The 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, entered his motorcade at around 3:30 p.m. EST at the U.S. Capitol, and started traveling at a slow roll down Pennsylvania Ave. toward the White House.
The parade got off to a late start — the inaugural schedule is now running about an hour behind, which will mean that road closures and traffic conditions in the District of Columbia will persist later than city planners had anticipated. The Swearing-In Ceremony ended about 30 minutes late due to general tardiness; things appear to have gotten even more behind after Sen. Ted Kennedy suffered an apparent seizure and Sen. Robert Byrd additionally experienced medical difficulties at the formal Congressional Luncheon celebrating the inauguration of President Obama.
Spectators have reported varying amounts of success reaching the parade route. DCist’s Kriston Capps, who had ticketed bleacher seats for the parade, reports that he got on line for the security checkpoint at 7th and D Streets NW at 8:45 a.m., and only made it through after 2:30 p.m., at which point those $25 bleacher tickets were no longer being honored. Other spectators told DCist they reached the standing-room only section of the parade route from other entrances with relatively little difficulty.
Once President Obama and Vice President Biden reach the White House, they’ll proceed to the presidential viewing stand to watch the rest of the parade. Assuming the parade continues to run 1 hour late, it could go on as late as 7 p.m.
4:04 p.m. President Obama and Michelle Obama have exited the car and are now walking the rest of the way down Pennsylvania Ave. to the White House. The crowd couldn’t be more thrilled!
4:23 p.m. The Obamas walked a couple of blocks and then got back in the car, surely much to the relief of the Secret Service. Temperatures have also dropped in Washington over the last hour, so those notably hatless blocks must have been mighty cold. Vice President Biden and Jill Biden also took a turn walking down the parade route, but now all four are back inside the warm confines of the motorcade.
4:30 p.m. More walking! NBC’s Al Roker just managed to get President Obama to acknowledge him along the parade route by shouting like a crazy person. Way to go, Al.
4:47 p.m. Funny scoop from NBC’s Chuck Todd: White House Communications Director Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says that no one in the Obama administration has a working email address yet (they’re still trying to figure out how to log in), but there were no missing keys from the computer keyboards or any other fabled transition pranks evident when staff arrived.
5:29 p.m. Dusk has fallen and the bands are still marching by the White House and the new Obama administration. The band members are catching glimpses of the President—and trying to wave at him—while they play and the news commentators are getting very tired: MSNBC’s Chris Matthews thought the White House was actually a matte backdrop, because it was so perfect looking.
6:53 p.m.: The parade is over: The President and First Lady leave the parade viewing stand and head to the White House to get ready for their many inaugural balls.
