Obama plans election-night rally in Chicago convention center

[RandySF]

(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama plans to usher in what he hopes will be a second four-year term in the White House at an election-night rally at a huge convention center near downtown Chicago, campaign and city officials said on Wednesday.

The event will likely draw thousands of supporters to the McCormick Place convention center in Chicago, Obama's hometown and the site of his re-election campaign headquarters.

Supporters are expected to watch the voting results come in and then hear a speech by the incumbent Democrat who faces Republican Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and private equity executive, in the November 6 general election.

Some 240,000 revelers flooded Chicago's 319-acre (129-hectare) Grant Park in the city's central business district on the night Obama beat John McCain in 2008 to become the first black U.S. president.



http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/18/us-usa-campaign-electionnight-idUSBRE89H02K20121018

[Drunken Irishman]

1. Not Grant Park ... but I'm glad to see this...

This tells me he's confident. In '04, Bush didn't have a celebration. Instead, he watched the returns from the White House. In '96, Clinton did!

[RandySF]

2. They delayed the election speech because Ohio was in doubt all night.

He had his rally the next day. As for 2008, everything came together for Grant Park. It was unusually warm for Chicago in November. Clinton had his rallies in the exact same spot for 1992 and 1996.

[Drunken Irishman]

3. Where was Bush's speech going to be at, though?

Was it just going to be from the White House? Because I know he was in D.C. for election night ... not Austin (like four years prior).

[RandySF]

4. It was DC, but not the White House. Not sure exactly where.

[Drunken Irishman]

5. Ah. I like that Obama is going to Chicago...

I think he thinks he's going to win. We'll see, though!