Excitement and Anxiety Swirl as Chicago Prepares to Host Obama Election Night Event

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: Excitement and Anxiety Swirl as Chicago Prepares to Host Obama Event
By MONICA DAVEY
Published: November 1, 2008

CHICAGO — Chicago is bracing for a gigantic crowd this week in Grant Park, the city’s iconic front yard, where Senator Barack Obama has chosen to spend election night.

As many as 70,000 people are expected to attend an event for local supporters. All available tickets were swept up days ago, and thousands of people have applied to be on a waiting list. Thousands more — maybe as many as a million people, Mayor Richard M. Daley has proudly suggested — are expected to pile into the downtown parkland and sidewalks and streets surrounding Mr. Obama’s official celebration.

“This could be a moment of history right here, and it’s high time for it,” said Patricia Cadagin, who stood last week peering through a new fence around the south end of Grant Park, one of blocks and blocks of fences erected as part of the elaborate security efforts. Ms. Cadagin, 82, who said she had voted early for Mr. Obama, will probably not be here on Tuesday night. “It’s going to be a big crowd and at night, and I’m a small woman,” she said. “Will I be here in spirit? You bet you.”

Chicago, it seems, is of two minds about this party. Many supporters in Mr. Obama’s hometown speak with pride of the potential of seeing the first African-American claim victory in a presidential campaign here on the edge of Lake Michigan, in view of their beloved skyline. Still, in hushed tones, some say they are worried about his safety in the public park and about how a huge crowd in this city, which has seen violence after events like basketball championships, might respond, win, lose or draw.

Even city leaders have sent mixed messages. On Thursday, Mr. Daley, a fierce Obama supporter, seemed to suggest the more the merrier. “You think I’m not going to invite people down?” he told reporters, according to The Chicago Tribune. “This is a celebration.”

A day later, city leaders cautioned Chicagoans to behave properly, warned them that people might be turned away if Grant Park became too crowded and stood at a city-run news conference beside ministers who suggested that those without tickets use “common sense” and stay in their own neighborhoods.

“We can’t have foolishness,” said the police superintendent, Jody P. Weis. “We can’t have mischief.”...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/us/politics/02grant.html

[TomClash]

1. In my Brooklyn neighborhood

It will be bigger than the Mets winning the World Series or the Giants winning the Super Bowl.