# Did Sarah Palin attend the inauguration? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 21, 2009, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274 "2009-01-21T06:23:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/1 "2009-01-21T06:23:43Z")
Not meant to incite a GD at **all** , which is why it’s here. Completely one of those “hey, I wonder if…” moments, and nothing more. I noticed during the broadcast, CNN kept mentioning that “this is where various VIPs will be sitting, state governors, etc.” I saw Tim Kaine stroll past one of the cameras, but I guess it wasn’t like he really had to travel far to attend. I’m guessing had the outcome of the election been different, Biden and Obama would still be there, as Senators. McCain had his entrance, then a few re-establishing shots that at least killed time until 11:30. But I never saw Palin in the crowd. To be honest, I didn’t recognize any other governors who may have been in attendance, besides Kaine. As a corollary, is it common for governors to attend? ETA: And, if I may be so bold as to pose a third tangentially related question, were any of the other contenders there? Any of the former Senators who were up for the Dem or Republican nods, or Ralph Nader, Bob Barr? ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/2 "2009-01-21T08:02:12Z")
(Sorry I can’t be more informative- but this will give you something to start with, subscribe me to the thread, and bump the thread up a bit, so everyone wins.) > [@atomicbadgerrace](#): > > To be honest, I didn’t recognize any other governors who may have been in attendance, besides Kaine. As a corollary, is it common for governors to attend? I don’t know if it’s common, but Governor Schweitzer of Montana was almost certainly at the Inauguration, as he was in the parade- on horseback, with Senator Tester on his own horse, and then I guess the other two men on horses were Senator Baucus and Representative Rehberg, but I don’t know what they look like. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/3 "2009-01-21T10:50:47Z")
> [@Leiko](#): > > I don’t know if it’s common, but Governor Schweitzer of Montana was almost certainly at the Inauguration, as he was in the parade- on horseback, with Senator Tester on his own horse, and then I guess the other two men on horses were Senator Baucus and Representative Rehberg, but I don’t know what they look like. See, I read that as “Governor Schwarzenegger” and wondered why Arnie was riding a horse - he should be driving a Hummer, or better yet, riding a Harley in [full Terminator regalia](http://images.art.com/images/-/Terminator-2---Judgment-Day-Poster-C10299547.jpeg). Wouldn’t that be awesome? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/4 "2009-01-21T11:37:16Z")
Kaine was one of Obama’s major backers and was almost his VP, and Schweitzer spoke at the nominating convention this year. So there were specific reasons for them to be there, which was probably not the case for most other governors. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/5 "2009-01-21T12:21:13Z")
CNN reported yesterday that all sitting governors were present except Blagojevitch so I’m assuming Palin was there. But no spotlight on her yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/6 "2009-01-21T12:34:01Z")
Palin did not [attend the inauguration](http://www.fortmilltimes.com/124/story/429299.html): > [@](#): > > Palin didn’t attend the inauguration in Washington, D.C., although her running mate, Sen. John McCain, did. Instead, she spent Tuesday morning traveling to the state capital for the legislative session, expected to start later Tuesday, said her spokesman Bill McAllister. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/7 "2009-01-21T13:42:57Z")
I’m pretty sure I saw Kucinich. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/8 "2009-01-21T14:07:38Z")
Typically all members of Congress are there. The Governor of NC was not there, she was on TV here. I don’t think she had any plans to go. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/9 "2009-01-21T14:34:57Z")
Schwarzenegger was there, he was pointed out to the audience during an inept session in which a CNN person tried to explain their photo merge software and tried to show someone he could not find because the touch screen did not work. Palin, though, I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/10 "2009-01-21T15:10:51Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Palin did not [attend the inauguration](http://www.fortmilltimes.com/124/story/429299.html): Well, that kind of speaks well for her, that she would rather work than go to one big DC party. However, maybe her reason for not going was due to embarrassment at being regarded as McCain’s kryptonite… ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/11 "2009-01-21T19:13:39Z")
FWIW, the announcer guy introduced them as “The Governors of the fifty states and the Mayor of Washington, D.C.” or some such. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/12 "2009-01-21T19:50:44Z")
I’m sure all 50 governors were invited to sit in prime seats and I would guess there were more Dems there than Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/13 "2009-01-21T20:02:46Z")
I know in a lot of ceremonial situations, VIPs are invited but will sometimes send a (small r) representative in their place. So maybe the missing govs had stand-ins in their seats. So while technically the area was for all 50 governors, maybe it was 50 governors and reps. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/14 "2009-01-21T20:07:39Z")
I remember in 93 Nelson Mandela was there but it looked like he was sitting down on the lower level. That was before he was elected president of South Africa. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/15 "2009-01-21T20:50:17Z")
> [@Windwalker](#): > > Well, that kind of speaks well for her, that she would rather work than go to one big DC party. However, maybe her reason for not going was due to embarrassment at being regarded as McCain’s kryptonite… Alternative take: Well, that kind of speaks poorly for her, that she would rather attend to some pedestrian governmental function than to represent her state at the United States Presidential inauguration. However, maybe her reason for not going was due to embarrassment at _being_ McCain’s kryptonite… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/16 "2009-01-22T00:31:32Z")
Do you honestly think McCain _wanted_ to see her anyways? ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/17 "2009-01-22T00:39:11Z")
She had nothing to wear. ---
**Author:** ![Algorithm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/algorithm/32/12204_2.png) [@Algorithm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algorithm)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/18 "2009-01-22T01:45:39Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > She had nothing to wear. Then I really wish she _had_ attended. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/19 "2009-01-22T03:33:53Z")
Maybe they could’ve got Tina Fey in her place… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2009, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-sarah-palin-attend-the-inauguration/482274/20 "2009-01-22T03:42:49Z")
> [@Windwalker](#): > > Well, that kind of speaks well for her, that she would rather work than go to one big DC party. However, maybe her reason for not going was due to embarrassment at being regarded as McCain’s kryptonite… > [@CC](#): > > Alternative take: Well, that kind of speaks poorly for her, that she would rather attend to some pedestrian governmental function than to represent her state at the United States Presidential inauguration. However, maybe her reason for not going was due to embarrassment at _being_ McCain’s kryptonite… [Moderator note] You guys should be aware that political jabs are out of place in GQ. Since the main question in the OP has been answered by **Fear Itself** , and since this thread will almost inevitably continue to deteriorate into jabs and jokes about Palin, I’m going to close it. Those who wish to discuss the Alaska governor and her doings in more detail can take it to another forum. Colibri General Questions Moderator