By Paul Sloth
Journal Times | Posted: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 12:00 am
RACINE - At least a few Racine residents have been lucky enough to score tickets to President-elect Barack Obama's Jan. 20 inauguration.
The tickets could be hard to come by though for the thousands of other Wisconsin residents requesting them from their representatives in Congress.
Requests are pouring into the offices of members of Congress, including Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Milwaukee and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, who represents Racine County.
In 61 days, Racine Mayor Gary Becker and his daughter, Maggie, 17, will be among the estimated 3 to 5 million visitors D.C. officials expect to descend on the Capitol to witness the historic Inauguration Day.
Becker's daughter, a senior at St. Catherine's High School, volunteered for Obama's campaign.
"She's my political daughter. She is rather excited, to say the very least, about going out," Becker said.
This won't be Gary Becker's first inauguration. Becker, who volunteered for President Jimmy Carter's campaign in 1976, received an invitation and attended Carter's inauguration in 1977.
Becker will be out in D.C. in January for the United States Conference of Mayors winter meeting, which traditionally coincides with Inauguration Day. Becker was in D.C. for the meeting in 2004, but skipped President George W. Bush's second inauguration.
"This one, there is such excitement. So many people want President-elect (Obama) to be successful. We have some serious problems," Gary Becker said. "Whether you're a hardcore Dem, Independent, you can't not want him to do well and it's just an amazing American story."
Spokesmen for both Ryan and Kohl say an unprecedented number of calls have come from constituents in Wisconsin requesting tickets to the inauguration.
Ryan spokesman Conor Sweeney said the congressman's office has received 1,000 requests for inauguration tickets. He did not know exactly how many tickets Ryan would receive.
Because of the high demand, Ryan's office is no longer accepting requests, Sweeney said.
Being ticketless shouldn't stop people from planning a trip to D.C. on Inauguration Day though, Sweeney said.
If people plan to come to D.C. "there will still be plenty going on and plenty to see," Sweeney said. "It's still going to be a fantastic event."
Calls started coming into Kohl's office the day after the election, Spokesman Rohit Mahajan said.
Requests for tickets to past inaugurations have always exceeded the number of tickets made available to Senator Kohl, Mahajan said.
Kohl's office has so far received an estimated 5,000 requests for tickets to Obama's inauguration, including several from Racine-area residents.
The spokesman for Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Middleton, could not be reached for comment.
Tickets are usually made available to congressional offices within a week to 10 days prior to the inauguration, Mahajan said.
Members of Kohl's staff are taking personal information from people asking for tickets, but they're not making any promises, Mahajan said.
"We just want people to be realistic and not get their hopes up," Mahajan said.
Tickets to the 56th inaugural ceremonies are provided free of charge and are distributed through members of the 111th Congress, the president-elect and vice president-elect.
Last week, Ebay/StubHub announced it would not allow the sale of inaugural swearing-in ceremony tickets on any of its Web sites.
No Web sites or other ticket outlets have inaugural swearing-in tickets to sell, despite what they may claim, according to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, which plans and executes all inaugural activities at the Capitol.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the committee chairwoman, introduced legislation on Monday that would prohibit the sale and counterfeiting of inaugural tickets.
"The inauguration of the president is one of the most important rituals of our democracy," Feinstein said in a statement. "The chance to witness this event should not be bought and sold like tickets to a football game."
This date in Inauguration Day history
- April 30, 1789 - President George Washington - First inauguration held in New York City; precedents set include the phrase, "So help me God," and kissing the Bible after taking the oath.
- March 4, 1801 - President Thomas Jefferson - First inauguration held in Washington, D.C.
- January 20, 1937 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt - First president inaugurated on Jan. 20, a change made by the 20th Amendment to the Constitution; first time the vice president was inaugurated outside on the same platform as the President.
- January 20, 1961 - President John F. Kennedy - First time a poet participated in the inaugural program; first Catholic to become president of the United States.
- January 20, 2009 - President-elect Barack Obama - Obama will be the first black man sworn in as president of the United States.
Source: U.S. Senate Web site http://inaugural.senate.gov