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Most new officeholders do victory laps of the state in a day, but Obama stretched his over five. Amid daily town hall meetings with constituents, he squeezed in time for dozens of private sessions with mayors of both parties, as well as union and business leaders. With the national celebrity status Obama achieved even before his election, he was attempting to convey a message that he will pay close attention to his new constituents.
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But those who turned out simply to shake Obama's hand, slap him on the back or seek his autograph were a reminder of just how much hope many of them have invested in the politician.
"You have my mandate and the mandate of the people well beyond Rockford and Illinois," one woman called out from the audience in Rockford. "We need your presence on an international level in the Senate."
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During his state tour, Obama sometimes chided members of his party for straying from long-held ideals.
"The Democratic Party does best when it is the champion for ordinary, working folks," he said during a stop in Peoria. "And I think that Democrats sometimes are ambivalent because they get a lot of campaign money from special interests. So it is very hard for them to make very populist economic arguments against Republican policies if they themselves are ambivalent about whether to be populist."http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0411140257nov14,1,4687492.story
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