Has anyone alive today ever witnessesed a bigger, happier, more purely joyous inaugural crowd than

[Stinky The Clown]

..... we are witnessing this week?

The first inauguration I actually remember with any clarity is that of Kennedy. I remember joy and hope, but not to the same degree as now .... and the crowds were not as big, by a long shot.

Regan's first was on a brilliantly sunny, unusually warm January day. The crowd extended maybe to 4th Street - what is now the western-most limit of the reserved seating/standing areas. Maybe half a million people. At most.

I was there for Clinton's first. No way was it as big. We were able to actually get within a few ranks of spectators on Pennsylvania Ave. and see the motorcade go by and actually managed to get a glimpse of him.

Bush? Neither Greater nor Lesser had anything even remotely close to the crowd or the joy.

On the measures of either joy or crowd size, has anyone ever seen anything like this?

[Trajan]

1. I had to smirk to myself last night ...

The closest the Bushes ever got was the number of PROTESTERS who attended ...

[graywarrior]

2. Remember the egg throwing on Inauguration Day?

[Trajan]

4. Actually got kinda ugly ....

If I recall: The Anti Bush protests were the first sighting of the DU banners ... right ?

I didnt join until 2002, but I could swear I saw them, or read about it somewhere ...

[graywarrior]

6. I wasn't here til 2002 so I don't know

I just will never forget that image.

[BlooInBloo]

12. Moore's description is useful...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAp6YAPtC2c

[conscious evolution]

23. Yes I do

It gave me hope.

[foxfeet]

3. Nope. And I've been watching since Kennedy.

Happy, happy , joy, joy! It's very moving.

[Booster]

5. Never seen anything like this in my lifetime. Also, I love the

fact that the crowd, the entire crowd, is just so joyful and happy they can't contain themselves. As I posted before, I didn't realize just how angry I had become until I watched that concert and actually felt the anger leaving my body - it was a very good feeling and I think the crowd is having that same feeling; like we've all been liberated from a very real evil.

[Raine]

10. I didn't realize till

the day after the election when on getting up I literally felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off of me. :-)

[givemebackmycountry]

7. It ain't never happened before Stink...

Tomorrow is going to be nuts.
Insane.
People packed wall to wall to celebrate what might be the greatest day in the history of our nation.
And a lot of them have dropped in from all over the world.
You know what I love it about it almost as much as anything else?

It's driving the right wing nut jobs out of their freaking minds.

:toast:

[Raine]

8. I don't think so

I was happy when Clinton took office but this time is far far more joyous. I'm still sweating out the last few hours cause this misadministration is capable of anything.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

9. I wonder if any of these folks will have voices tomorrow. They've been yelling all day!

And bouncing too. Jumping in place, will they have any energy left? We need them for tomorrow!

[kenny blankenship]

11. I seem to remember the Bush Inaugural crowds were under some kind of extraordinary lockdown

even the first one. You didn't get onto the Mall without being screened or checked off on a list and it was pretty much an by-invitation affair. Maybe I am mistaken about that, but I am sure it wasn't an ordinary kind of Inaugural. The route was lined with police and military acting as police with security checkpoints to hold off the great unwashed.

There may not have been a large crowd in either 2001 or 2005, but I bet most in attendance expected they were going to make some big money off of Bush's Presidency. They probably were, in their own peculiar way, very happy.

[Stephanie]

13. They are saying 2 million tomorrow

It's unbelievable! Amazing!

[Waiting For Everyman]

14. Nope, and I remember to back to Kennedy's too.

That one was similar in a way but not nearly as big in terms of people showing up for it. And JFK didn't have such a high percentage of the people on his side going into it.

I'm trying to think of anything at all comparable to this, and I'm coming up with nothing that I can remember. VE Day might've been, but that was before my time.

[Stinky The Clown]

15. You know ...... I'm even wondering on a global basis ........

.... has ANY political event ever been this big?

There was a thread the other day that asked a similar question. The only crowd anyone could come up with are the annual crowds at Mecca. They're routinely several millions strong. But they're not political.

[Waiting For Everyman]

17. I really don't think so either.

The VN war moratorium march was 1 million (the crowd was drastically underestimated but I was there to overhear the cops discussing it) but that was not at all a happy event.

It's like New Year's Eve only bigger and sustained, and with a wind-up of 2 years getting to this point.

I think this is a "very first". :) Definitely new for politics.

[G_j]

16. love vs. hate

people expressing goodwill and solidarity, blacks and whites all mixed together in a joyful expression of hope! much better than hatefully screaming about "kicking ass"
It's much bigger than a man, Obama.
This reflects people's desire to live in goodwill and peace.
I hope we don't forget that the miracle comes from all of us as individuals working and struggling for the good.

[malaise]

18. It's awesome

I've never seen anything like this.

[david13]

19. I'm old

and I've never seen anything like this before. They all say this is by far the biggest.
But. I'm an old man, and I never really was "proud" to be an american. Until 8:00 p.m. Nov. 4, 2008, when a tear came to my eyes, and I was proud of what they said.
And I suppose tomorrow I'll be proud of what america is doing, and have another tear in my eye.
dc

[SheilaT]

20. Nope. This is unprecedented.

Actually, what I keep on being reminded of is the fall of the Berlin Wall. In Berlin itself for two or three days people were giddy and joyous, crossing back and forth freely for the first time since the wall had gone up in 1961. But that was only one city. This time it's the whole world.

I was in DC for the Bicentennial Fourth, and that was wonderful. A million people were on the Mall to watch the fireworks, and for about an hour after they came to an end street traffic was at a complete standstill. There was a front page picture on the Washington Post next day showing thousands of people streaming across Memorial Bridge, taking up the entire width of the bridge. I lived in Alexandria, VA at the time, and simply started walking towards home. At National Airport I finally got a ride for the last mile or so to my place. I knew people who simply camped out on the Mall overnight and went home the next day.

Obviously, with this cold no one will do that. But the atmosphere in DC is just amazing. I almost wish I could be there.

[mmonk]

21. Nope, not at all.

It should tell you you are not alone.

[Fireweed247]

22. 8 years of hell really raises the level of appreciation

[HughMoran]

24. Nope.

This is history in the making. I will remember it well.

[Solly Mack]

25. It's been great to see. Well, what little I'm getting to see here.

I'm getting some stuff - most stuff hours later...but it's been downright exciting.

I got to see a panel earlier with Cornell West. It was great.

I just saw pictures of the crowd and it was nothing but happy.

[SoCalDem]

26. They've all been pretty ho-hum for me ..until now..

JFK's was before I was back in the USA and we had no TV..and I was a kid

Johnson's first was too sad because of JFK

Nixon..ugh

Carter..yawn.. I was too busy with an ill child

Reagan's was too syrupy-icky..both of 'em

Bush 1 ..no thanks

Clinton did not interest me..either time

Bush1 ..I watched because I was hoping someone would bean him with a rotten tomato, or that he would self-combust

This one's tip top:)

[Art_from_Ark]

27. Most of the people at Kennedy's inauguration

had just had 8 years of mostly prosperity under a popular President and war hero. It is a completely different situation today-- 8 years of (from our viewpoints) failure and incompetence are finally coming to an end.

[fortyfeetunder]

28. Reminds me of Carter's

in a BIGGER way!

[JCMach1]

29. Carter would be the closest... hugely popular personality

coming after a long nightmare of a Presidency (exclude the caretaker Ford and think Nixon).

The feeling is similar, but Obama adds more interest because of the historical dimension. Hence, there will be the biggest crowd ever...

[fortyfeetunder]

32. Carter and Obama -- common element -- it's about the people.

I remember those dark eight years of Nixon and Ford. So I was glad as hell about Carter winning the election and that was one inauguration parade I went to. It was fun! Carter wanted a people's inauguration and it was definitely a friendly one.

[JCMach1]

34. Exactly... today will be like that times X

in terms of scale...

[Lugnut]

30. Never.

I've seen quite a few inaugurations in my 63 years but never a celebration as joyous as this. I love it!

[Horse with no Name]

31. Actually I think Peggy Noonan (I know...yuck) in her tearful joyous celebrating today said it best

and I paraphrase "it is a street inauguration"...unprecedented.

[Liberal_in_LA]

33. for contrast.. Pic from Bush inauguration