Waiting for the president to arrive at McCormick Place on election night, supporter Ignacio Ayala said he hoped the night would bring some of the same excitement as the rally in Grant Park in 2008.
"I hope it's the same," said Ayala, who traveled from Plainfield. "That was big."
More than 10,000 people are expected to rally around President Barack Obama as he and his campaign members await election results tonight. Like Ayala, other Obama supporters said they, too, were hopeful that the election results would bring cause for celebration. Many said they believed four years was not enough for the president to accomplish what he set out to do in 2008.
"There's so much more to do, but it feels like progress," said fellow supporter Charles Sucholl, also from Plainfield. "He's really kind of taken the country on the path out of this mess."
Elvin and Nicole Knox, from Homewood, said they had been checking predictions on CNN and Politico all day. Nicole said she had voted for Bush in 2004, and her husband said he had voted for Bush or had not voted at all. Both consider themselves independent.
"Obama, to me, genuinely cares about what it means to govern people," she said.
Several volunteers from the south suburban Hazel Crest field office said they had been spending the last several weeks campaigning heavily, sending buses to Iowa and phone-banking for hours.
"We have prayed every day," said Joyce Hutchinson. "We know he's going to win."
Hutchinson said she believed the president was not in the office to "line his pockets" or for power, but for the good of the country.
"We need more people like that in office," she said.
Waiting in the lobby of McCormick place, Obama volunteer Ashley Owen, from Chicago, was just hoping she would be able to get credentials to get in. She had a friend with an extra pass and was waiting for him to show up.
Owen was sick on election night in 2008 and was not able to attend the rally in Grant Park.
"This is my chance to try that again," she said.
