NewsHour Senior Correspondent Gwen Ifill talks about where she plans to be and what she plans to look for on Inauguration Day in this Reporter's Notebook.
"I'm personally more interested in hearing the stories of the people who come to the inauguration," Ifill said.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: Welcome to this reporter's notebook. My name is Steve Goldbloom and I'm here with Gwen Ifill, and she is the senior correspondent for the NewsHour. Hi Gwen.
GWEN IFILL: Hello Steve.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: What are you going to be doing on January 20, 2009?
GWEN IFILL: I and my 4 million closest friends will be on the National Mall or somewhere thereabouts attempting to find some way to cover the most historic presidency or inauguration of my lifetime, the inauguration of Barack Obama.
It's going to be interesting because a lot of the challenge that day is going to be logistical. They're closing a lot of the bridges in and out of Washington, a lot of folks from out of town are flooding, we've heard any number from 2 million to 5 million, we don’t know what to believe. But we want to tell the story, so we're going to just dive right into the middle of it.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: Is there anything you're going to be looking for from his inaugural address, anything you expect to see?
GWEN IFILL: I don't know, I'm always interested in the inaugural addresses, but they're not as memorable as people think they are. We remember a few things that presidents have said, most notably John F. Kennedy, but most people probably couldn't name a line from the last several, so I don't know.
We know that Barack Obama, when he wants to give a big speech, he is capable of giving the big speech so we'll be listening for that.
But, I'm personally more interested in hearing the stories of the people who come to the inauguration. The folks who are there on the grounds, who feel they had to take on whatever they're taking on - whether it's cold or wind or rain or crowds - in order to witness it with their own two eyes instead of sitting at home and watching a flat screen TV.
So I think that's where the interesting stories will be, out in the crowd rather than up on the dais. There's always a sense of change on Inauguration Day, no matter who the person being sworn in is - whether it's Ronald Reagan, or George H.W. Bush or George W. Bush or Barack Obama. You look at the new team coming in and the people they bring with them and you have a sense of a palpable shift that goes on in Washington.
Change has become kind of a cliché, but there really is a change underfoot and it's probably out of the sight of the camera range, a lot of it. But you want to see how different an impact or an imprint someone like Barack Obama will make on the presidency compared to past presidents, and there's no way to know. And Inauguration Day won't answer that question, either.
STEVE GOLDBLOOM: Gwen Ifill, thanks a lot.
GWEN IFILL: Thank you Steve.
