EXTRA: Obama will be beloved in Chicago space that rejected Trump

Barack Obama will be in Chicago Sunday, using the UI-Chicago Pavilion to hold a rally by which he tries to spread his beloved status amongst Democratic Party faithful to other candidates running for office in Tuesday’s elections.

This Near West Side-space will host an Obama political rally Sunday … 

I happened to be at the Pavilion Thursday night, and it got me to thinking of how Obama will literally be using the same space that so vehemently rejected the very idea of Donald Trump as president.

REMEMBER BACK TO March 11, 2016? That was the night that then-candidate Trump was in Chicago, and was going to use the Pavilion to try to stir up the masses in favor of his candidacy.

But thousands of people jammed the streets around the Pavilion, along with the hundreds of Trump critics who managed to get inside for the rally itself. Trump wound up having to cancel the event, rather than face a critical crowd that could easily have become a mob!

I’m sure those who approve of this Age of Trump in which we now live view the Pavilion as some sort of horrid place. How dare they be critical of The Donald! The fact that Obama will now be able to come in and get cheers and applause will be the ultimate repudiation of Trump-ism by us Chicagoans.

As to whether all that applause will translate into votes come Tuesday remains to be seen. Because it’s not unheard of that people who were compelled to show up for a rally on Sunday could easily find themselves too lazy to turn out to the polling place on Election Day.

THE SAME COULD be said for the rally to be held earlier Sunday in Gary, Ind., where I understand the tickets that allow people inside the Genesis Convention Center for the political event were snapped up quickly on Thursday and people are being told to stay away from downtown Gary unless they actually have a ticket to the event.

… as will this one in Gary, Ind.

Anyway, we’re bound to see a pair of public spectacles this weekend in which people will be urged to vote against political officials whose presence would provide aid and comfort to “President Trump.”

With this year’s election cycle serving as a prelude to 2020, when we get the chance to “Dump Trump!” himself from elective office. With Trump allies counting on general apathy from the people so as to allow Trump to have another term in office – should he decide that’s what he wants to do!

Would I be in a better mood if the ballgame had had a better ending? Photos by Gregory Tejeda

All of which were thoughts running through my mind while sitting inside the Pavilion, where my alma mater Illinois Wesleyan Titans managed to start off their basketball season by getting their clock cleaned, so to speak, by the UI-C Flames.

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