McClatchy News Service

Obama Inauguration

WASHINGTON, D.C. - It took much longer to get around due to the heightened security, but Edgefield's Patricia Moseley still had a blast at what should be remembered as the political event of the year.

Presidential inaugurations can often be like that - crowded, massed affairs.

But especially if they are like Tuesday's, one of historic meaning.

Still, Moseley had a better seat than most.
After requesting tickets for President Barack Obama's inauguration through her state representative, Gresham Barrett, and coming up short, it was time to change tactics.

So she went with family instead.

Her sister-in-law, Lori Moseley, just so happens to also be the mayor of Miramar, Florida, so she got a better-than-average look at the entire ceremony - though she was still looking at the big screens.

"I was on the Capitol lawn, but I was still watching on the big screens because we weren't that close," Moseley said. "I'll be like those sports fans I used to make fun of when they went to the Carolina and Clemson games and they took their radio with them, but they had the right idea. I'll still be that one to buy the tape when I get home so I can see what really went on. I'll will be able to say I was on the front lawn."

Unlike the vast majority of the estimated crowd of 2 million people who gathered on the National Mall, Moseley - who is actually a Republican who campaigned for Mr. Obama in South Carolina and beyond - had actually met the new President, months before in an intimate setting (Google YouTube and Patricia Moseley to see the video for yourself) on the campaign trail made for the television cameras.

"I still love the Bushes and John McCain is a fine man," Moseley said. "No one has given as much to their nation. McCain was tortured in Vietnam and he stayed firm. I just felt like it wasn't his time. I told Mr. Obama that we needed a new direction for our country and "I think you're the person for it."

Moseley said what she will take from TuesdayÕs inauguration is confirms the greatness of the nation.

"It's neat just being able to witness history being made," she said. "To me the inauguration is when our Democracy can be seen at itÕs purest form. There is no need for the military. We do (power transfer) all very peacefully and gracefully, and to see it live makes it all the more special for me."