* We’ll have a live video feed from Grant Park tonight, so you can stay at home, avoid the chaos and watch from your computer.
* There will actually be two separate locations and one entry point…
The Grant Park Election Night rally for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will be held in two sections of the park — a southern portion on the softball diamonds at Hutchinson Field for some 70,000 ticketed guests of the campaign and a smaller non-ticketed event farther north near the Petrillo Music Shell in Butler Field. […]
There will be only one entry point for both parties in the park — at Congress Parkway and Michigan Avenue, said Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communication director Raymond Orozco. Entry into Hutchinson and Butler Fields will begin at 8:30 p.m.
If the park fills up beyond a safe capacity, people will be turned away, Orozco said, although he declined to say how many people would be too many.
“We don’t want to give people coming down with false expectations,” Orozco said. It wouldn’t be like the 4th of July or the Air & Water Show.
* More…
At Hutchinson Field, expect metal detectors. Don’t bring cans or bottles. Security may view them as projectiles. Blankets are OK. No alcohol, coolers, chairs, strollers, signs or large bags allowed. Hot dogs, pizza, hot chocolate and merchandise will be sold. Portable toilets will be provided.
Those without tickets will be sent north to Butler Field, where they can watch the event on a Jumbotron, officials said. If Butler Field gets too crowded, the city will close it, Orozco said.
The crowd at Butler Field won’t have to submit to metal detectors. Here too, blankets are OK. And no alcohol, coolers, chairs, strollers, signs or large bags allowed. Water will be sold at Butler Field, where 200 portable toilets will be ready, Orozco said.
Don’t try to use Millennium Park to get to Grant Park. Millennium Park will close at 6 p.m. today for security reasons.
* You can apparently forget about a hotel room near the site…
Rally-goers looking for a place to crash after Barack Obama’s Tuesday night event will have to traipse farther from Grant Park for a hotel. Rooms at hotels immediately surrounding the park began disappearing soon after the presidential candidate publicly announced the location for his party about two weeks ago.
* Hopefully, mass transit won’t be too much of a mess…
The Chicago Transit Authority says it will run longer trains and expand service into the evening tomorrow to accommodate the more than 1 million people expected to turn out for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s Election Day rally in Grant Park.
Agency officials say six rail lines – the Brown, Pink, Green and Orange, Purple and Yellow – operate at rush-hour levels of service after the rally through 2 a.m. Blue, Red, Orange and Brown line trains will run with eight-car trains throughout the evening.
In addition, eight bus routes (#3, #4, #6, #12, #14, #126, #146, #147) will operate in the Loop until 2 a.m.
Due to street closures around Grant Park, boarding for most northbound buses will take place at LaSalle Street and boarding for southbound buses will occur on Madison between Dearborn and Clark.
* For you suburbanites…
• Metra is providing additional cars on its late-night trains for riders heading home to the suburbs between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m.
• Metra will run extra trains between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. today for workers heading home early. The agency will also offer extra trains into the city for people heading to the rally.
• Metra will provide extra security at stations and on late-night trains. The agency is banning all alcohol and glass containers on trains.
• Passengers on Metra can take advantage of a $5 round-trip Election Night fare, which can be purchased on trains. Ticket offices downtown will be open late.
• The additional service is available on all Metra routes except the Heritage Corridor, SouthWest Service and North Central lines.
• For more details on Metra schedules, contact metrarail.com or call (312) 322-6777.
So, are you going?
- Team Sleep - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 8:52 am:
If the National Guard’s riot and MP divisions are called into action, will the Obama campaign reimburse the state?!
- OneMan - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 8:55 am:
Nope, got to watch em count the votes in Aurora, I will be blogging that however since I am a nerd.
- Sweet Jane - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 9:00 am:
Hell yeah! We got tickets, so we’ll be in Hutchinson Field.
I normally don’t like large crowded events like this, and it would be a lot easier to stay home and watch it on tv/the computer - but I want to BE with lots of other people who are feeling good tonight, not just isolate myself at home and try to absorb it through a screen.
- Stringer Bell - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 9:04 am:
I signed up for tickets and got the confirmation e-mail right away that tickets would be coming later, but I never actually received my tickets.
Did this happen to anyone else? Any advice? I tried emailing the democrats.org website where they gave out tickets, but I doubt I’ll hear anything. Kind of a bummer.
- Captain Flume - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 9:10 am:
He announces his candidacy in Springfield to bask in the perception of political righteousness as embodied by the Great Emancipator, but he celebrates his (presumed) election in Chicago to pay homage to political reality. He is one clever politician.
- Oh my Bama - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 9:13 am:
Between the hubby and me we have 4 tickets and I’d like to take our teenage kids but not sure I want to deal with the hassel. I am afraid if I stay home, I’ll wish I was there and vice versa.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 9:16 am:
Not a chance. My family will be gathered in front of the electronic hearth tallying the results, just as I did with my parents and siblings starting with Nixon/Humphrey in ‘68 (wee hours of the morning, sad results for Norwegian immigrants).
- Captain America - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 9:17 am:
Expected to be in Iowa today, so I didn’t bother to get tickets. Came back early because Iowa was a done deal for Obama (54 O, 37 Mc, 6 Un) per the Sunday Des Moines Register poll.
Don’t really like huge crowds - Pope Rally was mellow, but Bears 85 Super Bowl Victory rally was really uncomfortably crowded.
I am content with having attended the kick-off announcement in Springfield, as well as the Obama-Biden joint appearance in Springfield. I’m not really that excited about tonight because I’ve been extremely confident about the inevitable result (Karl Rove predicting 338 electoral votes for Obama.) So I’ll be watching on TV and attending the Democratic Party of Evanston and Daniel Biss victory parties.
- Speaking At Will - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 9:24 am:
Wont be there, but then I live in Carbondale. If I was in the Chicago area, no freaking way would I be going.
James Carville said it best, if Obama loses, things could get ugly.
- Come on, now - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 9:32 am:
Yeah, yep, uh huh, fo sho. I’ve been waiting for tonight since that frigid day in February. Some people talk about their Kennedy moment — THIS IS MINE!
- Fan of the Game - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 9:38 am:
Um…no.
- Emily Booth - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 9:45 am:
I have a friend who snagged a ticket. She did not make the first cut. She then had to write an essay in order to make the second cut. She received her ticket last night via email and she has to bring a photo ID. Luckily, she lives in Lincoln Park, not that far from Grant Park. I’m in Lincoln Square. I’ll watch the election results at home but I’ll probably be asleep by the time they call the race.
- Obamalac - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 9:50 am:
The Obamalac will roll to Chicago later this morning! We placed Evans/Obama signs in Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline years ago, we were at Springfield on a 9 degree announcement day and again on a blistering hot “Here’s Biden Day” and at a whole lot of places in between. DREAMS! PRIDE! EXCITEMENT! MEMORIES!
- jerry 101 - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 10:10 am:
No, going to another election party.
I know a lot of people who are going, and I will head to Grant Park if I get home early enough from the other party.
- Wumpus - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 10:36 am:
No, but I will be driving to Meigs field to fly to Canada if he wins
- Our Time Has Passed - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 10:37 am:
My 16 year old daughter is going (under adult supervision) hopefully to Hutchinson Field.
As I said to my wife this is her time our time passes tonight.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 10:39 am:
No. I’m not one to get caught up in political hoopla. Although I did see Nixon on my dad’s shoulders as a toddler when Tricky Dick passed thru the south suburbs in 1960, and saw Gov. Kerner almost in the same spot a few years later.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 10:40 am:
Wumpus-
I hope you are in good health and have a strong set of Icarus wings.
- Little Egypt - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 10:48 am:
Are you kidding? I would begin to know how to navigate in downtown Chicago.
- IrishPirate - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:00 am:
Hell no.
I don’t believe the predictions of mayhem will come true, outside perhaps a few bangers shooting at one another a few blocks away, but I hate crowds.
No I shall watch it on TV or better yet on YOUTUBE as I might doze off and sleep the sleep of the saved. It will be nice to have a President who is not proudly ignorant.
This is all assuming Obama wins of course. As All America and the world await the results……….I likely will be eating a pizza and drinking some beer……….
- North of I-80 - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:00 am:
If Obama wins, celebratory riots ala Chicago Bulls championships expected and
If Obama loses, James Carville predicting riots [most inner-city locations implied].
Turned my gas mask, kevlar helmet & body armor in 2 years ago so I will enjoy the evening with satellite radio and no pepper spray burning my eyes.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:17 am:
Geez, Little E, it’s a perfectly logical grid system. State and Madison is zero and zero, you can find your way anywhere. If you hit the lake, you’ve gone too far east
Try the curvy streets of the Quad Cities. The Mississippi runs east and west there, so you can’t even use the river to get oriented. When you drive across Arsenal Bridge from Rock Island to Davenport, you’re actually going south into Iowa. Crazy.
- cermak_rd - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:22 am:
Definitely not. My own living room with my own snacks, beer, and pizza is quite sufficient for any celebrations and/or mournings.
- HV in HP - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 11:31 am:
Got my ticket emailed to me last night!
- Boscobud - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 12:45 pm:
No Way. Our 8 year old son is still on Daylight time and woke up at 4:00AM today. We are going to bed early.
- Little Egypt - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 2:07 pm:
Wordslinger, by saying that State and Madison is 0 and 0, does that have anything to do with a GPS system? If it does, I don’t have an electronic GPS system and don’t know the first thing about operating one. My GPS system is 2 dimensional, I fold it and put it in my glove box. It’s called a road map.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 2:16 pm:
LE, that corner is 0 North/South and 0 East/West on the Chicago street grid.
- Arthur Andersen - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 2:21 pm:
No way for AA. I’ll be on the same election night ritual routine I’ve had since 1964, altered only by technology (and a couple times I had to go out when my Dad was on the ballot.) That’s a comfy couch, fire in the fireplace, TV, radio, and new additions of a computer and, in memory of one of the great ones, the Tim Russert Memorial Whiteboard to jot down results.
Hey LE, rest up, we may have to start working on Bill’s campaign tomorrow.
- just ducky - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 2:23 pm:
wumpus, you won’t be going anywhere. tell the truth.
- doubtful - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 3:24 pm:
Unfortunately, no. I’ll be at home, drinking suds and watching MSNBC.
- Wumpus - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 3:28 pm:
Six degrees, I have plenty of red bull, opposed to Obama Bull.
Just Ducky, as soon as I can navigate the traffic, I will be prepping for take off at Meigs. I have the route coursed from Flight Simulator, I am ready for the “worst”.
- Boscobud - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 3:38 pm:
Any McCain party’s around? I would go to that.
- Kevin Fanning - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 3:41 pm:
Might not be as much fun…just sayin’
- Big Mama T - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 4:10 pm:
No way. It will be ugly in DT Chicago tonight. Too many neophyte voters will have been boozing it up waiting for the results. Besides, Chicago likes a good riot. All I can see in my minds eye for tonight is a summer night in 1968.
- some former legislative intern - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 4:19 pm:
NO, definitely not going, although the thing is a stones throw from my place in the South Loop. I might have gone when I was younger, but now I like to stay at home and track the close House and Senate races across the country. Too crowded, probably can’t see a thing, forget it.
- Boscobud - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 4:20 pm:
Does anyone think that there would be a riot if Obama losses the election? If he wins Illinois that should make the Chicago people happy, but if he loses the election do you think people will go nuts?
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 4:38 pm:
Why would you assume there will be a riot?
- Boscobud - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 4:39 pm:
The media has hyped it up.
- Big Mama T - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 4:54 pm:
Heck, there were riots when the Bull’s won. There has been a lot of violence in Chicago this year. There are plenty of punks who will go nuts just because they can. Police moral is low and I am sure the police are real happy about working a night off to watch an oversized crowd. Rank and file officers are PO’ed at Weis and want to make him look bad. They will do nothing that will put themselves in harms way. Add in they probably will be telling people it’s too crowded, go away. Plus there are no Porta-Potties.
- Wumpus - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 4:55 pm:
There could/would be a riot as a small percentage have it in their heads that Diebold already has the election rigged. It only takes .05% idiot to mess things up for the rest. Additionally, if there is one fight for someone stepping on anothers’ shoes, there wil be a fight.
Snark-Plus, I am sure Ayers will be there and he may relive the good ole days.
- Big Mama T - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 4:59 pm:
Snark-Plus-Plus. He will get one going for nostalgia’s sake.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 6:24 pm:
Nope. Snugglin’ at home, watchin’ the results.
- Lynn S - Tuesday, Nov 4, 08 @ 9:40 pm:
Would I like to? yes.
Would the teenager like to go? Oh heck yes, if it means he gets to skip school Weds. and go shopping before we leave Chi-town!!
Did I get an invite? yes (and the siblings will hear about that at Christmas!!!)
Did I take advantage, and will we go? No, because it just didn’t work out, and given the day I had at work today (wound up staying over 2.5 hours past quitting time; don’t ask!!), it’s probably better that we’re watching the telly at home tonight…