Obama’s inauguration ceremony much better planned than his DNC acceptance speech in Denver

The inauguration ceremonies for President Obama seem to have gone smoothly yesterday, with no arrests and only a few small logistical mishaps reported. Quite a feat, considering the record two million people who flooded into Washington for the event.

It all serves to illustrate the ways local and national organizers screwed up when planning how to get a comparatively piddling 60,000 people into Invesco Field for Obama’s Democratic nomination acceptance speech at the closing of the DNC in Denver. For those who feel compelled to relive the nightmare, check out Westword‘s coverage of the two-mile-long line that led ticket holders in a labyrinthine, maddening maze through parking lots, down hillsides and past former meth labs, with zero guidance from the clueless police officers and non-existent Democratic organizers.

The line was so long, we estimated that if stretched out, it could have started all the way at Coors Field. At least then, folks could have stopped into a LoDo bar during the eight-hour wait. Of course, most people forgot their pain once they finally got into Invesco and caught Obama’s acceptance speech. Others are still, ahem, a tad bitter about the experience.