Strickland's inaugural was a slog through the muck

Those who attended Gov. Ted Strickland's inauguration had nothing but praise for the events and the governor's speech.
While short on specifics, as most inaugural speeches are, Strickland outlined his priorities. The goals are rather lofty and quite possibly unattainable, but are the most important issues facing the state.
Strickland, a Lisbon Democrat, was smart enough to encourage a bipartisan approach to achieving his goals. Republicans control both the Ohio House and Senate as well as the Supreme Court and without that party's support, the state will have four years of gridlock.
Among Strickland's goals are health care reform; a strong, equitable and affordable education system; safe and secure neighborhoods; protecting natural resources; and using tax dollars wisely.
All I wanted Saturday was dry feet.
Rain, at times quite heavy, fell for hours before and during Strickland's outdoor swearing-in ceremony in Columbus. The event was suppose to be relocated indoors in inclement weather. I guess only a tornado or a white-out constituted inclement weather for the event planners.
I arrived at the Statehouse about 90 minutes before the swearing-in ceremony, laptop in hand, hoping to get inside to put the computer down at the designated press area.
An e-mail providing information to the media covering the inaugural events told us to enter the Statehouse through the stairwell on the West Plaza, near the Spirit of '98 statue before the event. The ceremony was held on the nearby West Lawn.
I was told it was a statue of a guy holding a gun. For those of you who've never visited the Statehouse, there are many statues outside the building. Most of them are of guys holding guns.
I circled the Statehouse three times attempting to open a number of doors that were either locked or had police standing nearby who politely told me to go away.
I tried to follow Anthony Trevena of Guilford Lake, deputy director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and an inauguration coordinator, to get inside. But Trevena entered through a door behind the makeshift stage leaving me behind.
The rain turned the West Lawn into a scene out of Woodstock minus the naked hippies. Mud was everywhere. During my failed quest to get inside the Statehouse, I succeeded in doing one thing: getting my shoes, pants, coat and hands covered in mud. At first it was somewhat amusing. When the rain got so heavy that it soaked through my shoes and socks, I stopped being amused. I hope the inaugural committee is amused when I send my dry cleaning bill to them.
I finally got in contact with the inaugural press people who gave me my credentials -- a piece of paper with a punched-out hole attached to a string that I wore around my neck. That paper lasted on the string until I stood up. It then ripped off the string and fell to the wet ground. I picked it up and stuck it in my pocket.
The speech went well, and Strickland was kind enough to not keep the wet crowd outside for very long.
I wanted to make sure I got to the media filing location when the speech was over so I had the event's media coordinator escort me to that area. There was no need to rush. Journalists at the event who wrote articles from the Statehouse went to the pressroom so I was all by myself, feeling like Eric Carmen, in the makeshift media filing location.
There were two plastic tables, four chairs and one computer line at the location in what is known as the building's "crypt." Tourists at the Statehouse walked passed me numerous times making me feel like I was an exhibit. "Hey, look at the guy with the mud all over his pants and shoes typing on a laptop."
But the location had a major advantage. Strickland's reception was one floor above me and my crypt location was next to the parking garage. That meant anyone I recognized coming or going had to walk by me and I was able to speak to several locals about the day's events without having to stand up.
A special thanks to state Sen. John Boccieri who kept asking me to come upstairs -- I couldn't leave my laptop and work station -- for some food. I asked him to send some food down to me along with some local politicians. As an Air Force reservist, Boccieri knows how to follow orders. Moments later, I got fruit, vegetables and a sandwich along with state Sen. Capri Cafaro and state Reps. Sandra Stabile Harwood and Tom Letson.