Obama inaugural: 'Setting the right tone'

by Richard Simon and Jill Zuckman

As Washington gears up for a big night of inaugural balls, a delicate dance is taking place. Planners want to stage a splashy celebration worthy of the historic moment but are doing it in the midst of tough economic times, perhaps even as President-elect Barack Obama calls for sacrifice in his inaugural address.

"Anything too flashy or expensive, and the new presidency starts off on the wrong foot," said Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington watchdog group. "It would be difficult to call for sacrifice on the one hand and toast with Dom Perignon in the other."

Linda Douglass, spokeswoman for the inaugural committee, says planners are preparing for the most open, accessible, inclusive inauguration in recent history, noting that the National Mall will be open to anyone, regardless of whether they have a ticket.

Still, a debate rages on.

"This is no time to party," Janett Calland of Ohio, whose husband was recently laid off, wrote on www.presidential-inauguration.com. "It would be a real impressive gesture for President-elect Obama and Mrs. Obama to elect to cancel parties and balls considering the state of the economy of our country at this time. ... The masses are financially hurting, but the 'money crowd' is eating caviar and drinking champagne."

Donald Baker of Kentucky replied: "Obama shouldn't be denied his moment of celebration. ... Lord knows the man is going to have his hands full enough soon."

See the rest of the story aobut the Obama inaugural tone, in the Tribune and here:

City officials project that they could spend $40 million or more for the event, expected to draw a record turnout. That is separate from the millions the inauguration committee will raise from private donors to pay for official balls and other expenses.

At a time when the auto industry pleads for federal aid, planners of the Michigan inaugural dinner dance have scaled back their event: a simpler menu, black tie optional, biodegradable paper plates instead of china and no contributions from automakers.

"We need to be very sensitive to appearances," said Debbie Dingell, president of the Michigan State Society, scaling back on champagne. "We won't have premium brand.

"There won't be shrimp, I'll be blunt," she added. "But Michigan is known for its whitefish, and we'll have whitefish."

Yet it's hard to hold back in a town that views the inauguration as its own Oscars. Events include a celebrity-studded party planned by the Creative Coalition, with tickets starting at $10,000 per couple.

Jenifer Sarver of the Texas State Society says the society has sold 10,000 tickets to its Black Tie & Boots Inaugural Ball. "We're trying to be respectful of the economic times by not doing anything too over the top," she said, adding: "Texans certainly do love to have a good time."

There is precedent, of course, for reins on the pomp of the day.

Jimmy Carter gave up a limo ride to take his surprise stroll down Pennsylvania Avenue, and he set $25 as the maximum price for admission to official balls.

During the Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt skipped the 1933 inaugural ball and canceled the 1937 ball. But Tim Blessing, a history and political science professor at Alvernia University in Pennsylvania, calls it questionable whether that was because of tough economic times "or simply because FDR disliked the balls."

Still, Roosevelt's first inauguration was far from sedate. Warner Brothers sent a train-load of Hollywood stars, including Busby Berkeley chorus girls who rode a float in the inaugural parade, led by cowboy star Tom Mix, says Stephen Talbot, whose father, actor Lyle Talbot, made the trip.

"The very next day," he said, "a Sunday, the actors all hustled over to a big movie palace in Washington--the Earle Theater--to perform a live stage show before the screening of the big new Warner Bros. musical, "42nd Street," whose theme was that even in the depths of the Depression, the show must go on."

Blessing expects the Obama team to exercise some restraint. "It should be noted that the Obama camp had fireworks planned for his election evening victory," he said, "but that he canceled them as not setting the right tone."

Donna Brazile, who was Al Gore's presidential campaign manager in 2000, says it's important that Obama frames the transfer of power in just the right way.

"There are many ways to plan this celebration so it is not just seen as a festive celebration, but a celebration of service, of people coming together from all walks of life," she said. "I think they are going to set the right tone."