Illinois Dems endorse Obama for president
<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">The Democratic State Central Committee Wednesday endorsed U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., for president.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">"I think it gives him a talking point, as he travels the nation, that he's already got the support of his home-state party," said state party chairman Michael Madigan, who is also speaker of the Illinois House.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">Senate President Emil Jones Jr., executive vice chair of the state party, recalled Obama's rise as a community organizer and state senator. Jones said he cried for joy as Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">"This will be the first president that many of us know personally," Jones said.</font>
<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">The endorsement at the State House Inn in Springfield was by voice vote, but it was not unanimous.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">Shirley McCombs of Petersburg, secretary of the state party, voted against the resolution because she supports U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., for the presidency.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">"In my lifetime, I want to see a woman get elected," McCombs said after the meeting. "Women have been in the shotgun seat so long, and it's time for the move to the driver's seat, and the person to do that is Hillary Clinton."</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">"I love Barack Obama. I really admire him a great deal. It's just that I've been committed to Hillary from day one."</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">Also voting against the endorsement was Julie Kennedy Beckman of Darien, who helps represent the 13th Congressional District on the central committee. Beckman said after the meeting that she backs Obama for president, but knows that many in the party support Clinton.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">"I thought we should have remained neutral," she said.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">Madigan told the committee it's his view that members can back who they wish personally, despite the party's endorsement of Obama.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">Neil Hartigan, a former state attorney general and appellate court judge, spoke on Clinton's behalf earlier Wednesday at a Springfield breakfast sponsored by the Democratic County Chairmen's Association. At that breakfast, state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias was among those who backed Obama.</font>
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<p class="BODY" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font face="Imperial">Bernard Schoenburg can be reached at (217) 788-1540 or bernard.schoenburg@sj-r.com.</font>