This morning, some of us volunteered to pass out our special inauguration issue at various metro stops. The issue includes a great essay on what Obama’s relationship with D.C. should be, a behind-the-scenes look at some of the more obscure balls, a look at how local politicos will be making the scene on Jan. 20, among all kinds of other cool stuff. You can read it all and much, much more at our special inauguration guide page.

While the links suggest that passing out papers is unnecessary, we decided to do it as a way of getting this issue directly into the hands (or mittens) of our readers. We braved the winds. We endured the cold. We waited for our papers to arrive (they were a bit late). And we suffered through an initial indifference!

We also faced serious competition from the savvy hawkers pressing the Examiner and the Express. Those guys really know how to pass out a free paper! They had special vests. They had gloves.

What did we have? We had Obama magic. It was amazing to see how many people picked up WCP with just the mention or shout of “Inauguration Guide!” Once we started shouting “Inauguration Guide” or “Special Inauguration Issue!” it felt a lot like 1997 (pre-Internet days when people liked to read).

So thank you Obama.

We left those Examiner and Express guys in the dust.

*picture of WCP logo courtesy of DCist. Ha.