Illinois, United States - Obama Presidency Oral History Back Illinois, United States Index / Locations Transcripts Cecilia Muñoz ...an immigrants' rights coalition in Illinois . The issue found me and so far hasn'... ...being able to explain it in southern Illinois . He had a lot of questions about how... ...but how do I explain that in southern Illinois ? He really listened, and he reall... Tommy Vietor ...secretary, then press secretary for [ Illinois state] Senator [Barack H.] Obama [II]... ...on the national stage. And I got to the Illinois , and we would drive around to thes... ...was, “Keep your head down, focus on Illinois media, and say no to everybody else.... ...be incredibly accommodating to these Illinois -based reporters, develop grea... ...lead paint out of houses in places like Illinois . And he impressed a lot of people. S... Destiny Blackmon ...pretty much a hub. If you don't live in Illinois , you kind of have to be i... Ben LaBolt ...had relationships particularly with the Illinois press corps and that could communicat... ...into his biography, his votes in the Illinois state legislature, his relationships... ...Daley had been the mayor of Chicago [ Illinois ] for almost my entire life. I believ... ...Rahm a little bit from my time in the Illinois delegation at the White House but no... Anne Filipic ...Barack Obama won the election in Illinois and became the senator from Illinois... ...in Illinois and became the senator from Illinois . And, essentially, one fun fact i... ...people in from out-of-state, from Illinois , which was not the case. These wer... Cornell Belcher ...about who's the Democrat primary in Illinois . One of the guys was this candidat... ...Barack Obama running for Senate in Illinois in the primary?” I laughed out loud... Christopher Dodd ...regarded, well-respected senator from Illinois . And he had talked to me about Barac... ...American, emerging political leader in Illinois . But it was actually at Paul Simon'... ...than serving in the state senate in Illinois , lost a seat for congress, was goin... ...to lose the primary for the Senate in Illinois , and ends up in this body and showed ... Chris Lu ...then they enlist Alan Keyes to come to Illinois to run. So he never really had to tes... ...And not, again, not just for Chicago [ Illinois ] where his political base was, but fo... ...of the state. The rest of the state of Illinois is—we often say the southern part o... ...is—we often say the southern part of Illinois is closer to Little Rock than it is t... ...home money, frankly, to the state of Illinois ? Then, obviously managing on top o... ...come out of the party structure in Illinois . He had run as an outsider to th... ...He had run as an outsider to the Illinois state senate. He obviously understoo... ...There's still a tradition in the Illinois delegation with the senators that ever... ...You'd basically invite everyone from Illinois who was visiting the Capitol. They'... ...go. I remember one time somebody from Illinois stood up and said, “You know, I've bee... ...plant in, I think it's Galesburg, Illinois , and how it doesn't exist anymore... ...and how it doesn't exist anymore. Illinois , he understood full well, offshore an... Show more... Michael Kassen ...Senator Menendez, he and Mark Kirk from Illinois , they were the sponsors of this mor... Load more Transcripts Related Topics go to the Russia Russia go to the Obama in the Senate Obama in the Senate go to the LGBTQ Policy LGBTQ Policy go to the Immigration Immigration go to the Democrats Democrats