Politico...
President Obama back on friendly ground in Chicago
By Glenn Thrush
8/3/11 

A night before he turned 50, President Barack Obama on Wednesday turned to thousands of overheated supporters in a sweltering Chicago ballroom for consolation and cash after one of the most grueling weeks of his presidency. 

“It doesn’t matter how tough a week I have in Washington, because I know you’ve got me — you’ve got my back,” said Obama, speaking to about 1,700 well-wishers gathered for a series of birthday events held at the Aragon Entertainment Center in the Loop. 

“When I come to Chicago, when I travel across the country, I know we can’t be stopped.” 

Even as he dismissed reports that liberals are uneasy with his debt deal, Obama directly addressed the concerns of many in the party’s base who feel he’s been too quick to sacrifice their core priorities in his pursuit of bipartisan compromise. 

“This past week was a frustrating week,” he said, adding later: “When I said, ‘change we can believe in,’ I didn’t say, ‘change we can believe in tomorrow’ [or] ‘change we can believe in next week.’” 

The star-studded event, which featured pianist Herbie Hancock and singer Jennifer Hudson, was emceed by Obama’s former chief of staff and current Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, all sweating under stage lights. 

“I can tell you that when it comes to doing what’s right for the country, he never takes the easy road. If he thinks it’s right, he’ll pay any political price to do it — I can tell you that because I first came to tell him to take the easy road,” said Emanuel, who urged Obama to scale back some of his most ambitious initiatives, especially health care, rather than brave the political fallout. 

“He was willing to put all the political capital to put this country first,” Emanuel said. “He was willing to do what was right for our kids and our future.” 

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