Inauguration Hype In DC; Democrats Contemplate Canadian Citizenship

By vouchey in News on Jan 20, 2005 2:09PM

There's a whole lotta hoopla starting in our nation's capital today. There's gala balls, parades, a big speech, and probably at least one or two beer bashes. Our compadres in Washington, DCist, have the whole coverage, but here's the meager Illinois angle:

Basically, Chicago Democrats have all come home, or gone elsewhere. Chicagoist has spotted a number of Chicago Congressmen in Chicago this week, and we've heard stories of more than a few elected Illinois Dems heading to Mexico for the weekend.

Republicans, on the other hand see it a bit different. Out-going Illinois GOP Chair, Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka wanted to go to the inauguration so bad, she insisted that her term not end until after Inaugural. As a state party chair she gets to go to a few more parties, but how popular can you be among Republicans if you're from the state that ran Alan Keyes and elected Sen. Barack Obama?

Chicago columnists aren't exactly breathless about the festivities. John Kass thinks the $40 million price tag is "overdone and self-indulgent", and Charlie Madigan interviews suburban DC who just don't care. Lynn Sweet talks about the security lockdown in the city and the general Democratic mood. In contrast, ABC-7 is double-teaming Chuck Goudie and Andy Shaw in DC for live reports throughout the day. We can't see how this could be interesting, but maybe it'll get some ratings for them.