Obama Will Support Jackson Jr.

Jackson made sure he had witnesses.

Cong. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-2nd) needs some help with his reelection bid.

The embattled representative will get it from the most powerful man in the land. 

President Barack Obama will support representative Jackson, a source from the Obama 2012 campaign told NBCChicago. What sort of support is unknown and the source would only speak in generalities.

“The President is supporting Jackson,” the spokesperson said. 

Jackson who's currently facing a congressional ethics investigation was more open about the support when he released a statement Wednesday.

“I met with the president’s campaign,"  the statement, which followed a Wednesday visit to DNC Offices, said. "We are in the process of coordinating the official endorsement and how our campaigns will move forward together ... I’m grateful for the President’s support.”

The South Side congressman applied plenty of pressure. He walked straight up to President Obama during the Martin Luther King Memorial dedication on Oct. 16th and personally asked him for support. He made sure he had witnesses, too.    

A spokesman for Jackson says “his father (Reverenced Jesse Jackson) and sister Santita were present.”   Apparently it worked.

Former Congressman Debbie Halvorson faces Jackson’s in the March Democratic primary. She served in the Illinois State Senate with then State Sen. Obama, but isn't concerned about the president supporting her opponent.

"It’s doesn’t change anything for me," Halvorson said. "I support the president.   ... Everyone tells me they are appalled by [Jackson Jr.'s] lack of ethics.They don’t care who endorses him. They’re done.  They’re glad someone’s running against him. Every Saturday I’m walking the district – and on Sunday in a minimum of four to seven churches. “ 

Halvorson called Jackson Jr. desperate.

“[Voters] tell me his ego is going to finally do him in.”       

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