THE Obama brand is unmistakable in Chicago as you listen to the locals chat about their Illinois senator.
There’s the passion – “he’s a great man” – and the fervour.
“We have had Harold Washington, who was the first black mayor of Chicago back in the 80s. Now, by voting for Barack Obama, it feels like we are being part of history in the making,” said Nataishia Kimmons, 22.
Hillary Clinton, ironically the original hometown girl, will also create history if she wins, but this fact is lost on most Chicagoans.
“You mean she was actually born here?” someone asked.
“Obama is more associated with Chicago. This is seen as his city. People know him for his work here,” said lawyer Brian Dunn, 33.
The Democrat presidential contender captured 70% of the votes in Chicago on Feb 5. Overall in Illinois, he got 64% compared with Hillary's 32%. Even white Americans here such as Dunn are backing Obama.
Chicago, nicknamed the Windy City, has a 2.7 million population, according to the 2006 American Community Survey. Of that, about one million are whites (36.5%) while blacks make up 35% (970,244).
Dunn remembered a Public Interest Law Week event in 2003 which was attended by former judges and lecturers.
“They were already saying back then that if ever there were a first black president, it would be him. He already had that reputation among those who have noticed him earlier,” he said.
Dunn remembered watching Obama from afar when he came to speak at his law school in Northwestern University in 2000. “He was impressive,” he said.
On Super Tuesday, Dunn and his wife Erica were glued to the TV to watch the outcome, although they knew he was going to win.
“My mother is also excited. She was for Hillary at first but, now, after seeing the two campaigns, she has converted to Obama.”
Kimmons, who works in a souvenir store, said: “It was simply crazy on Super Tuesday. People were going around saying, ‘go to vote’! I had wanted to pick Hillary at first but my friends were all saying ‘vote for Obama’.”
An African-American, Kimmons is part of a community that is gradually demonstrating its voting power.
“From the 2000 and 2004 elections, we saw a significant increase in African-American voters, particularly among those from the 18 to 24 age group,” said Hilary Shelton, National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) Washington bureau director.
“We’ve seen them, male and female, coming to vote in a much more partisan way than ever before.”
He said Obama’s support in Illinois was very heavily black.
“Quite frankly, you can’t win Illinois without the African-American community’s support in northern Illinois for a Democrat,” he told foreign journalists recently. “Every election that we’ve seen in recent history has required a strong African-American support to take the Democrats over the top.”
As Howard University political science professor Lorenzo Morris explained it, no Democratic president since Theodore Roosevelt had been elected on the white vote, except for Lyndon Baines Johnson. “Why? Blacks make up 12% of the population, but 25 to 30% of the Democratic Party.”
Some states such as Maryland are 30% black; and Virginia, 19%, he said.
Shortly after Obama won the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday, his campaign team sent out an e-mail at 11.41pm that night with the subject heading “What Tonight’s Win Means”.
Besides saying “thank you for making this possible”, the e-mail signed off simply as “Barack”, was also seeking donations.
It reflects how the Obama team is utilising the Internet to reach out to the masses as his fund-raising machinery seeks to hit the goal of one million donors by March 4.
By 2.17pm on Thursday, they had 939,706 donors. Thirty minutes later, the number went up to 941,595.
As Prof Morris put it: “How many of the voters could have spelt ‘Obama’ a few months ago? They got a chance to see him up close, and the media helped with TV presence.
“But also, along with the money came the ability to organise at the grassroots level.”
The 46-year-old senator’s campaign had been powered by small online donations, as pointed out by The New York Times. Last month, he received US$28mil (RM90.2mil) through the Internet, with 40% of the people donating US$25 (RM80) or less.
For ordinary folks such as Kimmons, Obama personifies the dream of black leader Martin Luther King.
“It’s something about black power,” she said.
Her colleague Angelica Niexes, 26, was also not much of a Hillary fan.
“I’m not trying to put her down but if this campaign can make you cry, what about the presidency? You’ve got to take care of the country,” Niexes said, referring to a January incident when Hillary teared up following a question from a New Hampshire voter on how she was coping with the presidential race.
But, as Kimmons added, “may the best man or woman win”. That’s what a lot of people here are saying.
