Port/tribes/everyman beat reporter John Stark spoke with former 2nd Congressional District Rep. Al Swift today while working on another story and they got to talking about President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration on January 20.

Swift served for 16 years in the U.S. House of Representatives seat now held by Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Bellingham. He finished January 1995, and is now a lobbyist in D.C. The former KVOS anchor had some pretty funny things to say about his past experiences.

From Stark:

Swift said Rick Larsen had offered him a couple of tickets to the inauguration but he declined.

“I believe there are things in this town that everyone should do once,” Swift said. He himself has attended several inaugural events, including Clinton, Nixon and LBJ, and has no appetite for another.

“As enthusiastic as I am about Obama, I’m not enthusiastic about waiting in the cold to get through hundreds of thousands of supporters… You can see so much more on TV.”

Inaugural balls are “terrible things.”

“You put on your tuxedo and go into an overheated room and stand chockablock with all the others, unable to get a drink until the President arrives,” Swift said.

He went to LBJ’s inaugural ball, and remembers that after the long, uncomfortable wait, Johnson breezed through the room with his long arms outstretched, allowing people to reach out and touch his fingertips. Then he was gone.

Inaugural events are packed with people.

“I think they send the fire marshals all out of town.”