Sen. Barack Obama,is shown to a voting station by an poll worker at the Shoesmith Elementary School in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
by John McCormick
CHICAGO — After campaigning from coast-to-coast in the past week, Sen. Barack Obama returned this afternoon to his Kenwood neighborhood to actually cast a presidential vote himself.
“It is wonderful to be home,” the Illinois Democrat said. “You know, obviously, we’ve got a big race all across the country. But to be able to come back home, and to see all these wonderful friends and neighbors, people, many of whom I’ve known for years, is really gratifying. And it’s nice to know I have so much support back home.”
Michelle Obama, his wife, voted with him at Beulah Shoesmith Elementary School, the polling place for the 4th Ward’s 23rd Precinct. As each received their ballots, she teased him about not messing up and voting for the wrong person.
“It was close, but in the end I went for Obama,” the candidate said, after inserting his optical scan ballot into the counting machine at 1:57 p.m. central time. He also received a round of applause from several dozen voters who lingered in the polling place to watch Obama vote.
The school’s mascot, a bumblebee, marked the center of the gymnasium floor, not far from where a temporary microphone stand was erected by Chicago television crews in hopes of capturing a few remarks from the senator.
More Top Picks Best Action Cameras
Although there is not technically supposed to be politicking in polling places, Obama said he had time for two questions. One of them was for his predictions for tonight.”I think everybody is flying blind at this point,” he said. “When we were doing one state at a time, we could actually track and get a sense of how that election was going and how the turnout was going. Here, you’ve got 24 states. Nobody can keep track of it. What we know, though, is that the last week, last couple of weeks, we’ve seen enormous excitement on the ground. And, I think, the message that I have been delivering about changing how the economy is operating so that it’s not tilted toward the wealthy, but working families are getting support.
“I think the debate that we had about Iraq on Tuesday in Los Angeles, obviously the support we’ve got from people like Sen. Kennedy. I think all of that has generated a lot of energy on the ground. I think that Sen. Clinton is the favorite. She had 20, 30-point leads in many of these states. We’ve been closing some ground. My guess is that we’ll have a good night, and we’ll probably end up having a split decision.”
The Obamas used the special pens issued by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners to mark their optical scan ballots. They avoided the option of a touch-screen voting machine, as most voters in Chicago and Cook County do.
After campaigning in three northeastern states on Monday, Obama returned to Chicago’s Midway Airport about noon. He stopped at home to freshen up, before he and his wife, Michelle, made their way to the school to mark their ballots.
They were casting their ballots in the Illinois primary, which Obama is expected to easily win. It is one of the Democratic contests playing out today in 22 states from coast to coast.
Watching from the stage overlooking the gym floor was a media scrum that included national reporters as well a heavily contingent of Chicago television crews.
This evening, Obama is expected to rally with local supporters at the Hyatt Regency Chicago on East Wacker Drive, the same hotel where he held a major fundraiser nearly a year ago – on Feb. 11, 2007 – the day after announcing his presidential bid.
Although it will depend on how the results flow in, Obama is expected to speak no earlier than 10 p.m. central time.