcement officials, who repeatedly made clear that no one else would be getting in. At one point, officials brought in metal security gates to keep the crowd at bay.
Roussell insisted that the event was not oversold and said the 35,815-square-foot International Ballroom never reached capacity (it can hold as many as 4,200 guests). She declined to reveal how many tickets were distributed.
Unable to access the ballroom, hundreds of party-goers crowded around television screens in an adjacent lounge area to watch Kanye West and Kid Rock perform and see the president and first lady dance. The ball was also broadcast live on MTV.
The face value of Youth Ball tickets was $75, but some fetched as much as $1,000 on craigslist. While aggrieved Youth Ballers await recompense from the inauguration committee, a few collectors of political bric-a-brac are providing some salve with offers of $25 to $50 for inaugural ball ticket stubs.
Partygoers wait in vain to get into the main ballroom. (Credit: David Herbert)
A trash can at the corner of Constitution and Virginia Aves. at 8:30 a.m. (left) and 2:00 p.m.
Commentators in the major national newspapers have given the inauguration their undivided attention in today's columns.
"In the end, race is likely to be secondary in defining Obama's place in history," Eugene Robinson contends.
With the headline, "Wish you were here," Bob Herbert recalls civil rights figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and James Farmer, whom he wishes could witness today's inauguration.
Richard Cohen writes a narrative leading up to Obama's swearing-in, enumerating the challenges the incoming president will face.
Obama wasn't Jonah Goldberg's "first choice for president, but he is nonetheless my president. And if ever there were a wonderful consolation prize in politics, shattering the race barrier in the White House is surely it."
DeWayne Wickham recounts the last 18 months leading up to today.
In the Wall Street Journal, author John Steele Gordon notes that Obama will not only be the first black president, but also the first president "whose ethnic identity is not linked to the extreme northwest corner of Europe."
Anne Applebaum describes the US Airways Flight 1549 safe crash-landing in the Hudson River as the "anti-9/11" and puts it into context of today's historic inauguration.
In USA Today, former Archivist of the U.S. Allen Weinstein lays out what he believes it will take for Obama to deliver an inaugural address that effectively bridges "campaign poetry and governance prose."
In the Washington Post, blogger Heather Michon cautions that the "odds are long" that Obama will deliver a "speech for the ages, an oration worthy of being memorized by schoolchildren and carved into monuments."
In the Washington Times, Jay Ambrose, former Washington director of editorial policy for Scripps Howard News Service, suggests Americans take a "citizen's oath, similar in some ways to the oath promising that the new president will faithfully execute his office and defend and protect the Constitution."
Dana Milbank finds humor in Hollywood's descent on Washington.
By CONGRESSDAILY
The inaugural luncheon at the Capitol only dates back to President Dwight Eisenhower's first term in 1953, but this one, like so much else related to Barack Obama's moment, will have strong ties to President Abraham Lincoln.
All three courses are based on Lincoln's favorite foods -- a seafood stew including lobster, scallops and shrimp; a brace of American birds (pheasant and duck) with a sour cherry chutney; and apple cinnamon sponge cake. The wines are all from California -- a Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc, an Anderson Valley Pinot Noir, and a "special inaugural cuvee" California Champagne.
The luncheon is in the statuary and follows the swearing-in. Here's the timeline for don't-miss moments this morning. While the ceremony officially starts at 11:30 a.m., pay attention at 11:20 a.m. when President Bush and Vice President Cheney are announced and take their seats on the platform. Whether you're on the platform, on the Mall or watching on television, you'll be able to tell pretty quickly whether the boos will drown out the cheers. But five minutes later, when Obama is introduced, we're betting the noise will be louder than anything ever heard at a Redskins game. Other key moments: Aretha Franklin sings "My Country Tis of Thee" at 11:38 a.m., Vice President-elect Biden is sworn in at 11:46 a.m. and Obama takes the oath of office from Chief Justice Roberts 10 minutes later.
By DAVID HERBERT
With inaugural ball tickets selling for thousands of dollars on craigslist, some bachelors are trying to parlay extra tickets into hot dates -- and finding plenty of interested parties.
The Obama campaign spawned its share of romances, from lowly volunteer hookups to the courtship and eventual marriage of Obama advisers and academic heavyweights Samantha Power and Cass Sunstein. For some, the inaugural balls will be one last shot at bHarmony, except this time around, the playing field is decidedly tilted toward those holding an extra ticket, which for popular events like the Youth Ball are selling for $400 to $1,000 online.
Graham, a 24-year old former Obama organizer with a spare ticket to the Staff Ball, said that while he'd like to take someone who was involved with the campaign, his craigslist post is an "open-ended cattle call."
"Frankly, I want someone easy on the eyes that instills confidence in me," he told NationalJournal.com. "There will only be so many times in life where I have such good date bait!"
While the fish are nibbling -- Graham received more than 25 replies to his post in less than a day -- some would-be Cinderellas are taking a more proactive role. A handful of young women have already posted their own offers, like "Two Beautiful girls," who caution that "we won't have sex with you, because we are classy."
Mary, a 24-year old engineer from Boston, said she posted an ad because she thought it would be funny and has received a handful of offers. And while the historic weekend is supposed to be a magical, some of her suitors weren't in the mood.
"I got one e-mail that only said, 'How are your oral skills?'" she said. Another mentioned he had a hotel room.
Neither got e-mails back.
"That's kinda yucky," she laughed. "It's been comical to say the least."
By AMY HARDER
Legislation making it a misdemeanor to scalp inauguration tickets passed the Senate Tuesday night. The bill [PDF], sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., failed last month when a gambit to win quick passage in the Senate ran out of time.
Gil Duran, communications director for Feinstein, said she is now reaching out to the House to get quick passage there as well so that the bill could be signed into law by Barack Obama's inauguration. Acknowledging that it may be too late, Duran said the legislation "could have an effect on this inauguration, but it's also something that's necessary to protect the integrity of future inaugurals."
Duran said he was aware that inaugural parade tickets -- which sold out online in less than a minute on Friday -- are being scalped. He distinguished, however, between those tickets and passes for the swearing-in ceremony. The former are handled by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, a private entity, whereas the latter are managed by Congress.
