Inauguration: The View from Across the Potomac

Greetings one and all from your DC metro area based blog poster.  As we enter into the last full week before the inauguration of Barack Obama, things are starting to shape up five miles to my north.  The inauguration platform has been constructed, the stands for the parade have been up since the week after Christmas, and this past weekend there was a run through of the whole shebang, complete with someone getting to wear a big sign reading “President Elect Barack Obama” getting to stand in for the real deal.

All is not puppies and rainbows however.

Last week the Virginia Department of Transportation in conjunction with the Secret Service announced a plan for Inauguration Day whereby all the bridges that lead from Virginia into the District will be shut down to all but “authorized vehicles”.  Additionally the two main interstates inside the Beltway, I-66 and I-395, will be shut down to inbound traffic, with all other traffic being shunted off onto the Beltway.  This means the only way to drive into the District that day will be to circle around into Maryland and approach from the north, which is oddly similar to some of Robert E Lee’s plans for how to get into the city.  This is, of course, quite intentional.  For months here in the DC area we’ve been told that if we want to come downtown, to either walk, bike, or take mass transit.  But there are certainly panties getting twisted.

See, a big part of Obama’s victory was Virginia, which went Democratic for the first time since LBJ in ‘64.  Sure he would have won without the Commonwealth, but Virginia was a symbol of the shifting map and the broad appeal of Obama.  There’s a certain bitterness afoot because people feel like they’re being shut out while Maryland has free access to the District.  Of course, part of this is the Potomac River that lies between the Commonwealth and the District.  There are five approaches from Virginia into DC, three of which empty out almost directly into the Mall, which is an absolute no drive zone.  From Maryland, however, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of streets, both major and residential, that cross that border.  And do so miles from the restricted areas of the District.  The shutdowns make security and logistical sense, but the message that many people are getting is “thanks, Virginia, now stay home.”

I’ll be making a few other posts this week, looking at the other issues surrounding this historic day, leading up to my own report from the inauguration, which I will be attending even if I have to walk the 5.1 miles from my apartment to the Mall and back again.