When House Speaker Dennis Hastert made a quick shopping trip last week to the sprawling Westfield Fox Valley mall in Aurora, he remembered the place when it was only farmland.
Surrounded by aides, security officers and reporters, Hastert, a Yorkville Republican, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez touted the robust national economy this holiday shopping season.
They shook hands with shoppers, posed for cell-phone photos and strolled up to counters and kiosks asking, “How’s business?” or “Been busy?”
“Oh, gosh, yes,” gushed Kristen Hushek, 18, of Naperville, a College of DuPage freshman and seasonal worker at the Marshall Field’s perfume counter. “It’s been busy. All our gift sets are going like crazy.”
The two Beltway heavyweights ducked into Champs Sports and headed straight to the rack of baseball caps. Gutierrez settled on a navy blue Washington Nationals lid, and Hastert picked up a fitted Cubs hat. When it was pointed out that the Sox were the champs, Hastert replied: “Well, I got a Sox hat, but just to keep it even, I better get a Cubs hat, just so I can go home.”
They continued on to a Chicago Barks and Purrs kiosk selling gifts for pets, where Hastert bought some cheesy twists for his Labrador retrievers, Zander and Buddy.
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