Tickets to inaugural event didn’t guarantee access

WASHINGTON -- Alex Sarem of San Diego was one of those who couldn't get into the Capitol area for the ceremony. The committee on inaugural ceremonies apologized.

They say Washington's all about access. Still, this was ridiculous.

First, in an episode fast becoming known as "The Purple Tunnel of Doom," thousands of people with coveted tickets at the Capitol were kept out of President Barack Obama's inaugural ceremony and left waiting in a tunnel below the National Mall. Officials blamed crowd control problems.

Hours later, many young partygoers with $75 tickets to the Youth Inaugural Ball were kept waiting for hours because of space problems, all dressed up and nowhere to go.

Some missed Kid Rock's performance. They also missed Kanye West. And they missed Barack and Michelle Obama.

At issue at the Capitol were tickets in the purple and blue sections, said a statement yesterday from the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, which apologized. It attributed the problems to unprecedented crowds, plus a huge flow of unticketed people toward the Capitol and into the 3rd Street Tunnel, where the ticket holders were directed.

The Senate's chief law enforcement officer also apologized. Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance Gainer cited the size of the crowd and the fact that people took up more space in ticketed areas than anticipated because of bulky winter clothing.

Jeremy Cohen, 31, of New York City, said things "got ugly for a second," when people who'd been waiting for hours noticed new arrivals cutting in.

By contrast, the Youth Ball experience might seem petty -- except that for many it was their only chance to see Obama. The president paid tribute there to the vital contribution that young people made to his campaign.

But many couldn't get into the packed ballroom.

Also on the inaugural front:

TV audience: About 30 percent of TV homes were tuned to the inauguration coverage in the 56 local television markets measured by Nielsen Media Research. The estimate reflects live coverage on 14 broadcast and cable networks from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST.

This preliminary count represents about 70 percent of the nation's total TV households.

A honeymoon: Americans by a 3-1 margin feel more optimistic about the future of the country now that Obama is president.

A poll released yesterday found that 53 percent of those surveyed said they felt more optimistic, while just 15 percent said Obama's ascendancy to the White House made them feel more pessimistic.

Seventy-nine percent of those surveyed said they saw or heard at least part of his inaugural address, and of those, 51 percent deemed it "excellent."

The poll was conducted Tuesday and involved online interviews with 835 adults. It has a sampling error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.