By DAVID FITZGERALD - dfitzgerald@nwherald.com Feb. 19, 2007

Tom Cynor didn’t even plan on going to sleep Friday night.It wasn’t the excitement for his trip today to Springfield, where Barack Obama is expected to announce his presidential ambitions, that was keeping Cynor awake.He was awake because the carpool for the local contingent of McHenry County Democrats was leaving at 3:30 a.m. for the four-hour trek into central Illinois.“It’s the first announcement,” Cynor said. “It’s going to be a huge event. It’s going to be a part of history. So I’d like to be close to it.”

The local group will join a crowd expected to number in the thousands Saturday at the Old State Capitol to hear the Illinois senator, who is expected to declare that he’s seeking the Democratic nomination for the presidency.After his announcement, Obama will embark on a whirlwind tour of Iowa, a key state in primary elections, before his first presidential rally Sunday afternoon in Chicago.For the first time in generations, Illinois might be home to the next commander in chief, or at least the man on the Democrat ticket, local supporters say.“I don’t believe that any other presidential candidate knows where Woodstock is on the map except Barack Obama,” Cynor said. “And for me, that’s a really big deal.”

Mary Margaret Maule, District 4 chairwoman for the McHenry County Democrats, said she was loading her Jeep Cherokee up with other Democrats because she thought it was important to support a local candidate.Obama brings something unique and re-energizing to the political forum, Maule said, noting his Kenyan father, Midwestern mother and Hawaiian upbringing.Obama shot into the national spotlight on the heels of his keynote address to the last Democratic National Convention. Just days after that speech, Obama was speaking in a Marengo barn for a fundraiser.

State Rep. Jack Franks, D-Woodstock, is on Obama’s exploratory committee and is letting members of Obama’s advance team sleep this weekend in the house he rents in Springfield.“He knows our area,” Franks said. “He has been to the [Woodstock] Opera House. Because of my relationship, we would be treated well in McHenry County.”Obama is receiving accolades from across the aisle, as well.Ken Koehler, a Republican who serves as McHenry County Board chairman, said despite the party difference between him and Obama, he wished Obama well. Obama has a history of working in a bi-partisan way, Koehler said, and has proved to be a friend of McHenry County.You couldn’t ask for something better for Illinois than having an elected official from the state running for national office, he said.But whether an Obama presidency would bring home the bacon for McHenry County or Illinois isn’t clear.“A major party candidate is going to put some focus on Illinois,” said Kent Redfield, interim director of the Institute for Legislative Studies at the University of Illinois at Springfield. “But it’s not the kind of ear-marking, taking-care-of-the-home-district kind of thing due to the broader constituency.”

State Sen. Pamela Althoff, R-McHenry, said she enjoyed the opportunity for Illinois to be showcased in the national spotlight, but she said voters should look past the Obama hype and to his voting record.“A good, informed voter needs to be sure they know the full depth and scope of the man and his political associations and political actions,” Althoff said.Obama’s weekendIn Springfield: Saturday. Gates open at 9 a.m. at the Old State Capitol – 6th Street and East Washington Street.Then to Iowa: A town hall meeting Saturday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 4 p.m., a meet-and-greet in Waterloo, Iowa at 7:30 p.m., and a Sunday morning rally in Ames, Iowa.Back to Illinois: A rally Sunday at the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion. Doors open at 3:30 p.m.Why Springfield?The location of Springfield and the Old State Capitol as the backdrop of Barack Obama’s announcement is no accident, political experts say.

The campaign is using the location to paint Obama as a Lincoln contemporary, a man who can bridge differences and bring people together, said Kent Redfield, interim director of the Institute for Legislative Studies at the University of Illinois at Springfield.The downstate, middle-sized city location sends the message that there is a new Democratic Party, one that isn’t just urban, Redfield said.The Old State Capitol is the location of Lincoln’s “A House Divided” speech, which Obama referenced in his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.