Inside the Beltway

 Mackenzie Carpenter | Jan, 17, 2008

Good morning.  Your intrepid Early Returns poster has crossed the Beltway and reached inner Washington, D.C. ahead of predicted traffic jams for early next week, will park here for the duration and relay any and all Inaugural news as it happens. 

I was greeted on the Interstate approaching Washington last evening by an enormous lit sign that read:  "INAUGURATION JAN 20/MAJOR TRAFFIC DELAYS/USE ALTERNATE ROUTES" ... not exactly a warm welcome.

Nonetheless, it's great to be in the middle of it all.  It's actually relatively balmy here this morning -- a toasty 11 degrees, compared to 9 degrees below zero in Pittsburgh.   At a news conference Friday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California suggested that President-elect Obama might want to take the Inaugural indoors if the temperature remains cold.  Forecasts calls for a high of 33 degrees, so we're not sure what she's talking about.  Those Californians are wimps!

A news release from the Presidential Inaugural Committee arrived in my inbox today, announcing tht 41 people are joining Mr.Obama, Vice President-elect Biden and their families on the train to the Inauguration,  Those lucky guests are, according to the release, from "across the country whose life experiences reflect the rich diversity of America."

After leaving Philadelphia, the train will stop in Wilmington and Baltimore, but will also "slow roll" through Claymont, Delaware, and Edgewood, Maryland, "so that more Americans will have the opportunity to witness the President-elect and Vice President-elect make their way to Washington, D.C.

Similarly, the first 200 people to sign up will be allowed into the White House Wednesday for an open house celebration, the Washington Post has reported.  Presumably they won't trash the place, as was the case when Andrew Jackson opened the White House to the public during HIS inaugural.

The New York Times has a piece today suggesting that the crowds may not be as large as originally feared.  Those of us with credentials to the Mall on the big day can only hope...