San Francisco (Obama.net)- While President Barack Obama may have been born in the state of Hawaii, he calls the city of Chicago, Illinois his home. It does not take too long to realize that President Obama roots for the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago White Sox. It has been just a matter of weeks since Obama was pulling for NBA MVP LeBron James to come to Chicago to play for Obama’s Bulls. And after telling the man they call “King” James to come to the wonderful city of Chicago, Illinois, it is now the President of the United States of America himself who will be coming to Chicago.
In one month’s time, President Obama will come to Chicago to do some fundraising for his fellow Democratic Party member Alexi Giannoulias, who is currently the state treasurer of Illinois. The fundraiser is currently scheduled to take place on August 5th, which is just under three months away from the midterm elections on November 2nd.
And the visit of Obama to come help Giannoulias is coming just in the knick of time. The Illinois state treasurer is currently behind his Republican opponent Mark Kirk by 1.4 million dollars. Giannoulias told the press that at the end of June he had only amassed a mere nine hundred thousand dollars in contrast to the 2.3 million dollars that Kirk, from northern Chicago, took in.
In a statement released by Alexi Giannoulias’ camp, they said, “we’re excited to welcome President Obama back to Illinois to campaign with Alexi in early August. The President’s visit will reinforce the importance of the clear choice Illinois voters face between Alexi, who supports helping the President move America forward, and career Congressman Mark Kirk, who wants to go back to the same failed Bush policies that got us into this mess.”
Giannoulias has already received campaign assistance from others in Obama’s Administration. The Vice President of the United States Joe Biden, as well as Arne Duncan, the Education Secretary, came to Chicago to help Giannoulias campaign. Despite the magnitude of help that Giannoulias was given, he was still unable to match the funding of Kirk.
Obama has already tried to promote the Illinois state treasurer in the past. In April Obama called Giannoulias a man who will one day be a “soon to be senator.”
Both Kirk and Giannoulias have some bad tracks in their past.
Giannoulias was once an executive at his family’s bank, Broadway Bank, in Chicago. The bank was closed for business in April due to not being able to make enough money.
Kirk on the other hand admitted in April the fact that he lied about his record in the United States military. Most notably, Kirk claimed to have won an award that he never received.
Prior to that in the first quarter of 2010, Giannoulias still only brought in 1.2 million dollars as Kirk managed to bring in a staggering 2.2 million dollars.
Giannoulias is at a disadvantage though. He, unlike Kirk, is refusing to accept money from Corporate PAC’s and lobby groups and lobbyists. Giannoulias is making it clear to the citizens of the state of Illinois that his policies will never be influenced by the men and women who help him in his campaigning.
Giannoulias is instead depending on his own policies and his own background to win him the election. And with the backing of the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, Giannoulias can be confident that he will gain many votes on August 5th, when President Obama will come to his home town of Chicago to speak on behalf, and raise money for Alexi Giannoulias.
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