* The SouthtownStar dumps some much-needed cold water on all the “We’re gonna get us some pork!” cheerleading since Barack Obama’s Tuesday victory…

If we expect a pipeline of cash to flow to the Chicago area from the White House, we’re in for a surprise. […]

Since Election Day went to Barack Obama, locals have been busy dusting off their wish lists for the new president, writing down items such as a new Chicago Transit Authority circle line connecting the North and South Sides, an airport for the south suburbs and some extra dough to rebuild clogged expressways.

In Little Rock, Ark., home to President Bill Clinton, the presidential pork never came.

“That doesn’t happen,” said Skip Rutherford, dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. […]

Rutherford could not point to one particular project delivered to his area while Clinton was president.

Arkansas politics is dirtier and more self-centered than ours in many ways, so if they didn’t get anything in Little Rock, we may not either.

* The Post-Dispatch’s story doesn’t throw cold water on the idea of an Illinois Obama boom, but does include some reservations…

“There will be some concrete benefits” for Illinois, predicted Leo Ribuffo, a presidential historian at George Washington University in Washington. Among predictions by some is a change to the federal formula for dispersing highway money, which doesn’t currently favor high-population states like Illinois.

“If anybody in Illinois expects a New Deal ‘works’ program like LaGuardia Airport (FDR’s gift to his home state of New York), they’re going to be disappointed,” said Ribuffo. “But undoubtedly, the connections will help somewhat. … It’s going to improve Chicago’s image.”

* The tourism angle is already getting some play, however…

In Chicago and Springfield, tourism officials already are scrambling to capitalize, putting together new advertising strategies built around Obama’s life story and Illinois’ role in it. The Illinois Bureau of Tourism is adding him to its online “Presidential Trail” feature, which already outlines the Illinois legacies of Lincoln and Grant, as well as Ronald Reagan’s birthplace.

It will outline “Obama’s life and journey throughout Illinois,” especially Springfield’s Old State Capitol, where he launched his presidential bid, said bureau spokeswoman Ashley Cross. “We think there will be national and international interest.”

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