Chicago Weekend Fun!

Barack Obama is not only a Senator from Illoinois he is a wildly popular candidate for President of the United States. On Tuesday November 4th, 2008 when the voters go to the polls and we see this long time election come to a conclusion, Chicagoans will want to celebrate. There is a huge Barack Obama Celebration planned for the public in Grant Park downtown on Hutchinson field starting at 8pm CST. Click here to sign up for free tickets on a waiting list to the Obama Biden celebration in grant park with the democratic national party. OR Click here for the new ticket raffle available to those who are new donors to the campaign. See below for the details. A donation is not required for the free tickets on a waiting list but it is on the thank you page for the ticket process and is probably recommended for the tickets since this shindig probably costs a lot. The donation to the political party goes with your contact info so they can add you to their mailing lists and call you next time there is an election. Over 1 million people are expected in Grant Park for this celebration on election night in Chicago.

Barack Obama & Joe Biden Election Night Party Celebration Party Details from their site:

Location: Grant Park in Hutchinson Field
You can enter on on East Congress Parkway and East Jackson Boulevard
235 South Columbus Drive in Chicago, IL 60603
Date: Tuesday, November 4th
Time: Gates open at 8:30 pm

An official printed ticket is required for entrance. Each official printed ticket is valid for the ticket holder and one guest. You must sign up using the online form for a printable ticket. The official printable ticket will be emailed to you prior to the event. Only one request is allowed per person. Duplicate requests from the same name will be rejected. For security reasons, do not bring any bags or purses. Your Photo ID is required to enter. Please limit your personal items. No signs, banners, chairs, or strollers will be allowed at the event.

Chicago is a mostly democratic-party city with some outliers in the Richey-Rich areas of the suburbs still clinging to their Republicanism for tax reasons. The mainstream public in the entire Chicagoland area is all for Barack Obama all the time. Many people are even early-voting to get their votes in before the huge rush happens in Chicago on Election day.

The Obama election night celebration in Chicago will be a huge sight for all the TV and news reporters for sure. The thing is that MediaBistro is reporting that news outlets are a bit pissed that it will cost them up to $2,000 to get a press pass to cover the event because of the costs of running electric lines, phone lines, lights and setup materials in the middle of a public grassy park. Oh well, someone has to pay for it and I guess they decided that all the voter donated $20s and $50s should go toward the campaign itself rather than the coverage for media companies. 

There is no doubt it will be cold in Grant Park for Barack Obama’s election night celebration but people will be so excited especially if he wins, that they won’t notice. Plus it is great that Barack Obama and his staff decided to allow the public to take part in the event rather than just the people in his inner circle and big time donors. It is really true that the public has funded this campaign and brought Barack Obama to the center of the election from a relative unknown status 2 years ago. It is fitting that the Chicago citizens would be able to celebrate in the event that he wins.

Details are posted above. Registration may also be available online through Barack Obama’s website. And wear your winter coats, it is going to be cold outside.

Update: I have seen the reports that all the tickets are sold out for this event. The site linked above has a form for wait listed tickets so I am not sure if they will offer additional tickets to another outdoor park location near by to watch on a jumboscreen or if that was it. Plus they have to mail them to you and that could take 2-3 days depending on where you live. I do know that a lot of people are just planning on going anyway even if they don’t have a ticket and can’t get in. They just want to be near by or hear all the pandemonium and celebration. Anyway that the Obama camp could accomodate more people near by would be greatly appreciated by the citizens of Chicago.

Update 2: I have added a 2nd link above to the tickets that have been released for people who donate at least $5 to the campaign. $5 is not much money to go see this event. Check them out and see how long they last. I hope everyone who wants to go gets a ticket and that even those who don’t get tickets can still come celebrate with the world on Tuesday night. I know it will be crowded but now I want to go to cover the event for my blog…