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DDC vs. DC - Day 01 / "Flying In"

January 14, 2009

Being a betting man, a couple months back, after a particularly feisty week of polling gains for Obama, I went and bought a couple tickets to Washington, D.C. for his swearing-in. This was in early October. More and more, it was looking like Obama had a real shot at taking the thing, and I was gonna do everything in my power to be there to witness the passing of the torch. I've waited eight years for this day.So I grabbed a couple flights for Leigh and I. Done. Then I wrote Congressman Blumenauer here in Portland. Things were looking pretty dire after a couple calls to his aides. "Yes, thank you for your interest. We only have so many tickets, and your name is on the request list. Good luck." is all they could offer up. They were free, but of course, liberal Portland's requests were flooding their offices.So we crossed our fingers, and a couple months later I get an email from the Blumenauer office...It turns out my name came up in the raffle, and I was awarded two tickets to the Inauguration!Red, white and blue, with a good hit of orange. So happy. Here's what the missive said,"I have been very pleased with the level of excitement our new President-elect has brought to this nation and our political process. We received over 6,000 requests from constituents of the Third Congressional District of Oregon to attend his inauguration!"then,"Yesterday my office held our lottery for tickets to the 2009 Presidential Inauguration Swearing-in Ceremony for President-elect Barack Obama and your name was selected. Congratulations. You will be receiving 2 ticket(s) to the Inauguration."and,"Each House office has received 198 tickets. A very small fraction of these tickets are seated. The rest of the tickets are standing room only, with lawn space given on a first-come, first-serve basis upon arrival the morning of the swearing-in ceremony."Seated? You gotta be kidding me. Imagine that. Hell, I'd be glad just to be able to see the thing, much less be seated.Each time I read these words, Gary bumps come over me in waves. (Goose? Hell no.) Incredible.Leigh and I will be tooling around D.C. on foot, cameras in hand, soaking up the final days of the Bush disaster, with high hopes for Mr. Obama and a new America. We'll be staying with her friend Katie, who lives, "11 blocks form the Capital." Perfect. If things get too tight there, we'll go sleep on the White House lawn. Or at the Dischord house. Something like that.We flew out early this morning. Full reports will be on Draplin.com, with some surprises at Coudal.com, so be sure to check back, you star-spangled patriots!Wow.

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