By Staff
Kim West
Usually the hardest tickets to come by during this time of year are tickets to the Super Bowl and the BCS National Championship Game, but the historic election of Barack Obama has attracted unprecedented demand for the 56th presidential inauguration ceremony.
Franklin County residents can still request tickets for the ceremony through the office of Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville), who represents Winston, Marion and Franklin counties, but it's highly unlikely to get one at this point.
People can request tickets from any member of Congress, but senators and representatives generally try to distribute their tickets to their constituents.
"People can still call our office, just in case," said Darrell "D.J." Jordan, a spokesman for Aderholt. "After the election, people were calling from all over the state for tickets but preference was given to people in the (4th) District and to people who called earlier.
"We're not getting as many calls as before – all through November and December we probably received on average 20-30 calls per day for tickets."
Jordan said every member of the House of Representatives received 198 tickets, and Aderholt's tickets have already been allocated. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, the only official ticket distributor, had 240,000 free tickets originally available for the ceremony, according to the Associated Press.
"Every (representative) got the same number of tickets to distribute, although we haven't actually received the tickets yet." Jordan said.
According to StubHub.com, tickets for the Super Bowl Feb. 1 range from $1,775 to $6,783, while tickets for the BCS tile game last night were going for $628 to $2,648 apiece. There are online ticket brokers that are claiming to have inaugural ceremony tickets for sale from $500 to $40,000 per ticket, but the JCCIC has warned people that these tickets are likely bogus.
Aderholt's office didn't disclose how many Franklin County residents will receive tickets, but if you are one them, I would love to hear from you.
I did not vote for Obama, but I think he deserves the full support of our country once he takes office Jan. 20. I am wary about the long-term price tag of his economic relief package and other proposed policies, but it is exciting to have a leader who can pique interest in politics during the peak of the college and pro football seasons.