Want inauguration tickets? Get in line

by Politico.com

Saturday November 08, 2008, 7:44 AM

No matter why you call the office of Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton these days, you’re going to get the same message: “Inauguration tickets are not available. We regret that we can no longer take names or messages concerning the inauguration.”

More than two months out from the Barack Obama’s swearing-in ceremony, Norton says the demand for tickets is far beyond anything she’s ever seen before. 

“This is off the grid entirely,” the District of Columbia Democrat said Friday. Since the morning after Obama’s historic win, she said, “If you had wanted to [get through on the phone] telling me there was an emergency concerning my family, you couldn’t have done it.” 

The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies won’t distribute inauguration tickets to the offices of members of Congress until the week before the inauguration.

Given the anticipated interest in Obama’s inauguration, committee officials are warning the public to be extremely wary of anyone claiming to have tickets to sell.

But that doesn’t mean people aren’t looking. 

“It’s a deluge,” said Ken Edmonds, spokesman for Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.). “This is unlike any other inauguration ever.” 

Lyndon Johnson’s 1965 inaugural drew 1.2 million, possibly the largest Inauguration Day crowd ever. But no one knows for sure: Since the Million Man March in 1995, government officials no longer release crowd estimates, which are often at odds with what event organizers estimate. 

Norton thinks Obama’s crowd will make previous records pale in comparison. 

“This is a whole new playbook,” she said. 

In fact, Norton foresees a city overrun with celebrants. “There are going to be millions of people who are coming here,” she said. “Even if we fill out the whole Mall down to 14th Street, there will be many, many people who won’t be able to get on the usual Mall sites. You won’t be able to walk.” 

David Gillies, the chief of staff for Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.), said his office has gotten a large volume of calls and that staffers are simply taking down requests at this point. 

“We’re not sure what our allotment is going to be. That is all we can do,” he said. 

U.S. Secret Service spokesman Darrin Blackford acknowledged that there will be “a lot of interest” in Obama’s inauguration but said his agency is working together with its federal, state and local colleagues “to develop a seamless security plan.”