Inaugural Tickets Hot -- and Hard to Get

So your member of Congress has declared a first-come, first-served policy on handing out hard-to-get tickets to Barack ObamaBarack Obama's presidential swearing-in.

But in a town where "yes" can mean "no" and the definition of "is" has been rhetorically spun, "first" does not necessarily mean No. 1 in line.

Even the most egalitarian members of Congress have family members, friends, political contributors and others clamoring for what are, right now, the most sought-after 240,000 free tickets in the world. Lawmakers are not required to disclose the recipients so the list of those who will get some of the 200 to 500 tickets per officemight well begin before the average person gets in line.

Dan Glickman does not need the audacity of hope to score these tickets. The former agriculture secretary and current president of the Motion Picture Association of America is entitled to two tickets as a former member of Congress; he served nine terms, in fact.

But Glickman also rang up his home-state senator to secure more. He will get the additional tickets, according to the man who was on the other end of the line.
"We'll try to work with him and help him out if we can," Sen. Sam BrownbackSen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., said in a telephone interview. "He's been a friend for a long time."
Said Glickman's spokesman, Seth Oster, in an e-mail: "Dan is trying to help out some everyday people who are excited about this election and eager to see the swearing-in." Oster said the intended recipients are Glickman's former constituents, but he would not say whether they are friends or family members, nor how many people will benefit from Glickman's advocacy.