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Will recession mean a toned-down Obama inauguration?

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-07 21:37

WASHINGTON – Unemployment is on the rise. The stock market is in the tank. Is this any time for a party? For the sake of the masses of people expected for President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration, let's hope so. While Obama must be sensitive to the nation's time of war and recession, there's still reason to expect a rollicking time.

Workers construct the inaugural platform at the west front of the Capitol in Washington, on Thursday, December 4, 2008, in preparation for Barack Obama's inauguration on Janury 20, 2009. [Agencies]

"We're mindful of the fact that people in this country are hurting, that they're going through hard times," said Linda Douglass, spokeswoman for the Presidential Inaugural Committee. "On the other hand, we see this not just as a celebration of an election, but as a time for people to come together and celebrate their common values and shared aspirations and goals."

The committee has disclosed few details of the celebration, but it surely won't come cheap. President George W. Bush raised US$42 million to help finance his second inauguration. Millions more were spent by the government on security.

Though costly, an inauguration helps set the tone for a presidency, said Gil Troy, a visiting scholar at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

The president shouldn't be seen noshing on caviar, but neither should he dispense with glamour entirely, Troy said. Americans want their leader to be a man of the people and a celebrity superstar, both.

"Americans are people who love to indulge, and deep in our hearts want our leaders to be like the king and queen of England — but not too much," he said.

President Ronald Reagan fit the bill best when he set a new standard of opulence for his 1981 inauguration, Troy said. Nancy Reagan wore a US$10,000 gown to the three-hour gala with Frank Sinatra.

"Reagan had the ability — and maybe the Obamas will — to somehow make spending look patriotic," Troy said.