Iowa. South Carolina. Illinois. What do they have in common? Sen. Barack Obama hoped his basketball playing ritual in all of those states would translate into an electoral trifecta.
His election day two-hour game at Attack Athletics Center in Chicago should come as no surprise. For days, the campaign had been deflecting questions from the media about his E-day exercise plans. Obama all but promised he would play basketball on Nov 4. During a "60 Minutes" interview, Obama said hoops are an Election Day "rule."
His pickup partners? Some of Illinois' Democratic titans, including chief strategist David Axelrod, former pro player and state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, Ariel Capital Management's John Rogers Jr., Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan, campaign treasurer Marty Nesbitt and Dr. Eric Whitaker, an executive for the University of Chicago Medical Center.
The pickup games may move to Washington.
"I hear there's a bowling alley and obviously that hasn't gone too well," Obama told comic Jimmy Kimmel during a campaign interview. "So we're getting rid of the bowling alley and replacing it with a basketball court in the White House."
Obama left the West Side gym for the Hyatt around 4:45 p.m., where he watched returns.
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