Bennett enjoys 'Cinderella' role at inauguration

Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, calls Inauguration Day his Cinderella Day.

He will be hosting, hobnobbing and schmoozing with presidents and former presidents all day, and enjoying the same kind of limousines with personal drivers, bodyguards and being whisked around town by police escort as those VIPs.

"But come midnight, like Cinderella, I go back to my normal chores," Bennett said on Monday. "But for 24 hours or so, I'm Cinderella."

Bennett earned that treatment as a member of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. The party leaders of both houses of Congress are on that committee, plus the chairman of the Senate Rules Committee (Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.) and that committee's ranking Republican, which happens to be Bennett.

So Bennett has been working for the past six months or so on details of the swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol.

That includes such things as distribution of the 240,000 tickets to the Capitol grounds and nearby areas, setting up 28,000 seats for very special guests, helping accommodate the 4,000 members of the media who will be there, setting up 24 Jumbotrons for people at distant spots, and obtaining the 5,000 porta potties needed.

Bennett's wife, Joyce, was even recruited to help decide the menu and caterer for the inaugural luncheon in the Capitol. (Seafood stew, followed by an entr? of pheasant and duck, and a dessert of apple cinnamon sponge cake. The caterer is Design Cuisine of Arlington, Va.)

And Bennett's role on the inaugural committee has landed him some high-profile responsibilities at the swearing-in ceremonies.

For example, "I will introduce (Supreme Court Associate Justice) John Paul Stevens for the purpose of swearing in the vice president."

Among other duties, "We have to escort former presidents, soon-to-be former presidents, and soon-to-be presidents, vice presidents and their families to their position on the stand. So I will come in with one group, help them find their seats, go back and come in with another group," he said.

Among people Bennett is scheduled to escort to their seats are George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. Joyce Bennett will be an escort to Laura Bush and Lynne Cheney.

For such duties, the Bennetts had to attend rehearsals. "They walked through the whole thing so everyone knew where to stand … It wasn't just to know where to stand on the podium, but (to know where) are the holding areas in the Capitol," including which areas are hidden from TV cameras so he can fix his tie, etc.