Two-thirds of Americans (67%) say they plan to watch Obama’s inauguration on Jan. 20; not surprisingly, even higher percentages of Democrats, Obama voters and African Americans say they plan to tune in. Fully 85% of Democrats say they plan to watch Obama’s inauguration, compared with 62% of independents and 49% of Republicans. Similarly, 89% of Obama voters say they plan to watch, while just 46% of McCain voters say the same. More than nine-in-ten (92%) African Americans plan to watch the historic inauguration, which is significantly more than the 63% of white respondents who expect to tune in. Slightly more than four-in-ten (43%) say they would attend the inauguration if offered a ticket, while 56% say they would not attend. These results mirror a Fox Opinion Dynamics poll conducted in January 2005 in which 42% said they would attend that year’s Bush inaugural if offered a ticket and 57% said they would not attend.

Read More

Russell Heimlich  is a former web developer at Pew Research Center.