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Obama Helps Out Evans Democratic Senate candidate speaks at local fund-raiser By CHRIS WETTERICH - STAFF WRITER Sunday, October 10, 2004 U.S. Senate nominee Barack Obama urged Democrats at a fund-raiser Saturday to re-elect U.S. Rep. Lane Evans, D-Rock Island, and predicted a win in his own race against Republican Alan Keyes. "My race has turned interesting, obviously," the Chicago Democrat said at the Crowne Plaza hotel on South Dirksen Parkway. "I think if we do a good job, I'm going to be OK. But we have to re-elect Lane Evans." Evans was not at the fund-raiser because he was in Washington casting votes in the House. He faces Republican opposition from former television news anchor Andrea Zinga. Zinga has said Evans, who is seeking his 12th term in the House, is not healthy enough to serve the 17th Congressional District because he has Parkinson's disease. Obama recalled Evans' taking him on a tour of the sprawling district when Obama was campaigning in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Evans' district includes parts of Springfield and Sangamon, Macoupin, Macon and Montgomery counties, in addition to counties near the Quad Cities. "For those concerned about Lane's health, don't worry. I couldn't keep up with him," Obama said. Obama called Evans an "authentic person" who speaks from the heart. He also thanked Evans for being the first downstate Democratic congressman to endorse him. The endorsement helped Obama garner downstate votes in his primary fight with state Comptroller Dan Hynes and businessman Blair Hull, Obama said. "What impressed me the most was he was a man of enormous conviction," Obama said of the tour he and Evans took through the district. "He's the person I'd want with me in a foxhole." Obama started the day in Milwaukee, where he campaigned for U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis. He later traveled to a rally in Decatur and was headed to Alton for another rally. "These events at the local level are important," Obama said. "It energizes the base." During his speech, Obama reflected on how race relations have changed in downstate Illinois. He recalled a story U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, told him about visiting Cairo when he was an aide to then-Lt. Gov. Paul Simon. Durbin told Obama that a cab driver advised him not to use the telephone in his hotel room because it would be bugged by a member of a White Citizens Council, a racist group active in the city at the time. As Durbin and Obama got out of their car this year, people wearing blue "Obama for U.S. Senate" buttons greeted them, Obama said. "If you had said 30 years ago that Dick Durbin, the senior senator from Illinois, the son of immigrants from East St. Louis, would be coming back to Cairo with a black guy born in Hawaii named Barack Obama, people would have said, 'What moonshine are you drinking?'" Obama said. Chris Wetterich can be reached at 788-1523 or [log in to unmask] SOURCE: The Springfield State Journal Register, IL http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/37356.asp * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn