President Obama went home to Chicago Sunday and Monday to cast his vote and mobilize voters to get out the vote for Governor Pat Quinn and Illinois Democrats.
The President took what might have been a dig at Republican efforts to get rid of early voting while getting his early ballot by saying, “I’m so glad I can early vote,” according to a White House pool report.
Just in case Republicans are worried, the poll worker asked to verify his identity, asking if he was Barack Obama. “That’s me.” I guess he is legitimate after all. Cue the shocked Republicans.
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The President urged voters to get out early to vote, “I love voting. Everybody in Illinois, early vote. It’s a wonderful opportunity.”
When asked for whom he was casting his ballot, the President wouldn’t say, demurring with, “I can’t say that.” The President did tell the Sunday evening crowd of approximately 6,200 for whom he was voting, but there is are laws that prevent electioneering in or near a polling place.
Will this be today’s Obama conspiracy/bad news? Yesterday it was that people who weren’t allowed to be in the sold out rally left as soon as he started speaking (you know, cuz they had to), therefore Obama is a loser and Democrats are failing. Today, he refused to say for whom he was voting! Cue the outrage.
Last night, a fired up (so fired up that he was hoarse) POTUS told the amped up crowd at Chicago State University exactly for whom he would be voting so it’s actually not a secret, “The first thing I’m going to do tomorrow is cast my vote to re-elect Dick Durbin, and get my friend Pat Quinn four more years as Governor of the great state of Illinois!”
Governor Pat Quinn is in a tight race against his Republican opponent Bruce Rauner.
Obama laid out the choice as he sees it, “So when you cast your vote, you’ve got a choice to make. And it’s not just a choice about political parties. It’s not just a choice about candidates. It’s two different visions of America. And it comes down to a simple question: Who’s going to fight for your future? Who’s looking out for you?”
The answer to those questions is pretty simple, given the modern day Republican sell out to Big Corporations.
The President also reminded folks last night, “Starting tomorrow, you can vote, too. You’ve got to grab your friends. You’ve got to grab your co-workers. Don’t just get the folks who you know are going to vote.”
This is similar to what he told the folks in the overflow gym Sunday afternoon in Maryland. Because the Obama-Brown rally was sold out with a crowd of 8,000, an Overflow area was set up for folks who wanted to see POTUS. The President made a point to stop and speak to them first, before entering the big gym to speak to the large crowd.
The President left nothing to chance, telling the overflow crowd to make sure to get “Cousin Pookie” to stop watching football long enough to get out to vote.
The POTUS point is don’t let him down, he can only make change when he has folks in Congress and around the country (see the governors who are working together regionally with the White House to raise the minimum wage) who are willing to work with him, and don’t assume that everyone you know is voting. Make sure they vote.
The President greeted early voters before he voted. They expressed their love for President Obama, and he not only replied, “I love you back” but followed that up with a POTUS hug. Cue the adorable kids at an elementary school across the street yelling, “President Obama!”
See? The world isn’t as trashtastic as some would have you believe. Keep your eye on the prize and don’t get distracted with negativity and spin. Like any race, all that matters is that you give it your all. That is success.
The President voted early. States with early voting can be found here. States where early voting has started below:
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Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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