Obamas Hit the Polls

(NEWSER) - President-elect Barack Obama addressed the country and the world for the first time tonight, vowing to unite a nation beset by trouble at home and abroad, the Chicago Tribune reports. "Change has come to America," Obama told a crowd of tens of thousands at Chicago's Grant Park and millions more watching around the world. "Our stories are singular, but our destinies are shared." More»

McCain makes swing to Colo.; Obama touts chances in Ind.

(NEWSER) - John McCain and Barack Obama both made final pushes today, trying to invigorate voters in battleground states, the Chicago Tribune reports. McCain hit Colorado, hotly contested, and told supporters. “I feel momentum, I feel it. We're going to win it.” Obama also went next door. “I think we can win Indiana, otherwise I wouldn't be in Indiana,” he said. More»

Michelle Obama's public service a boon to Barack's rise

(NEWSER) - When Barack Obama met Michelle Robinson, she was on the fast track at a prestigious Chicago law firm. As the story goes, Obama took her with him when he left to start a public life, surprising Michelle’s friends and family. But Mrs. Obama’s own entrée into not-for-profit circles and public service connected her husband to a Chicago network that has been invaluable, Time reports ahead of her convention speech. More»

First reelection bid outside DC in recent memory

(NEWSER) - President Obama’s reelection campaign will likely be based in Chicago, not Washington—a rare move for a sitting president, and one that his advisers hope will help him rekindle the energy of 2008, Politico notes. Usually, campaigns are kept close to the president’s DC home, where they’re easily accessible, said a Democratic consultant: "In modern presidential history, this is kind of revolutionary." More»

Conservative watchdog slams first lady's 'technical violation'

(NEWSER) - Michelle Obama may have violated Illinois election laws by seeking support for her husband’s agenda at a Chicago polling station, holds the Daily Caller . The first lady was talking with voters, and reportedly urged them to support said agenda—but state laws ban political discussion near polling places, the site notes. Sure, it may be a mere “technical violation,” acknowledges a conservative watchdog, somewhat gleefully. “But what are mere technical violations of voting laws to the Obama administration!” More»